Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-12-06
The Edgeneld and Laurens Returns.

The returning board Of South Carolina
followed the order Of the supreme court in
determining the electoral vote of the state,
and found that, on me face ofhe ,chole ro'e
cast, the Hayes electors have received from
two hundred and thirty to eleven hundred
majority. But in respect to members Of
the state legislature they obeyed the letter
of the law defining their powers and duties,
wherein they are not only empowered, hut
it is made their duty to take full coguizanoe
Of all cases Of fraud or intimidation. In the
exercise Of this Legitimate authority it seems
that the elections in the two counties of Edge.
field and Laurens were declared null and
void, and certificates Of election were de-
MED to the members claiming to have been
returned to the legislature from these two
counties. What induced the returning
board to single out for rejection the votes Of
these two counties is fully explained in an
official letter received at Washington aud
which would seem to have justified the board
in going even further and excluding the
vote for electors from these two counties.
The letter says
"ln each county in the state three canyasscrs
oi elections were appointed prior 20 the election,
two Republicans and one democrat In Edge
field and Laurens counties both OF which are
strongly Republican, the democratic rife clubs
assembled on the night Of the election and threat
ened to kill the two Republican canyassors and
tf.af, Do
publican canvasser was forced TO fly to save his
life This left one Republican aud one Democrat
To canvass the vote, and when this was begun the
Republican was told that II he did not net strictly
in accordance with such orders MS would he given
him, he would be taken ont and shot
q" As the canvass proceeded the Republican saw
that large numbers Of Republican tickets were
being taken from the ballot boxes and democratic
ones substituted lie demonstrated, and was told
to keep still or he would suffer DEATH In this
way the canvass was made, and the democratic
canyassers made up the returns to send 10 Column
bia, changing an actual Republican majority Of
two thousand in Edgcfold county to over three
thousand democratic The Republican canvasser
refused to sign the certificate. and WAS told that
unless he did so his life would he the penalty
Finding that these democratic refomers were de-
teunined to execute their threats, he added his
signature to the certificate lie was then per-
mtted to depart, and as soon as he was ont Of
danger he prepared protest to the returning board
against the votes Of his county being counted and
notifying them that he had signed the certificate
under duress and that gross frauds had been per-
/ petrated which he proceeded TO detail Thi.
document was placed in safe hands and delivered
to the returning board In Columbia
These scenes, similar almost even to Che small
est details occurred in the counties Of Edgehed
and laurens, showing conclusively that the mat
! ter was preauanged 10y the Hampton rifle clubs
When the returning board came to count the vote.
OF these two counties the protests from the two
Republican ctnvassers who had signed the certi-
fcates under compusion were read, and the
board was unanimously OF the opinion that, as
one Of the two signatures ON each certificate had
been attached under duress, it was no certifoat,
under the law, which requires the signatures Of
at least two OF the three canyassers 10 beanneXod
For this reason the board decided that they could
not count the returns from either county, the Law
not having been complied with and according
they were set aside for the legislature 10 invesu
gate and settle The board maintains that they
could do nothing else, and that the Suprem,
Court itself will not count the votes from thes,
counties in view Of all the facts and in the abseuc,
Of the proper certificate, and in the face Of m,
protest by one canvasser in each county