The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-11-17
LOUISIANA.
THE RETURN BOARD OF 1872.
Extracts from the speech of Matthew
II. Carpenter In the Senate, Janu.
ary 40 1874

Extracts from the speech of Matthew
III. Carpenter In the Senate, Janu.
airy 80. 1874.
MIR. President, with these remarks
upon the prima facle case made out BY
MIR. Pinch backs credentials, l come to
consider the events that have transplred
in the State of Louisiana. In this part
of the case l shall be dry and, l lear,
tedious. II will consist OF mere nara.
ton, which can encourage no one, and
must depress every lover of his country.
But it is my duty to lay before the Sen
ate the facts of the case in all their naked
deformity, after which l shall wash my
hands OF this business; and, if my Repub.
lican friends, with full knowledge OF the
case, see fit TO take it upon their Shout
ders through the next political campaign,
can only say wish them JOY.
| 1t will be seen, Mr.. President, that the
duty of the canvassers is entirely minis.
terial Their entire duty is TO take the
statements and returns sent up from the
polls and compile them, aggregate them
| and state the result, except there shall
come from some polls certificate OF the
commissioner that there was riot, fraud
or bribery in such degree as materially
| to effect the result of the election. linen
! their duty Is TO CANVASS all the unquss-
toned polls first. Then take up these
DISPUTED cases, and their jurisdiction to
INQUIRE into the subject is based entirely
upon the statement from the Commits
sioner that there has been riot, fraud or
bribery which has materially affected the
result. They shall take, in the first place,
the statement, and if they are satisfied
from that they may decide without lur-
Their evidence. Ifnot, they may send Tor
persons and papers, and ascertain wheth-
er there has been riot, fraud, bribery, etc,
at the polls. If they find that there has
been, and are still of the opinion that II
did not materially affect the result 81 the
election, they are to canvass the return
Just as the return is; but 1t, on the ihVes'
! tigstion, they are satisfied that the riot,
| bribery, fraud, etc, did materially Affect
the result, they are to reject that poll en-
tlrelv, so that the only Jurisdiction they
have is based upon this report from the
polls of riot. fraud, etc, and the only
thing they can do after they have made
the Investigation is either TO count the re-
turn or reject it in toto.
may say here, in passing, that, IN
point OF fact, not single statement snow
inc any riot or fraud or bribery accompa-
med a single return. Therefore, II the
proper canvassing board had had the pro-
ner legal returns before them, they would
have had nojurisdiction whatever to call
witness or inquire into the tact OF Inc
| election at single poll. Mr.. Carpen-
ter then quoted decision OF the Supreme
Court of Wisconsin (Bashford against
Barstow, a Wisconsin, 1881 to the effect
that, IN that State, all other testimony
than the certified statements OF the Coun-
ty Canvassers is excluded from the con-
sideration of the State Canvassers.
MIR. President, have referred to this
decision because the statutes IN tho Two
cases are for all material purposes ldenti-
cal In Wisconsin there is lite more
machinery about it, but the State Can
vassIng Board have to canvass from the
statement sent to them by the county
boards. In Louisiana the State Canvass
inp Board have to canvass from state
ments sents up from the polls, but the
language Of both laws is the same IN sub
stance in defining the duty OF the State
Csnvassing Board. They are to canvass
from the statements sent % them and not
otherwise, and, IN that case, the court
held that under no circumstances could
the Csnvsssing Board go outside ofthose
statements or take any other testimony,
or take any supplementary returns from
the returning officers.
Rut what did this board do? They re-
| solved themselves into general commit
Tee of investigation. They had no au-
tbority AS canvsssing board to lrQulre
rs to the vote of any of the polling
pIaces. because there was no accompany
| ING state rent from the commissioner that
there had been fraud or riot which had
disturbed the election. They had no Jur-
| i.dication of that kind; they had no re-
turns before them to canvass. WAT ala
they do? They resolved that they would
90 away from the returns back to the
fact and ascertain how the election re-
sul,ed. They went on, and, as the test.
imony shows which l shall have read
later. they went on in some cases ana oo-
tanned from the United States officers the
duplicate statements, which they Kept
under the act of Congress. The State
Canyassors had no more right to take
them than they had to take an aihoaVi'
signed by a private person. Ihey loon
those where they could. Where they
could not get them they took newspaper
reports of what the result was ut the ult-
ferent polls. Where they could not gel
these thew resorted to forged ath favits'
AMI one pleasant little gentleman swears,
with n smiling lace, that he himself
forged 1000 afiidavits in one day AID de-
Iivered them to Mr.. Bovee, sitting in the
hoard. and Bovee said that lie was IA hell
of a fellow" and asked If he could noI
get more OF the same kind, ana ne sa'o
he could get 800 or 400 more OF the same
kind by 9 O'Clock the next morning. II
necessary. Then, not sstlshed WIN Tue
duplicate returns, not satished Win Tue
newspaper accounts, not satisneu Will
forged affidavits, sad, after all THESE VAL
usble means ot information Jailed, ths
hoard themselves swear that they maat
an estimate, based upon their knowledge
of the political complexion OF the countre
as to what the vote ought to have been
il had been fair, and counted 1t accord
mgly, and so estimated it in one parish
giving Mr.. Kellogg so many votes an'
so on.
They went through in this way ane
reached the end of their laborS Deem
her 6, 1872 The entire returns from
the State showed that McEnery had 60.
579 votes and that Kellogg had 55,97;
votes SO that McEnery's majority wa
1896 This Lynch board gave kellog!
~ 800 and McEnery 54,O29, maxim!
-. . Qe, Tbav war