Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1877-03-17

delivered to the board, they remained
in its possession and were opened
with its consent and the original
papers abstracted and false ones
substituted in their stead. When
the returns were opened, the board,
with an appearance of fairness per-
mitted persons representing both
parties to be present; but when the
decision was made as to what should
be counted secret sessions were held
from which every Democrat was ex-
cluded, although the law creating
the board required that it should be
composed of representatives of both
political parties. In counting the
vote it exercised powers not con-
ferred by the statutes, and in the
most fragrant disregard of truth
and justice, members of the board
changed the poll books so that the
Republican officers appeared to be
chosen when their opponents had in
fact been elected. They forged the
name of an eficer to the certificates
of election; they threw out the votes
of precincts upon afidavits which
they knew had been fraudulently
returned; indeed they themselves
ordered false afidavits to be made
hundreds of miles from the places
where they purported to have been
taken, in order that the decision
might appear justified which they
had in advance determined to make.
They threw out the votes where there
was no preliminary statement from
the commissioner of election to give
them jurisdiction; they corruptly,
in order to elect favorites and to cor
rect mistakes of certain difference in
voting for electors, added to the list
votes which had never been coudted.
While considering, members of the
board endeavored to enter into ne
gotiations with the Republican and
Democratic National Committees to
sell their decision. Half million
of dollars was the price asked.
Not obtaining it they tried to bargain
with the leading Democrats of Louis
lana to elect State ticket of their
party. J. Madison Wells, with the
approval of Thomas c. Anderson,
offered to elect the Nichols State
ticket for 100000 cash, in hand.
The money was not paid, and ne
gotiations were then stopped, if not
broken off, by the leaders of the Re-
publican party, and the result was
declared in their favor. The chief
conspirator, J. Madison Wells, in
timated that he was paid by the
latter organization for his decision.
In Florida the same frauds charac-
terized the returns and the action
of the returning board. Votes were
thrown out with the same disregard
of justice. Besides, in that State,
it refused to regard the order of
comts of competent jurisdiction, and
proceeded in defiance of judicial
authority. In this manner moro
than 1000 Tilden votes were thrown
out in Florida, and more than 1O,-
600 in Louisiana. The votes of those
States in consequence of the con-
spiracy, which in fact had been
cast for Tilden, were given to Hayes.
The only one excuse for this out
rageous reverse of the judgment of
the people is that intimidation had
been practiced by the whites against
the blacks. Where voters we're
thrown out, whether this intimida-
ton compelled some persons to vote
against their will or prevented some
from attending the poll, it afforded
in their case no justification for a
deliberate rejection of the ballots by
the returning boards. The text Of
the statute Of Louisiana, the only
authorized proof of intimidation, in
a case where charges of violence
were made, in writing by the COM
missioners of elections on the day
when the election was held. These
charges were to be enclosed to the
board in envelopes containing the
returns. In a few cases only were
charges made rs required. In the
rest the evidence was received with
out proper foundation; having been
made evidence, it consisted in the
main of afidavits made, written out
by the clerks and employees of the
returning board, without ever hav-
ing been seen by the persons pur-
porting to verify them, or officers
purporting to certify to them. There
was, therefore, no adequate proof of
intimidation. It may be remarked
here that the temptation to Kellogg
and his returning board was very
great to manufacture cases of intim-
idation. for it was only in that way
the Democratic majority could be
overthrown and the conspiracy be
successful. We eshould not fail to call
the attention of the people to the
dangerous effect of the doctrine of
intimidation in politics. It disqual-
fies from voting not only parties to
the act of intimidating, but all those
xrho hovo votnI ~ A. a cov,oa a ,1,.oo;v, okc