The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-03-20

| Jaws. we are DOb 80 lfnpThCblcaDIe OF 30 maj
as to assume that public opinion should con.
troll the decisions Of the courts OF the country
or that our judges should override the plain
letter Of the law In any public emergency
But every Intelligent man in this State
realizes how fearfully the public good has
been Of late, and especially In the case Of
Tom Anderson, sacrificed by the narrow con
sstructions Of technical or artificial justice,
and the general judgment Of the people Of
Louisiana will be, when the whole story Of
this remarkable trial and It's most extraor-
binary result are laid before them, that the
present court has proved II lamentable and
humiliating failure; that 1t has been I'm
able to rise to the height Of the occasion,
and In the administration Of Jurisprudence
framed to Cypress the people. it has adhered
with too great q subserviency to the miserable
technicalities Of the system instead Of bold
ly attempting TO enlarge and en1ighten It
in the interest Of society and for the protec-
ton Of the people.
II is not our purpose to question the mo-
lives Of the members Of the Supreme Court,
all of whom are gentlemen Of unblemished
integrity, and oil of whom coneurred In the
decision which declared that r. G. Anderson
committed no crime against the laws Of
Louisiana in classifying the election returns.
Neither shall we criticise the law upon which
the decision Is based. Such law s too refined.
subtle and deep for our poor comprehension.
But this fact is 50 luminous that 1t burns
before the eyes Of the country with q baleful
and unquenchabIe light, Anderson was
principal In the crime by which the election
returns from Vernon parish were falsihed
and reversed; the life Of our institutions is
the freedom OF elections and the Supreme
Court Of Louisiana has announced that the
wretch who aided the perpetrators of this
damnable deed Is, according to our laws, in-
nocent of any crime The grounds on which
this singular decision Is based are, in brief
these: /. Under the law the returning officers
were required to make their canvass and re-
turns from the statement Of votes made by the
commissioners Of elections: O. To constitute
forgery the instrument set out and charged
to be feloniously made, must be Of such char
acter that, IL genuine, 1t would be evidence OF
the fact II recites, and tend to prejudice the
rights Of another: 3. The returning officers
stubbornly refused to canvass the statements
Of the commissioners, and only these were
evidence OF the facts OF the cleo
tion and could prejudice the rights of the
candidates: 4. The supervisors consolidated
statement was not such an instrument as
constituted evidence OF the fact 1t recited; 1t |
could not prejudice the rights OF persons, and
therefore the Justification OF that statement |
was not forgery. We believe this is a fair
statement of the decision. 1t was upon such
quirks and bubbles of the law that a man
charged with one Of the most henous crimes
OF the century, u crime which has touched |
and rotted the foundations Of the government,
has been, after having had fair trial and
before an impartial jury, declared
innocent of any offense against the law by
the Supreme Court OF Louisiana and turned
loose upon society.
And now, what is the spectacle which this
decision has completed for the edifcation of
When the people Of Louisiana and
The Democratic party OF the whole country
denounced the wrong by which the electoral
vote OF this State was to be counted for Mr..
Hayes, and protested against the rulings of
the Electoral Tribunal in the case, we we're
told that neither Congress, nor the Tribunal,
nor any power on earth had right to go be-
hind the certificate Of a usurping Governor
BASED on the frauds Of the Returning Board.
That If a acr0nD or q crime had been perpe-
rated by the returning officers of the State
t was matter for the action of the courts of
The State to investigate and pronounce upon
Thus the "great fraud was consummated
ind the violation Of the rights of the
people left to be indicated by the
courts Of Louisiana. With an ener-
~ and patriotism which deserve the ap-
clause Of the country. the law officers of the
State instituted prosecution against the men
Who had perpetrated the crime Of classifying
'ur election returns During the progress
II that trial the eyes Of the whole country
we're upon US. The case was prosecuted and
defended by able counsel, and with untir-
ng energy and vigilance on both Sides
The rulings and the charge of the criminal
ourt have been widely commended for their
wisdom and impartiality, and the accused
vas convicted. The law, in this case at least. l
eemed about to be indicated, and the peo-
lie breathed freer in the consciousness that
heir laws and their liberties could
lot be trampled upon with impunity.
The convicted felon appealed to the
supreme Court; and that court has de-
Jared that the man who falsfied the election
eturns, and by his fraud kept the State for
'eeks in state of revolution, involving the
oss of millions Of dollars, committed no :
ri'ne against the lac of Louisiana. The
Electoral Tribunal refused the people relief !
nd the country protection from the frauds i
the members of the Returning Board, and
ow the courts to which we We're directed =
,r redress declare that the gang are limo
ent OF any crime. ,
Is this justice, is this law? If it be, can con-
.itutional liberty long survive under such 7
Tvs or such administration of the laws 1t {
ould seem, indeed, that the seed, the bloom O
nd flower of justice had withered and per- Q
he'd, and that commissions and courts y
nd only the dry and withered husks of il