The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-05-03

10 uenieu' Ing Oultan pTocecuS noAt Week
to Schuenda. His brother Eschad goes to
On April 90, a FIRE broke out in the Nov.
city Works at Sturbainst, Canada. During
the confagration, the poorly constructed
walls Of the building fell out upon the
crowd, and nine men were taken out of the
debris dead, and ten seriously wounded.
Report of Louisiana Commission.
The President has given out the report of
the Louisiana Commissioners, which reads
as follows The actual condition of affairs on
our arrival in this city may be briefly stated
as follows: Gov. Packard 1--WE shall speak of
both gentlemen by the title they claim was
at the State House with his Legislature and
friends, and an armed police force. As there
was nc quorum in the Senate even upon his
own theory of law, his Legislature was neces.
sarily inactive. The Supreme Court, which
recognized his authority, had not attempted
to transact any business since it was dis
possessed of its court room and custody of
its records, on the 9th of January, 1877. He
had no organized militia, alleging that his
deficiency in that respect was owing to his
obedience to the orders of President Grant
to take NO steps to change the relative posi-
ton of himself and Gov. Nichols. His main
reliance was upon his alleged legal title,
claiming that it was the constitutional
duty of the President to recognize it and to
afford him such military assistance as might
be necessary to enable him to assert his
authority as Governor.
Gov. Nichslls was occupying the Odd
Fellows Hall as a State House. His Legis-
lature met there, and was actively engaged
in the business of legislation. All the de-
partments of the city government OF the city
of New Orleans recognized his authority.
The Supreme Court nominated by him and
confirmed by his Senate was holding daily
sessions, and had heard about two hundred
cases. The time for the collie ction of taxes
had not arrived, but a considerable sum of
money in the form of taxes had been volun-
tarily paid into his Treasury, out of which
he was defraying the ordinary expenses of
the State government. The Nichols Legis-
lature had q quorum in the Senate, upon
either the Nichols or Packard theory of
law, and a quorum in the House on the Mich
oils, but not on the Packard theory. The
Packard Legislature had a quorum in the
House on its WI theory of law, but as
already stated, not in the Senate, and was
thus disabled from any legislation that
would be valid even in the judgment of its
to be very difficult to ascertain the
precise extent to which the respective
governments were acknowledged in the
various parishes outside of New Orleans,
but it is safe to say that the changes which
had taken place in the parishes after the
organization Of the two governments on the
9th of January, 1877, were in favor of the
Nichols government. The claim to the
legality of the Supreme Court, composed of
Chief Justice Manning and associates, who
were nominated by Governor Nichols and
nnuH rnno 1 hu his Sanafa watts rnnn tho ~ q
basis as the title of Governor Nichols and his
Senate. The claim to legality of the Supreme
Court, composed Of Chief Justice Ludeliug
and his associates, res's either upon their
right to hold over in case the Nichols court
is illegal, or upon the legality Of the Kel.
~logg-Packard Senate which confirmed the
Judges upon the nomination of Governor
Kellogg, and while it had a Returning Board
quorum.
We have briefly sketched the actual posi-.
Ii)n as we found it. We will now state the
legal question, upon which the rights Of these
respective governments depend.
Tine Constitution of the State of Louisiana
requires that /" returns of sll elections for
new S f the General Assembly shall be
nMe To the Secretary of State" 1t also
provides that the qualified electors shall
vote for Governor and Lieutenant Governor
at the time and place of voting for Repre-.
sentatives. The returns of every election
shall be sealed up and transmitted by the
proper returning officers to the Secretary of
State, who shall deliver them to the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, on the
second day of the General Assembly then to
be holden. The members of the General
Assembly shall meetin the House OF Repre-
sentatives and examine and count the votes.
1t will be observed that this provision of the
Constitution requires the returns of votes
for Governor and Lieutenant Governor to be
sealed up and transmitted by the proper
returning officers to the Secretary of State,
and the same provision is made in substance
as to the members of the General Asse nbly.
Bus in 1870 the Legislature passed an act,
amel ded in 1872, which created a
body called the Returning Board, con-
sistIng of five member to be ap-
pointed by the Senate, and to "be the
returning officers for all elections in the
State" The act provides that the Commits
sioners of Election at "ach pole or voting
place, shall count the votes, making a list
of the names of ali persons voted for, and
the Offices for which the votes were given,
the number of votes received each, the
number of ballots contained in the box, aud
the number rejected, and the reasons there.
for, and to make duplicates of such lists
and send one to the Supervisor of Registra.
ton of the Parish of Orleans and one TO the
Secretary of State. The law further re quires
the Supervisors of Registration to consoli.
date the returns received from the differ ent
polling places and forward them with the
originals to this Returning Board. The act
further provides that if there shall be any
riot, tumult, acts of violence, intimidation
and disturbances, bribery or corrupt iDhu.
ence at any place within sail parish, at or
near poll or voting place, or place of regis.
traitor, which riot, tumult, acts of violence,
intimidation, and disturbance, bribery and
corrupt influence, shalt prevent or tend to
prevent a fair, Tree peaeeable and full
vote of all the qualified electors, it shall be the
duty of the commissioners to make a state
ment Of such facts and to forward The same
to the Supervisor of Registration, with his
returns of the election, and the Supervisor
of Registration snail forward the SINE to
the Returning Board. The Returning Board
is required to investigate the st ttement of ID
timidation, and to exclude from the returns
which it makes TO the Secretary of State the
returns received by it from tn, Sc polls or
voting plac, S where a fair election has been
prevented by the causes above named.
The same law further declares: 1t shall
be the duty of the Secretary of State to
tran S nit TO the Clerk of the House of Repre-.
sentstives and to the Secretary of State of
lnS 1857 uCutIdl ooSChib'y q 'Aob u VIC
names Of such persons as, according to the
return s, shall have been elected to either
branch of the General Assembly, and it
shall be the duty of the Clerk and Secretary
to place the names OF the Representatives
and Senators-elect SO furnished upon the
roll Of the House aud of the Senators respec.
lively, and those Representatives and Sen
ators whose names are so placed by the Clerk
and Secretary respectively, in accordance
with the foregoing resolutions, and mont
other, shall be competent to org inize the
House of Representatives or the Senate"
1t is claimed by the counsel for the Mich
oils government that this act, SO far as it in
t~erposes a Returning Board exercising these
powers of exclusion between the Parish Su
~pervisor of Registration, with his ~consoli
dated returns, and the Secretary of State
is, when applied to the election of member
of the General Assembly, of the Governor
and of the Lieutenant Governor, a plair
violation of those provisions of the Consti
tuition of Louisiana which say that the re
turns of all elections for members of tn,
General Assembly shall be made to the Secre
tary of State, and in reference to the Gov
ernor and Lieutenant Governor, the return
of every election shall be sealed up ant
transmitted by the proper returning officer
20 tho Secretary of State. and who shal de