Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-05-02

either contested by the Democrat or Republl-
can party. Voluminous testimony was filed
and the lawyers on both sides argued each fer
their side, that it was the duty of the board
to throw out and not include in the count, or
retain and count the precincts on the ground
of illegaiiiy in the conduct of the election or
fraud that was charged to exist. The Attor-
ney General of the State and member of the
Board had decided that it had quasi Judicial
power and had the right to exclude the pre-
cincts from the count. The returns were
shown to be so irregular false, or fraudultn.
as to prevent the Board from ascertaining
from them the true vote, With this view it
was the duty of the Board to enter upon tie
work of the canvas with the conviction that
they were invested with large discretionary
powers which were of mixed character, po-
litical and judicial. The political largely pre-
dominated Partisan zeal and strong political
ties had powerful influence in the exercise
or these powers, and the Republicans having
a majority of the Board the canvass was large
ly in their favor, as the result proved. If the
Board had acted in accordance with the de-
cision of the Supreme Court of the State def
ming the powers and duties of the Board, since
rendered, there is no question of the fact that
Tilden would have been entitled to the vote
of Florida, excluding the returns from Baker
county, which were counted, and which
have since learned from the parties who made
them, were falsely manufactured returns, and
that the true returns, which corresponded with
the precinct returns of that county, would GER
tainly have given the State to Tilden. Archer
Precinct No. 3, Alachua county, was included
in the count The fraud committed in this
precinct was not shown to the Board by the
Democratic lawyers, although a contest was
made and much attention given to this pre-
cinct, and I have recently learned from the
the returns had been brought to Gainesville,
the county seat, 219 votes we're added to the
returns by the inspector and clerk of the said
precinct. In Leon county "a small Reyubli-
cinct No. 9, yet it was made to appear, even
to the satisfaction of the Democrats of the
Board, that these were not false ballots. Sub
sequent confession shows they were stuffed
in the box. 1 had seen Joseph Bowers, one
of the inspectors, have tickets similar to them
a few days before the election and cautioned
him against their use unless they were genu.
inc, and afterwards learned that he had Civ
en- them up. In Jefferson county, at certain
precinct at which Mr. Bell was inspector, 100
votes were surreptitiously added to the ballots
and counted. No charge was made as to this
fact before the Board. The confession or J.
Bell since made to me dlscloses the fact that
had the 219 votes fraudulently added to the
Archer returns, and the "a votes stuffed in the
box in Leon county, and the 100 votes surrep-
titiously added in Jefferson county, aggrega-
ting 1893, been rejected, and the Democratic
rejected precincts which were excluded for ir-
regularity and illegality, contrary to the decis-
ion of the Supreme Court, had been retained
and counted, Mr.. Tilden would have carried
BILE that Tilden was entitled to the electoral
vote and not Hayes.
In making this statement my motives will
doubtless be questioned by many, but the facts
mere motive to sustain them. am free to
admit that viewing things as now do and re-
Dembering that Hayes was constantly inspi-
ng his personal friends and agents by every
means in his power to secure for him the cleo
toral vote of Florida and Louisiana, ard be-
lieving it to have been consciously wrong on
his part, done with the knowledge that he had
not been elected, as his subsequent repudia-
ton of Governor Packard, where his title was
bound up in his own, and his willful and cow
ardly desertion of the very men who contrib
uted SO largely to his election has shown; my
contempt for the pitiable littieness of the man
is beyond my power of expression. Mr..
Hayes has denied the validity of his own title
in denying that of Governor Packard. He
has ignored his Florida friends, showing that
he believed them unworthy and tainted with
fraud. Yes he held on to the Presidency
which, in his own opinion, was secured by
this fraud. He has cowardly abandoned and
betrayed bis Southern Republican friends,
through fear of being Ousted from an office he
believed he never was elected to by the
people Whatever may be the opinion of
men in regard to my motives, give tn EN-
facts and leave my motives to higher
tribunal.
[Signsdl SAMUEL B. MCLN.