The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-11-17
THE NEW DEMOCRAT SATURDAY NOVEMBER II, 1877

~ w OhANAN6 OEMOOhA
had the temerity to hold up a book of Louisi-
, ana reports. In which he said the decision
interest IN The SUBJECT VIA a not eaam II % he
what was affirmed about t By Senator IA who
sequence the reputation Of the Louisiana court
suffered severely for while. But the misrep-
res s511. o soon became known for what it
posed, as you very well know. Now. after all
this, here are yon,at the same work again. pa,
2 dozen times The patient p pertinacty OF
Popes spider, reconstrneting its web as often as
J It was swept away, Is the figure that fits your
you by their oOarSeneaS.
P be co baa pdsedsa Il nv which tell
statute; but you are careful not to mention the
case or the book from which you take it; it is
found, however. In the case Of BonnerI, VS..
IS not in that passage or in that case, or in that
book. one word that ,alludes, in the remotest
manner name to the constitutional question or the
The case being examined shows that no such
point was raised by the record. or discussed by
counsel or adjudicated by the court The sole
question was whether the court had authority to
reverse the proceedings ct the Returning Board
and &C. correct It's errors: -Four Judges eoncurred
pressly gave them that power. they could take
no eognizance of the subject for want Of iuris
well cite that case to prove the consttutionaltv
OF the reconstruction law.
You claim that this same case not only estab-
llshes the pdidtB OF the act creating the Re-
turning Board. but the conclusive effect of its
action; whereas. in truth and in fact the court
Gcate of the board is merely D,'in,a tacie evil
dehhee in favor 2f the person who gets l. How
berbis, that the certificate shall be- not concu-
siye. but prime tacie merely And here it ought
5 Of Re a R ss t9F
the certificate of the board evidence, you garble
1t shamefnlly and alter It to make 1t fit your
words which declare 1t to be only priia facie.
| A FIT ApoLoGIsT FOR FRAUD
| am not sure that you have made these mis-
statements with malice prepense.
But wrong is wrought for want of thought,
AS well as want of heart.
| You utter whatever comes uppermost if it
seems to serve your purpose. without stopping
to consider whether IL Is right or wrong. Added
to this you have the dangerous gift of talking
on a,1 SUBJECT you know nothing about Just as
| OF mental qualities gives you q matchess skill
| at laundering.
| As expert divers to the bottom fall
sooner than those who cannot swim at all.
80. by this art of writing without thinking,
You have strange alacrity in sinking.
| Besides this. the obliauity of your moral
vision prevents you from seeing either facts or
principles e as they are seen by others You have
no doubt that Wells Anderson and the two mll-
lattoes, when they corruptly altered and falsi-
| fled the ELECTION returns, exercised q wise dis
cretion.," The manifest sincerity with which
you make your confession of this singular faith
| marks you out for the fttest man that could
have been found to serve the Great. Fraud by
Disappearing the constitution of a free state
mqtlating her statutes, and impuing to her
Judges absurd decisions which they never
made
THE FRAUDULENT CERTIFICATES.
n hutn Wa xui1J ~,
the Returning Board was a constitutional body
vested with all the power you claim for it. and
follow that its action is binding, il it be fraudu
lont5 No: a tribunal with full jurisdiction has
no more power to commit fraud than private
the United States upon a matter clearly within
Its an, hority is utterly void # tainted with
eate no deed no record weigh 9e taatba
in the scale of justice. II it has been concocted
n wilfgl falsehood or procured by actual decep
evidence has precisely the same probative force
as a forgery; neither more nor less. In saying |
this. we are backed by the good sense and hon
universally accepted. Nobody has yet dared to |
deny. this principle No Republican counselor |
sci set t forth none of the eight responded |
when all of the seven presented It. Even You
with all your strange aacrity in sinking" can
Any court. any Legislative body, any commits !
sioner or arbitrator, who receives a paper |
gives it the effect Of true one, or adopts # as
the foundation of a judgment, or allows it to |
prejudice any opposing right commits a most |
principle which excludes a document tainted |
with that kind of iniuuity is fundamental |
automatic, and necessary to the safety of ali |
rights, public as well as private. 1t Is of uni |
versal application, impregnable unassalable,
without variableness or shadow of turning. It |
stands now as it has stood since the beginning
OF the world.
Whn1a G m rh1 four IaI tbf cooI,
AS broad and general as the casing air.
WHAT THE EIGHT COMMISSIONERS DID.
The Electoral Commission was constituted
with authority clearly defined to determine a
certain GER controverted matter of fact to wit:
been duly appointed electors by the people of
Louisiana an or not; To maintain the affirmative
Board was alone relied upon. The eight com,
missioners, against the solemn protest of their
seven brethren. accepted that certificate and
fact averred Though it was. and they knew it
to pc, not only tainted. but saturated through
therefore as corrupt in morals and as void in
law as the nakedest forgery that ever was made
Thus It came to pass that this great cause in
public. was determined upon evidence which
no justice of the peace would receive in a suit
ular courts of the country, upon a trial for land
or money. the mere offer of such evidence by I
counsel, knowing its real character. would be
1AtIO uauscIOuS. IL WOulu uOG only De re-
ected. but the guilty counselor would be pun |
shed. not in the same way (for there is tech |
meal ditference). but on the same principle that
courts punish the ,utterance Of counterfeit !
money. To. pollute the administration of JUS
ice by passing false and fraudulent documents :
!pon court is indeed. very much worse than {
showing the queer" upon ashopkeeper.
or course, the wickedness of all this depends |
IN the sciemte1. Involuntary ignorance would
certificate was. known to all the world and /
'eing public fact. the commissioners as we'll e
Is everybody else were bound to know it; be- d
des that, the evidence was exhibited to their b
yes: their rejection of it assumed it to be true;
md they expressly ruled that no proof of fraud f