, 1877-03-05

popular vote they received majority OF o,a zoe
qnarter Of million, and Of that Cancasian asa rse
which controls every other Christian AID c,yi4ss
Government Of the world they received main-,as misa
OF moro than one million. On the day suerrsd:sg
the election 1t was announced by the t'haIrmsn ":
| Hayes Electors had been chosen. aos
NOTHING HAD THEN BEEN LEARNED
| Of the election excepting tho vote actualfr ...
hug never since besn dispnted that By tia yats
pointed. Such an announcement, thercfa"uoo- 40
could only have been made IN pursuance Of IN ~
rangement to change the vote shown to hsye ~ a.
tue rcsHlt had been proclaimed, conspaer .oe
decision made at the polls The field chosen 10 %
OF Florida and Louisiana The persona ases -. ss
with the original conspirarors were the GoYer,aa a
and members Of the Returning Doards Of fhnss
1cers selected were suitable persons for ths 1 VI
to be done. Fog more than ten years those st,tass
had been subjected to SNa'es
GOVERNMENTS NOT OF TI1E1R Cuorcr
Taxation9 mud maladmintst,ation had robhed th..
Of their substance, and wel-n,gh destroyed tbe;.
spirit aud hope The army o: the Unted st.sass sess
had been freely used to maintain those Govern
ments in their acts Of corruption aud usufnafsna
It was believed TINT Its services would aid in ~
designed conspiracy: The names Of the oa1cers ,ae
dependcd upon are Harccllns l. stearna Samuel
3. McLinq, and Clayton Il. C0wgiu Of Fior;Js
and William Pitt Kellogg, ] Madison Wells. Thom,.
as B.. Anderson, E. Casanave, and j. B. Kennr1 ~
Louisiana These men we're not strangers to tba
American people. They had before usurnej
authority. The Returning Boards Of those Statst
had - o'~'es
MADE THEMSELVES BYWoRD3 IN THzI4cn
The Governors were known to be pretenders. II
there were two names dishouored n general tsti.
mntion they were the names OF William Ptt Kei-
logg and ]. Madison Wells. To such men VIVA H.
g work Of consnmmating The conspiracy eonadeI.
vised and encouraged by leading *'yisit;p.'; r..
publican statesmen OF the North. They took each
step with delibcratton and apparent resard for
law. Before the election In Louisiana Williar,
Pitt Kellogg and his subordinates assumed excln.
sive control Of the execution Of the Kexistry law
They refused registration to thousands entitled to
1t, and added thousands to tine lists who hal m
right to vote On the duy Of the election The noIl
were managed by officials appointed BY the Gov
ernor. These were
1SNEARLY EVERY INSTANCE
members Of the Republican party. United state,
Marshas swarncd at every precinct when thought
necessary, under p.etcnse Of preserving Tue pcaca
were stuffed in the interest Of Republican candI-
dates, poll were falsited in some fnstanre.
and then returned to the canvassing Board, while,
n other cases: returns giving Democratic majoE-
After the returns had been delivered 10 the Board
they remained in its exclusive possession. anI
while there, they were opened with it, consent,
md original papers aoStracted apu fal4n
ones substituted In their stead. When tha
returns were opened, the BOARD, with ap
appearance Of: fairness permitted person. repre-
senttng both parties to be present, but when the
decision was made as to what should be counted,
eecret sessions were held, from which cvery Demo.
crat was excluded, although
TIE LAW CONSTITUTING THE BOARD
required that 1t should be composed OF repeeacnta-
tires Of both political parties: In counting the
votes 1t exercised powers not conferred by tho
and Justice. The members Of the Board changed
the pollbooks so that Republican officers
appeared to be chosen when their opponents had
in fact act been elected They forged The MINES ot
the votes OF precincts upon aflidavits which they
knew had been fraudulently returned. Indeed.
