The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1877-03-15

power as Caligula or Domilian, for
whom the pretorian guards controlled
the hastings and counted the votes.
Bat then we cannot get behind the
returns, forsooth Not we! You will
not let US. We cannot get behind
them. No. That is the law, 0 fcourse,
We may struggle for justice; we may
cry for mercy we may go down on
our knees, and beg and WOO for some
little recognition ofour tights as Amer.
lean citizens, but we might as well put
up our prayers to Jupiter, or Mars, as
bling suit in the court where Rhada-
nautilus presides. There is not a god
on Olympus that would not listen to us
with more tervor than we shall be
heard by our adversaries. We are at
their mercy; it is only to them that we
can appeal, because you gentlemen I'M
fortunately cannot help us, You are
bound by the new law which you have
made. You are Of course addicted
like other people TO the vice of consis-
tency, and what is done once must be
lone over again.
In the Louisiana case the people ap
pointed electors in favor Of Tilden, re-
corded their act, finished it, and left
their work in such q state that nobody
could misunderstood it. But other
persons, who had no power to appoint,
lalsiiicd the record of the actual APP
pointmcnt, partly nv plain forgery and
partly by fraul which was as corrlpt
in morals and as void in law as any
forgery could be. You thought it
right and legal and just to say that you
would not look at the record which the
people had made; the forgery, the
fraud, and the corruption were too ga
cred to be interfered with the truth
must not be allowed to come in con-
lict with the imposture, lest the con
c~ussion might he damaging.
This precedent must be followed.
1t is new law, to be sure, but we must
give it due welcome and the new lords
that it brings into power must be re-
, gardcd as our every noble and ap-
, proved good masters" Having de-
) cided that electors were duly appoint
, ed in Louisiana who were known not
) to be appointed. We cannot expect You
to take notice of any fact similar or
t kindred to it in South Carolina.
Then, again, the question of "duly
appointed' was decided in the case OF
) Lcvisce, an %elector who was an officer
t of the United States Government at the
/ time he was appointed, and continued
! to be alterward. The Federal Consti-
tntioE says that no man shall be ap-
[ pointed who is in that relation to the
. Federal Government. But you held,
. according to law mind you, that he
was q lawful elector and his vote a
+ good vote. In other words, a thing is
= perfectly constitutional although it is
known to be in the very teeth of q
constitutional interdict.
c Now you see why we are hopeless
The present state Of the law Is sadly
d, against us. The friends Of honest
+ elections and honest government are in
!. deep despair. We once thought that
the verifying power of the two Houses
Of Congress ought to be brought al
= ways into rcquisition for the purpose
Il Of seeing whether the thing chat is
k brought here is a forgery and . fraud
n on the one hand, or whether it is
f genuine and true certificate on the
other.
But while We cannot ask you to 60
t back behind this certificate, will you
c Just please to 90 to it-only to it-noI
n step behind. If you do, you will fine
2 that it is NO certificate at all such as Is
s required by law, The electors must
= vote by ballot, and they are required
i to be on oath before they vote. That
f certificate does not show that either Of
c those requirements was met; ano
Il where a party is exercising a specia
authority like this they must keel
a strictly within it, and you are not to
| presume anything except what appears
on the face Of their act to be done.
n Ii anybody vii! cast back his mind a
y little into the history of Presidential
c elections or look at the debate of less
1 than a year ago, he will remember that
c Mr.. Jefferson was charged when he
C was Vice. President Of the United
/ States with having elected himself by
t means of, not y fraudulent, but a mere
informal vote sent up from Georgia.
The informality was not in the certiIi
5 cate inside of the envelope, but in the
e outside vcrification. Mr.. Matthew L..
&, Davic, in 1887, got up that story. 1t
was not true, but it was believed for a
while. and it cast great odium on MIR.
Jellerson's memory. IL was not an in
Formally that was nearly as important
as this, nothing like it. But one of the
Senators now on this bench referred to
f it in u debate only a short time ago,
and denounced Mr.. Jefferson rs having
elected himself by fraud, because he
! did not call the attention of the Senate
aud House Of Representatives to that
fact.
/, If Mr.. JeffprsOn's memory ought to
be sent down to posterity covered with
infamy because he in his own case al
lowed a vote to be counted which was
, slightly informal on the outside Of the
envelope, l should be glad to know
what ought to be done to those who
would count this vote which has Meth
or form nor substance, which leaves
out all the essential particulars that
they are required to certify2
This great nation still struggles for
justice; a million majority of white
people send up their cry, and a MAORI