The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1876-11-23

pol. ted one and the House two teller, 10 /
whom that LCiy has b en- delegste5.
They smpbaiicaliy deny that the Con-tiiu-
ton Of TIE Uni,ed StAt-sever confer plated |
deiegating s,Ich grave and arbitrary pow
Fl. TO anv one individual, snd Inst the |
right and responsibility belong to CIngre-s |
itself. They ,l.o deny ,hat the re surnipg |
b ,ard Of Louisiana can be SAIL uu ted
with the manipul.tions Of the returns OF
the election, having been already virtu- |
ally Sc, aside, twice, by reports OF Con-
gressional committee, composed OF lead
ing represent atiyes Of both political par
ties, and once by rejection by the officials
decided to have been elected BY the board.
The more so, because the board, rs at
present constituted, is the same, with but
one exception, il consisting OF two United
States officials and one candidate Tor office
at the late election"
Hoping little from the Republicans the
above il more in the form Of protest than
a letter, but the Democrats assert their IN
tenton 10 appeal for. and demand, repre-
sentation at the official count, and are
equally firm in the expression OF their be-
lief in q successful issue Of their efforts.
1t is very evident that they Intend 70 STICK
10 the last, and will exhaust every remedy
before def, at.
New ORLEANS, November l..
To The Hon. john Sherman, Stanley Matthews
and Oilers:
GENrLENEN-We are in receipt OF your
answer To o,x letter OF the l4th inst, in which
YOU inform Us Of your determination TO
confer with Us for the purpose OF exeIting
such influence al We MAJ possess oil such
canvas, of the votes actually cast ut the cleo
ton in Louisiana by ITS fairness and i'm
partialit ,, all command the acquiescence
and respected all parties. We sincerely
regret this failure of our attempt to secure
the cooperation OF citizens from other
States in furtherance OF the purpose which,
As we supposed, had brought them hither
At this juncture. We regret 1t all the more,
because your refusal to confer and cooper
ate with US, appears to be based upon
serious misapprehensiOn Of the language
no less than the spirit Of our communica-
| Tin.
L. can hsriiy have escape your notice,
| that our statement Of the rerult 10 he at
taiued by the c operative action which We
sought 10 bring about, was simple repro
duclion Of the language OF President Grant,
| al whose request We understand you are
here. in his recent order to Gen. Sherman.
That Language was deliberately used, 10
doubt. in view of the fact about which, as
We conceive, there can be no dispute That
the first and most essential prerequisite 10
An honest and Just declaration oI the re-
| suits of the recent election in Louisiana, Is
| a fair and impartial canvass OF the VOTES
| az tually cast, and it seems 10 Us that you
do the President great injustice in supp s.
| ing lat, speaking Of the w Is actually cat
| he meant to include the votes cast illegally,
as Won certainly do no injustice by the i'm
| putstion Of desire To init upon
narrow and vicious Interpretation. In our
Judgment, the expression Of the votes actu-
ally cast OF necessity designatts votes legal
ly cast, and a. a consequences Of such votes
only did We desire TO secure lair and i'm
partial canvass. We beg leave to say,
theref ,re, that You are mistaken in the be-
lief that We sought unduly to narrow the
basis on which we invited your corpora
tive action, and you are no less in error in
at,ribu,iny to Us purpose to interfere with
the legal authorities of the State in the dis
CHI srpe Of their duties, to claim rights and
TO arroyate to ourselves powers which We
do not possess. In writing our letter, We
were fully aware that both the organization
and action, whether judicial or ministerial
of the returning board of Louisiana were
beyopd any authorities control from
Without, and that il would be the height OF
arrogance and folly to attempt to alter the
laws of State of which We are not citizens
or intrude our Interpretation of these laws
upon those whose duty it is to administer
them; but We had supposed, neverlh. less,
that there was an infueEce which might be
rishtfully exerted, even by citizens Of this
nennb,ic' who are strangers in the Stale
and we had taken it for granted that your
presence here, in response to the suggestion
of the President, was a recognition Of this
fact. We had supposed it W 5 not i'm
proper for US to remind the authorities
of this etate, by our mere presence
At least, that there are certain rules OF fair
ness and Justice which underlie all Consti-
buttons and laws, and upon whose Obser.
vance must depend the acquiesance OF
the peorl. Of all parties in the declared
result of the Louisiana election. Rules
such az ihese-but no one ought to be judge
in his own csse--that the decision OF any
contest ought not to depend upon the mere
arbltrament of one Of the parties thereto
that before auch decision is made, both
parties ought 10 be fully and fairly he 'rd
that all questions Of Law ought to be deci-
ded in conformity with its established gen.
eral principles, and all questions OF fact up
on the evidence duly presented and weighed
under the rules which are of universal rec
IGNITION in the States of this Union that
the trial of all causes, inv diving public in
terests at least, should be public, and that
all proceedings resorted to for the purpose
of the determination OF the issues in the
present electoral contest, ought, by their
manifest impartiality, to disarm suspicion;
that forms OF law have BEEN perverted into
instruments for the violation Of its spirit.
In this connection we may be permitted to
observe that while, undoubtedly, as you
say, a sedulOus incubation OF hanits OF
obedience to forms Of law is vital TO the
preservation of constitutional liberty, 1t Is
no less important that q refusal to yield
such obedience, be not provoked by using
these forms for subverting any end for
which they we're designed. Without I'M
dertaking TO question the sincerity Of the
belief which you are at pains to express,
that you know of no reason to doubt that
the Louisiana returning board will make a
perfect, honest and just declaration OF the
result vi the recent election in Louisiana,
We deem it not improper to remind you
that the presence in this city OF 70 many
citizens from all parts of the Union al this
moment, seems TO be evidence OF widely
prevalent distrus, OF the action oil this
board. and that such distrust has
this foundation, nj least, that
tine Constitution Of the board
has not been changed since
its returns were set aside by the Con-
gressionzl Committee OF which the Repub-
lican candidate for the NIc. Presidency
was a member, and this dislrust is not I'M
natural, in view Of the fact, IS We under
stand, one of the members Of the returning
board is candidate, voted for at the recent
election, and another . holder of an Office
Of profit and trust, by appointment Of the
present Executive of the National Govern
men,. while all the members of the board
are believed to be in af6iiaiion with but
one Il the parties to the present political
CONTEXT. In view Of all these, it il
hardly necessary TO add that the
terms of our letter were not designed 10
preiudice the question whether the
functions of the returning board we're Judi
cial or ministerial, or both, but simply to
invite you to zee, with rs, that Whatever
may be the character Of their functions,
they are openly, fairly and honestly dis
charged, and while We thus RETAINED from
any attempt ut stating or constituting the
laws of Louisiana, We deemed it equally
irrelevant to the subject Of our correspon-
dence With YOU, to aliude to the duties de-
volving upon oficen, other than the con-
stitueuts of the Louisiana returning
boards, under the Laws and Constitution
OF the U. S. Whether, - you observe,
BY way of illustration, the President