Of miles from the places IN which they
to have been taken, in order that de-
cision might appear justified which they had In nd
vance determined to make. They arbitrnEtY threw
out votes where there were no preliminary state
nlcnts from the Commissioners Of Election to rive
them jurisdiction. They corrnptly, in order to
secs ayoTes and to correct mistakes e certain
votes which had never been cast While consider
in. the case the members OF tho Board
ESDEAyoEED TO ENTER INTO SEGoTlAT1oSS
Committees to sell their decision. a half million
Of dollars was the price asked. Not obtainine It
they tried to bargain with lending Democrats Of
J. Madison Wells, with the approval OF Thomas c.
Anderson. offered to elect Nichols State ticket
for 500. coo cash in hand: The moP:y was not
broken Oft, with the leaders OF the Republican
party. The result was declared IN its favor. The
;a:cf consp'rator. J. Madison Wells. admitted
hat he had been paid by that organization for his
lccision.
IN FLORIDA
he same frauds characterized the returns and the
'rt Wit, the game disregard Of justice. Besdes,
n that State, it refused to regard the orders OF
ourts o. competent jurisdiction, and proceeded in
he ot defiant contempt 65 Q, jpisia authority
brown out IN Florida and more than, 10, 00oiu
.ouisiana- The votes Of those State. IN conse-
ncnee or - the conspiracy. which, in fact, had been
asst for Tildcn, were given to Hayes
THE ONLY EXCUSE
or this outrageous reversal OF the Judgment Of
he people Is that intimidation had been prac,ccl
brown out Whether this intimidation compelled
One persons to vote AGAINST their will or pre-
cnted some from attending the polls, + afforded
Pct;on of ballots By the Returning Ioaras bnt the
tatute o: Louisiana only authorized the proof Of
in cascs where charges OF violence
essoa was on held the These as' cns:s nasa
ere to be incloscd to the Board in envelopes eon-
harges made as required. In the res: evidence
az received without proper foundation having
cen laid. The evidence received consisted in the
FFIDAv1rs WRITTEN OUT BY CLERKS AND
EMPLOYEES OF THE RErURS17G BOARD,
ithout ever having been seen by the parsons Qur-
ortin to vtsS5y ths% or the oeeTs ga1p9ag
uate proof OF intimidation. It may be remarked
Gre TINT tho temptation to Kellogg and bis Re-
lrning Board was very great to manufacture
ases or intimidation, for it was only IN
lem that the Democratic majority could %
'crthsown and the conspiracy be successful we
aould not fail to cali the attention Of the people
THE DANGEROUS EFFECT OF THE DOCTRINE
intimidation in politics. It d1squalides from
'tlng not only the parties to act Of Intimidation.
IT all those who have voted at the same prec1nts
lth them Two persons may conclude 70 MAKE
Lse OF intimidation, and thereby cause pafteh
sting thousands OF votes to be rejected Il makes
e to rest in Returning Boards. It enables tha
tter to impose the scverest of penalties-disffan-
giving to the petsons pun
he'd m opportunity Of hearing OF tta~
Republic deserves to Jose its liberties II Il to-
ates such outsascs for an hour. By this disre.
rd Of law, disobediencc Of courts, and contempt
the right OF voters by their frauds, and cofruP,,
rjurfes, and forgeries. did the conspilatots o.
in the certificates Of election for the Republican
ndidates in the Southern Suites named. FROM
e day that the certificates were tseued TO mo
lyes Electors In Louisiana and Florida, 1ne
nntry has been
LIED WITH AN UNPRECEDENTED E1cTEaEsE
The people have done little else than engage II
scussion US to the fraudulent conduct OF Return
: Boards In this condition Of affairs business
3 been generally suspended, failures hare been
squent- and p1ostfation has seized upon neSfay
cry interest in the land. When this e1clteme:n1
Is at its height Congress assembled. One Of its
ties was to count the Electoral votes Of me
:w OF facilitating the count and providing soe 'ao
aceful performance Of its duty by Consrese,
1 was passed creating an Electoral Commission.
that law the Commission WIS to ascertain tao