The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-07-14

the record Of the appointment as the peopl'
made it up; they could read it as they ran
the truth was palmer than the lie the honest
of the case was rs easily seen as the fraud
But no persuasion could influence them t,
east even glance at the actual appointment
What did they think this commission wa
made forY Why was this great combination
Of learning and statecraft Sc, up? According
to the eight its sole purpose was, not TO de
termlne any matter in dispute between thi
| parties, but merely TO declare that the Re
turning Boards had certified for the Hayes
electors; which everybody knew already, ant
nobody ever denied. fits object was wha
the law said-to decide who were duly ap
pointed--then the eight succeeded in maxim,
1t merely splendid abortion, because, amonl
other reasons, it was too much trouble L
make it anything else.
But the commission, following the lead o
counsel for Mr.. Hayes, insisted that the Ger
tliicate Of the proper State officer ought to b,
regarded as conclusive evidence Of the ap
| pointment made by the people. 1t is un
doubtedly true that the State has q right tC
speak on this subject through her own or
gans, and when she does so speak, her yoic,
should be regarded as true. But what Officer
is her proper organ? The Governor beinl
her political chief, and his certificate beinl
required by act of Congress, it would not
have been unreasonable 10 holo that il wai
conclusive unless tainted with fraud The
| Hayes electors had the Executive certificate
in Louisiana aud Florida, and this, in regard
to those States, gave the eight great lega
advantage. But they threw it away, abandon.
ed the attestation Of the Governor as worth.
less, claimed no faith or credit for it, and
| pronounced it open to contradiction, no mat
ter how honestly it may have been given.
What was the meaning Of this phenomenal
ruling which apparently opened the door OF
investigation even wider than the Democrats
| asked? 1t was understood by everybody.
The commission was hedging for Oregon.
The eight were reaching across to the Pacific
for the one vote there, which was Just as
important as the twelve on the Gulf OF Mex
leo.
But having gone behind the Governor 5
certificate for the sake Of correcting errors,
could there be any possible justification for
stopping before the truth was reached II
the head Of the Commonwealth, whose attes-
tation is required by Federal law, went for
nothing whenever it was eontradicted, how
could the conclusiYeness be asserted of a
paper made by subordinate officers unknown
outside OF the State, and poweriess even by
the local law 10 make q certificate of more
than prima facie validity2 Yet the Electoral
Commission (eight TO seven) decided that the
Governors certificate might be set aside for
a mere mistake Of law or fact, while that of
the Returning Board would stand, though
known TO be founded on falsehood and satu
rated all through with corruption.
The unyarying preference Of the eight Com
missioners for the false over the true becomes
very striking at this point. When they got
behind the Governors papers, they found
lying dttHRde two other sets of documents,
one of which was record Of the actual ap-
pointment made by the people; the other was
mere fabrication Of the Returning Board
without any semblance of truth; they embrac.
ed the latter with all the ardor Of sincere
affection, and rejected the former with all
possible marks OF their dislike.
10 give the DEGREES OF the Returning
Boards the conclusive effect claimed for them
1t was necessary to hold that they were legally
invested with Judicial powers, and that their
jurisdiction, whether rightly or enormously
exercised, was absolute over the whole sub.
jeet matter. In Florida the statute which
creates the board gave it nothing except min.
isterial powers, and the Supreme Court ofthat
State solemnly pronounced its claim of Judi.
clal authority to be altogether uufounded.
But the Electoral Commission would not be
influenced by either the written or the un.
written law. The commission conceded TO
the Louisiana board all the judicial power il
needed to sanctify its disfranehisment Of the
people in the face of the Constitution, which
expressly forbade it, This general iurisdic.
ton was not all they bestowed on those
boards; they declared in substance that il
might be well exercised in particular cases
where it was not invoked according TO the law
which gave them being, as, for instance,
where Louisiana parish sent up its return
without a protest, statement or affidavit.
The eight Commissioners did not stop there.
They went much further. They praet ically
justified and sustained all the infinite rascality
of the Returning Boards, They not only re.
fused to take voluntary notice of the atrocious
frauds perpetrated by them, but they excluded
the proofs Of their corrnption which the Dem
ocratic counsel held in their hands aud offered
to exhibit. These Commissioners choked off
the evidence, and smothered it us remorse.
lessly as Wells and his associates suppressed
Democratic returns. And this they put on
the express ground that to them it was all Que
whether the action of these boards was fraud.
ulsnt or not. They would suffer no proof of
corruption to invalidate the right claimed by
a Hayes man to put in the vote OF State for
his candidate.
This monstrous and uncomfortable outrage
was resisted to the utmost. All Of the seven
implored and protested against it. Judge
Clifford, the President Of the commission,
laid it down as a maxim of the common law
that fraud vitiates whatever it touches, and
proved il undeniably. He might have proved
more. 1t is not merely a maxim of the com.
mon law; it belongs to all countries and all
Pnda alasut nv
yades all systems of jurisprudence; i has its
home in every honest heart; it is the univer-
sal sentiment of all just men; it applies TO all
human dealings. Judge Field looked in the
face of the majority, and told them plainly
that their disregard Of this great principle was
''as shocking in morals as Il was unsound in
Law, and added; ''It is elementary know.
ledge that fraud vitiates all proceedings, even
the most solemn; that no form of words, no
amount Of ceremony, no solemnity Of pro.
ceeding, can shield it from exposure or pro
tect its structure from assault and destruc.
tion.n But the eight were as deaf as adders
to the voice of reason and justice. They
would not permit the fraud to be assaulted,
much less TO be destroyed. They stood over
it to shield it, protect it, and save it, inter.
posing the broad egis of their authority to
cover it against every attack.
Ihe eight perAstently denied their power
or that Of Congress, to do what they were
commanded by the law to do--that is, decide
who were duly appointed. They would only
decide that certain persons were named as
electors by a Returning Board. They would
not understand that the appointment by the
people might be one thing, and the action of
the Returning Board another, or that the
latter, even as evidence of the former, was
worthless If it was fraudulent.
They insisted that the Returning Board
certificate must be received with all the hon.
ors; TO question its verify would be usurpation
npon State rights, which they (the eight we're
most careful to preserve intact aud unim.
pared. ''Bat,p said they, ''if Returning
Board behaves uniaithfally, the State herself,
by her own authorities, must see to il and
correct the wrong" Thereupon came Flori.
da, and showed that she had, in fact, made
the correction. All the departments Of her
Government-her Legislature, her courts, and
her Executiye-had at different tines exam
ined and revised the action Of her Returning
Board; pronounced it false, fraudulent, and
void declared that the Tilden electors were
duly appointed, and left the Hayes candidates
without shred Of authority 70 vote for the
State. There stood the State herself upright
-