The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-07-12
ANDERSON, S. c., THURSDAY. JULY II, 1877.

ClGlZtuS VI LuC plOPCA PpiAoh'
Wanting this, the board was absolutely,
without the pretense of power to touch
the return from any parish or polling,
place, except for the purpose of COM
piling it and adding it as true to the
others. By the election law of Louisiana
the board has no more authority to ex-
anime or decide a question of iintimida-
ton which is not raised BY the election
officers than a private individual would
have to steal it from the records and burn
it. So stands the law. The fact isles-
tablished by conclusive evidence that
from every one Of the Democratic par
ishes the returns came up. without any
charge, statement, or protest. In all those
cases they were therefore without color
Of jurisdiction. ~ h
FORGING AFFIDAVITS AND RETURNS.
But the conspirators could not afford
to be baked out of their game BY the
failure of the local officers to make
false charge ofintimidation. These votes
must be excluded per fas aut nefas, and
the returning board must do it; that was
what the board was made for. The re-
turning officers went upon the principle
aut uaveaaian. ant tacian'. They made the
protests which they could not find; afi-
davits which no creature in the parishes
was base enough to back with his oath
were fabricated in the custom house, and
used by the board with full knowledge
that they were mere counterfeits. The
exclusion of returns on the ground of
intimidation was in eyery case dishonest,
for in none was there particle Of evi-
dence to Justify it. When nothing else
would serve the purpose, they did not
scruple to resort to plain forgery. OF
the return from Vernon parish every fig
ure on the whole broad sheet was altered
with elaborate pains under the special
direction of Wells. Perjury and subor-
dination of perjury entered largely into
the business. There is hardly any spe-
cies of the cr;men falls; for which the law
has a punishment that did not become
an elementary part Of the great fraud
which was committed when the defeated
electors and State officers of Louisiana
we're falsely certified as chosen by the
people. i.... 80 nc
But how was the object of the con-
spiracy to be accomplished? The House
of Representatives was Democratic, and
without its consent, expressed or implied
in some form or another, the Senate
could not give effect to false count.
The first intention was to claim that the
President of the Senate had power to de-
termine absolutely and arbitrarily what
electoral votes should be counted and
what not. This was the great rallying
point until Mr.. Conkling took it up, and,
| in a speech of surprising ability, utter
" demolished and reduced it to invisible
atoms. It became settled, therefore,
that the two houses must count the
votes, and this clearly implied the power
to inquire and determine what were
votes. It could not be denied that the
voice of the House of Representatives
was at least as potential as that OF the
Senators; and it was not supposed that
the House would suffer a fraud so glar.
ing as this to be thrust down the throat
of the country against the stomach o.
its sense" But if the two bodies would
declare inconsistent results of the count
and proclaim the election OF different
Presidents, state Of things might. come
which would subject our institutions te
strain severe enough to endanlger them
greatly. 1t was in these difficult circum.
Stances that a mixed commission. of ff
; teen was proposed, consisting Of tiye
Senators, FIVE Representatives, and i've
Judges of the Supreme Court. The mode
of appointing them made it. certain
that fourteen would be equally diyidee
between the parties; and as the httt
Judge would be named by the consen
of his brethren on both sides, he nigh
be expected to stand between them, like
a daysman, with a hand as heavy on one
head as the other. Fhe Democrats con
sented to this in the belief that no sever
Republicans could be taken from tht
Court or Congress who would swear t.
decide the truth and then uphold {
i; known fraud; if mistaken in that opin
ion of their adversaries' honesty, they
felt sure, at all events, that the umpire
would be a fair-minded man. They were
bitterly disappointed; the commission
, went eight to seven for the great FRAUD
and all its branches for fraud in th'
detail and in the aggregate; for every
item of fraud that was necessary to MAKE
,, the sum total big enough-eight to sever
all the time. .l.....s..
|, 1T REFUSES TO DO ITS DUTY.
We must look at the state of the case
as it went before the commission. Iii
den and Hendricks had 1S4 electora
votes clear and free of all dispute, on
5 less than a majority of the whole mum
; Der. They also had in Louisiana eigh
, and in Florida four, appointed BY tn
t people, but falsely certified to Hayes ant
Wheeler by the Governors. In Oregon
they had one certified by the Governor
, but against whom popular majority hat "a
: been cast for an ineligible candidate. I.
elect Hayes it was necessary that eacl
8 and every one Of these thirteen vote
5 should be taken from Tilden and given t.
D Hayes. AS this required many distinc
8 rulings based upon contradictory grounds
8 the path of the commission was not olnl..
steep but crooked. =, Ind IL;
v The great and important duty cas-
/, upon the commission by special lay a.
3 and by a special oath Of each member ]
: was to decide, in the case Of conteste'
, votes from State, whether eny an
: what votes from such State, are the vote
provided for by the constitution OF tn ttlhl
t United States, and how many and wha
: persons were duly appointed electors il
: such State" 1t is not denied that tn
$ sole power Of appointing e electors tor tn IN
. people. It was then and still is an ad
S iInitted fact that the people had exercise
the power Of appointment in the Pre-
s scribed and proper way !; they l|1 DID ,i(Il dul
4 make an appointment of electors, an !,
$ their act was duly recorded, and so mad
s a perpetual memory. This thing wa
b not "done in corner" it was "see
e and known of all men," That each 9
: the two States named had duly appointe
. Tilden electors at regular electio
: called for that purpose on the 9TH of No
e vember, in pursuance of law, was PAL
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