Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-02-28

l GOu.
Attorney General Ogden is an Elder in the
Presbyterian Church. He, too, was aware ct
the fact that the jury was packed, and aided
| md assisted in the nefariOus scheme by which
Che packing was accomplished. He SAID he
Intended to force the trial. because he had his
jury prepared for conviction; that he kept
concealed in his room Littlefeld, to prevent
bis testimony being taken in Andersons trial.
| This Attorney General is wholly unreliable.
As sworn officer he has speculated upon the
collection of taxes. He attempted to force
the Grand Jury last summer to find bills of
Indictment against the Returning Board. He
appeared before the Grand Jury, lnsulted
witnesses, and threatened them with incarcef-
alton if they refused to swear exactly what he
desired Failing to procure such evidence
from the witnesses as he wanted, he accom-
panied the Judge before the Grand Jury, and
had him (the Judge to reprimand the wit
nesses and threaten them with incarceration
if they did not give such testimony as was
required by him. The Judge attempted to
force the Grand Jury to find true bill, to
! satisfy the wants and wishes of the Attorney
General, against the Returning Board, but
fnding all their extraordinary efforts futile,
they were compelled to fall back upon the al
tentative mode of information.
Assistant Attorney General Eagan is a
worthy and plant tool in the hands of the
fAttorney General. He stands ind cted for
murder in his own parish, having assassinated
brother lawyer on account of his success in
practice over him.
Mr.. Charles Cavanac, the important and re-
liable witness of this trio of villains, Whitta-
ker, Ogden, and Eagan, is a man of bad repu-
tation for varacity, especially where polit-
cal or personal interest is involved Hun
dreds of men in this city would not believe
him under oath. He holds prominent posi-
tion in the city government, although he has
denounced the female teachers of the public
schools as prostitutes.
William r. Smart, the custodian of the
Vernon records, would omit no lie that he
could utter that wonld be likely to convict
me- During the rebellion he stole my stock,
killed my hogs and poultry, and put the vote
to his company if they should kill me and
burn my dwelling over the heads of my fam
lily. A. E. Burk, another prominent witness,
absconded from the little town of Xenia,
Clay County, State of Illinois, and changed
his name from A. E. Burk to E. A. Burke.
Debts have followed hin, here for liquidation
over the signature of A. E. Burk, and some
of them have been paid by him, thus affirm
ing the fact of his absconding and changing
his name.
The names of the jurors that were impan
eled for the trial of Anderson and myself
were furnished by the Democratic Committee.
Their political status, as well as their views as
to the proper punishment, was canyassed by
the Judge, Attorney General, and the Demo-
cratic Committee before being placed on the
panel. One Of the Jury Commissioners testi-
fled before the court that the list of jurors
placed in the jury box from which talesmen
were drawn, after exhausting the panel, was
furnished by the Democratic Executive Com
mittee, and this fact was known to the ''Dea-
con Ogden, the assassin Eagan, and the petit
fogger Fnney."
The returns from Vernon Parish were made
up in the town of Alexandria, in the parish
of Rapides, fully eighty miles from where
the election was held, and yet the Returning
Board are charged with and made responsible
for all the changes which it is alleged have
been made in these returns since the votes
were counted by the Commissioners of Elec-
tion, every one of whom was a Democrat.
The Judge, the Attorney General; the Assist
ant Attorney General, and the District Attor-
ney have thrown every obstacle in the way,
end used every exertion to prevent us from
producing or having our witnesses, by urging
a speedy trial, and have denied every legal
right claimed by our attorneys. R. L. Gibson
has seen fit, on the floor of Congress, to c.
illuminate the Returning Board, and has at
tempted justification of their prosecution.
This colored Democratic Representative
seems TO claim a right to assail the white
race because he feels boastingly proud of the
commingling of the African with the Caucas
ian blood in his veins. When | was acting
lOT0Lldu vi tiic CulLcu OldlCS Jury III
1874, this colored Representative of Louisiana
in the Congress of the nation was presented to
the Grand Jury for violation of the election
laws, fraudulently filling the boxes with tick
cts that were never balloted, and would have
been indicted by the jury, and. in all proba
bility sent to the penitentiary but for my
leniency and forbearance. The evidence of
his guilt taken before the jury is yet in the
hands of one of its members. The lineage of
the Representative without nationality can be
fully established by many of the old inhabi-
tants of Adams County, Miss, as well as by
many of his neighbors in the Parish of Terre-
boune.
These are samples of the principal tools and
the means employed to secure the conviction
of the members of the Returning Board in
the case improperly called "The State of
Louisiana VS.. j. Madison Wells and Others"
but really and truly it should be called "The
case of Samuel j. Tilden VS.. Rutherford B.
Hayes" 1t is a contest for the Office of Pres
ident of the United States and the patronage
of the Executive Departments of the Federal
government. 1t is chiefly managed by David
Dudley Field, with the advice and pecuniary
assistance of the National Democratic Com
mittee. A verdict of packed jury of Lou
isiana Democrats, procured in the manner
above pointed out, will, it is expected, be &C.
cepted by the people of the United States as q
judicial settlement of Mr.. Tilden's title to the
Presidency. 1t is bold and desperate game
for great stake. Myself and colleagues on
the Returning Board are merely the outposts
or picket guard, which they hope to capture,
and then they will surprise the garrison, if
possible, and claim the patronage Of the gov
ernment as the spoils of war; In corrobora-
tion of this view, refer you to the move
ments along the line of the enemy's camp; to