Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1877-12-08

tho Electoral Commission should be very
| tenderly dealt with. Mr.. Jefferson said
| that jealousy of rulers, not confidence
was the virtue OF all true ctZens Of a re-
public. Without stopping to consider
whether this applies to Judges, as well rs
| other officers, | answer You by saying
| that the Electoral Commission was not Il
judicial tribunal, and did not behave like
| one. 1t was a political body organized
| for a special occasion, to determine 4 par
| t.cular question. .'accor,ling to the best of
it's prejuAiccs," and it performed the
| function assigned to it by disrcglrding
| the law of the case and shutting its eyes
to the facts. The less confidence we bave
| in such tribunals the better: indeed,
reasonable regard for the SAFETY of our
| most important public rights requires
| that we should have meme ut all.
| You are welcome to the admission Gf
You think it will DO you any good) that
! look not OIL ! with contempt. hut with
abt,otro,,es, uro,, II ~s,'s. fss's:it+ *rtsp'ias
which have .lis:-racrd the history Of our
race on both sides oftl,c Atlantic, incluI-
| ing the Star Chamber. the Court nf ftlgh
Commission, all military aud all ecc.esi-
| asljna1 commissions. and all commissions
| for a,0litical purposes. If ! could revive
| in this generation the stern hatred which
! our fathers felt for those dangerous che
mics OF liberty and justice, l would he
| great public benptactOr. and yon would
|
to uphold fraud, to sanctity persecution,
! or to Cypress the innocent.
ACAsE FOR PLAIN SPEAKING.
You take violent exception t" my use
of fine word ''conspilacy," as applied to
! those unlawful proceedings hich result
ted in defeating Mr.. Tildcn|s large ma
jority. or course you prefer You, own
euphemisric phrase, aud call it 'ak'r q "a
| political advantagc.' But l cannot see
! wherein my term is wrong. Your ohjcc
ton is like that of arcicnf isto! t. Che
| word ''steal. - for which he wished to sub.
| stitute ''cOnvcy.'
To say conspiracy, fraud, or anything
| else which implies that Your friends in
Louisiana aud their allies were guilty Of
crime, is, in your opinion, coarse ard
brutal Your refined taste has been deep
~ offended in This way. not only by me
| hut by the whole Democracy. wherever
they have written or spoken on the sub
jcct, either in Congress. before the com
| mission. or elsewhere. The imno!itencss
of ma king the accusation has been uni
forinly heightened by the rough holiness
| with which it was pro"ed to lie true. and
| by "blistcring words" in hich it was
denounced. Perhaps all the Democrats
were wrong t" some extent. 1t may be
that we ought not to have spoken out in
| harsh terms Of Cens,ir2, Gr said anything
to disturb the serenity of the knaTcS who
did us this terrible Injustice. But if you
are not altogether blind You must see that
tins was, in our situation, simply i"!pos-
Shl". l:crc was = great nation whcl,
had suffered by misGnverumcnt more than
any other under the Sunl--hcr property
| taxed almost to coniis-ca:ion-Ier indus
try crushed to the earth--!ler public do
| main SGu%nUrrc;t Il wHv-hrr best citizens
starving by the hundred thousand in t:ic
| midst Of the plenty which their own la
hors had produced, while corruption WIS
revealing i'll high places aud t;.ttcuiug on
the general distress. The people deter
mined to retortH the administration of
their public affairs, ana restore their own
prosperity, by choosing rulers 3" !iniu they
could trust for that purpose. They ex-
constitutionally, and peacc'iily, and they
were defeated by an inpuden! swnd'".
Is it any wonder that til" great heart OF
the Democracy Swelled Will indi gnHt ion d?
Even if their feelings found vent in lam
guage too passionate, you onght to re-
| member, with Burke. that ''Somcthin .
must be pardoncd to the spirit of lib
ert -
concelc, howavcr, that 10 feeling Of.
resentment will excuse lis for charging Il
conspiracy where none existed. of irnn,i
where none was committed. Even il VIC
We're wron%cd, that does not give us the
privilege of applying terms which do not
express the real nature of the injury. We
can Justify our words only by showing
that we use them truly, in sense au-
tholzed by the law and the common
speech of the country Otherwise our
language is, like some Of yours mere Wit
operation, diswracetul only 10 those WHO
utter it. Accepting, therefore, the on"s pro-
bdnGi, let me bring your attention to cer-
tain fac is well and Uuhicly known.
II WAS \ CONSPIRACY.
1t is proved, if human testimony can
prove anything. that the people of Louisi-
ana did, on the eth Of November last
past, duly, and by regular ballots, make
an appointment of presidential Electors
known to lie in favor OF 'Hilden and Hen
bricks, and author zcI them TO cast tho
vote Of the state. 1t is just as clear that
the appointment made by the people wa
set at nau@ht by Il gross laisi !iration OF
he records and returns of the election
This was G effected by the corrupt agency
of certain local officers, combined with
other persons in and out o! the STATE
who melted thcla to il, allotted them il
it and helped them to cluthc the chc:Ii
in what they said We're the ''furrnS o: L: -.
| Is it IL miSnonlcr to call this Il COnSplia
cy' That otlrnSc is defined as Il combs:
nation of several persons to acconlpiiS.
an unlawful purpose. by concerted acton
How can you get your friends outside o
this definition ! Persons acting IN thi
way are always treated ~ cnnSpiratcTs
and Ivy tho law Of every civilized coun
try in the world, they are severely pan
ishcd. Take one simple ard actual cast
out Of thousands tnat might be give:
Divers dishonest men Of ST. Louis com
biucd o detraud the United States OF
their revenue from distilled spirits, an
they did ii by a. prcconccrtcd series o
= false ana deceptive returns, which cer
, tain pablo officers conttderatcd witt
, them passed of as true. This was held
and justly held, to be Il conspiracy, "n'
some OF the parties to it were sent to tn
. ! DcnitcutiarV.