Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-11-18
THE SITUATION.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER ID.

successful party would be celebrating
its victory and the defeated would be
reviewing its tactics, ascertaining how
and why it lost, and studying the best
strategy for recovering its damaged
prestige. Nobody would for a mo-
ment dream of disputing the result
It is largely otherwise now. Nobody
here doubts that the Democratic can
didates are elected by maiorities giving
them twenty States against seventeen;
and yet large dissatisfaction and in
creasing suspicion and yearning anx-
iety are read in every face: the cause
of this is easy to infer.
As long as four days ago it was
known that Tilden and Hendricks had
secured 184 votes in the electoral col
lege, only one more being required to
make his election a certainty. Three
States had yet to be heard from, and
if he got an electoral vote in one of
them Tilden must be President. 1t is
a moral certainty that he has secured
majorities in two of them, namely, in
Louisiana over 1000, and in Florida
over l 400, and it is believed that
small majority elects the Tilden ticket
in South Carolina. Whence then the
anxiety? The plain answer is that
political matters are not transacted in
the United States as they were in old
times; a machinery has been invented
under the title of returning board In
Louisiana, and board of canvassers
in South Carolina for the express pur-
pose of defeating the will of the peo-
pie. A very few words of detail will
show how this is done. In both Lou
isiana and South Carolina che election
returns pass through the hands of
State board, called canvassers, in
South Carolina, the returning board in
Louisiana. In the latter State the re-
turning board pronounces without ap-
peal upon the vote of the State, and
to show how independent their decis-
ion is of evidence and how irreversi-
BILE, it may be stated that in 1874 the
people of Louisiana elected Legisla-
ture largely Democratic, that this
board, in virtue of their offices, gained
possession of the supervisors returns,
that without any detailed scrutiny of
these returns, without any specifca-
ton what votes were objected to, they
set aside the whole election, declared
another body the duly elected legisla-
ture, and one of the board openly de-
clared that they had reported not the
legislature which was elected, but that
which ought to have been elected.
A board appointed under this same
law will have possession of the cleo.
ton returns which are now coming in
from all parts of the State, and the
law of the State allows no appeal from
their decision as to the validity of any
vote.
In South Carolina a board of can.
vassers is invested with similar func
tions. 1t consists of the public off
GERS of the State, the Treasurer, Con.
trOller, Attorney general, &C., to the
number, we believe, of seven, three o.
them being negroes. These have had
meeting since the election at which
the question was moOted whether the
board had a revisory power in reject
ing votes or whether their function
was limited to simply declaring the
number of votes reported to them.
The Attorney general, one of the
board, gave his official opinion that
they had no revisory power, but they
took vote of the board and decided
that they had and would exercise it.
Whether there is any such board in
Florida we have no information.
These are the circumstances which
have created we'll founded jealousy
of such despotic functions, and one re-
suit of them has been the presence in
all three States of large number oil
leading politicians from all parts OF
the United States and from both the
great parties Of the nation.
This article will be continued from
day to day. This far it was written al
the date given above.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER IA.
But little is added to our knowledge
of the situation since yesterday. We
have been in receipt of a telegram
from Gen. Finley, in Florida, to a gen.
tleman in jackson, Tenn, giving that
gentlemans confident assurance that
the Democratic majority in Florida is
an indisputable fact
1t appears that the returning board
of Louisiana consists of three yacan-
cies and two negroes. Two of the
white members are State officials and
candidates for reelection, and the
third holds office under the United
States. The first two are certainly
disqualified and it is believed that the
third is SO also Now the law copsti-
tutiug this preciSa~ board gives To the
remainins M, .,-ers all Dow -,
vacancies, 50 that these tn, 10 MI
are to reappOint the board negroes
in a position to appoint PresiJent
for the United States. -
The South Carolina Board of Can
vassers is engaged in hearing counsel
to determine whether they are entitled
to the revisory powers which they
claim. Mr.. Leroy Yeomans argued
the negative on the afternoon of the
18th, and was to be followed on the
morning of the 18th by R. B. Elliot.
cOlored, in the affirmative, when it is
to be supposed that the Board will de-
eide the question for itself It can
hardly be doubted which way it will
be decided.
The returns are expected to be in
Thursday the 10th, when the count
will begin.
Oregon, claimed some days ago BY
rue Republicans. is still lookad unon