The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-03-04
VERNON PARISH F0RGERlES.
THE STATES PRISON OFFENCES COM
yTTTED IOR H.fYEb'S SAKE
s.me nner Crime 10 Make n Fraudulent
President Forgery TO Hide Forgery. mud
Perjury TO Conceal Al go The story OF
weI,.'. Crime Told by his Clerk. Iittie hcid.

nom the testimony taken before two commit
TO-. If the House Of Representatives. how tho
pari.h of Vernon, with ten nolls. which cast
y,,,- for the lIayc. electors and 6I7 for the Til
d.n electors. WIS 10y daring forgery certified
l, Wells, Anderson. Cascnavc and Kcnnor.
nm Ian. 10. 1871 to- lave Gust l1S votes for Hayes
AMI ago vote for Tildcn. The special object of
nj. forgery was toclcct Republican State SEN
a,ot Parish Iui.e. and an Attorney. who were
ftionds and ncieibor- Of Wells.
A. any marked discrepancy between the local
AMI national tickets would excite suspicion the
fraud was carried through both and Hayes was
benefited To the extent of the forged alteration.
When the returns from the Supervisor of Elcc-
tons Of this parish were opened 10y the Return
inG iipard there was no protest affidavit. or OBJ
I,,'.pn Of any kind accompanying them; and
whcn they were sent to the clerks OF the board
the word compile" was written upon them,
sisnify ing that they were TO be reported in the
Consolidated statement of votes exactly as
returned by the supervisor. The forgery was
therefore an afcrthought. and We now propose
to show how 1t was executed. and under whose
dir, ton.
A fortnight after the proinulgation Of the vote
Of iho State a committee of the House went to
Nov Orleans to in,, stlgatc the boards proceed
inss and with only an imperfect knowledge Of
"
trln-positiono OF votes from one side To- the other
H. could give 10 explanation. was confused.
thought there must be- some mistake or a
clerical error After that examination he re-
uuicl his clerks TO find "A number Of polls
witch would aggregate the number OF stolen
votes. then had aflldayits manufactured and
unit dated. ON which 10 throw out these polls.
with a certificate from the secretary Of his own
bpuid and the clerk of the Senate committee.
/, give the fraud a scmhlancc OF iormaty.
IiV, lac hoped To escape detection.
But this buugling attempt at deception only
m.dr the second forgery more transparent,
Lc'au-c. though Us votes might be- taken from
Tilleu by this swindling process, they could
MT possibly b" carried over to Hayes. The
hanl by which the first forgery was pcrpc-
uatcl was that Of james 7. l.i,tlencld. and the
second was signed by Charles l. Abcll. Secrc-
tary Of Board 81 Roturning Officers Little
field was examined 10y two committees, and his
testimony was consistent throughout and was
supported los the production Of the original
forged return which he failed to destroy. with
t~p 'iher-. whom - directed b, Wells. He was
hr-i examined on Jan. 20. ISL and refused to
answer the l'ading qur-iion- Of the committee.
but after comforting with his friends he made a
cicnn breast - tho whole mut'cr on tho second
day. MS will be seen hy the following extracts
ItNnl MS 'Nllfnce:
James T. T.itiehcld sworn and examined.
Ry Mr.. Field: Q.-Dpyo re- de in Boston 4.
No ~; my parents do For the last eight
year. ! nave been living in New Orleans.
p-lou are commonly called Fred Little
Gell;" A.-Yos. Sir
an, ptnnine Board 'e %t tISs Iayember, Hl rc Loa,-
og-You sly You were hay inspector in New
9 How long wcr, ,q9u hey in;pcctgr: A.
moved me; NJ %, about June or iuly. $50;
~. Were S0u United states Marshal during
viii what political party do you act; A.
Tnc Republican.
H. WAS evidently in high favor with the car
poi-bagscrs and their confederatcs. and he en-
iuy .d their fullest confidence until they became
separated hy his disclosures.
Isg TRUE RETURN ACCEPTED.
Q-Lool at this paper. being the return from
nj know. / know that Mr.. Anderson and Mi
krnncr were the only parties who put any on
dorsemen nt on returns. attached any paper To-
NEcthrr one uf them wrote that word | cannot
snS because 10 not know.
kenncr -woro tho handwriting was not his
mud Audorson doubtless wrote the word COM
pile
What would the word compile" there
moan Alt meant 10 compile, a. the paper
Th'M'l hp'll lt7 iANSs 'f"''A NNs tifbftJ' ~
y-And the word compile" meant compile
that without any further examination ? A.
rS SIR; h,a! 'rds the MAJ huding Of tie board
Q.-Do you rerollect when this paper came In (.
n i % not re- olrct the time.
Q.-Mhen was your attention first called TO
thi- particular paper A.-When We were in
structed 10 compile il.
q Who instructed you to compile it? A.
Ih r. were really no lns'rurtlons REGARDING
con pllHiion. handled most Of the returns n
~ flp hfu Dftf -
there We're any polls rejected nude the deduc-
t,on- IN pencil leal Ing The lace OF the returns as
theN Wcr" originally. Then PASSED il 10 other
rrrN- ana Ia made the compilation Oh dliler-
Q.-Look N thi- paper from Vernon parish
and 500 \ there were any polls 70 be deducted.
ION ct-l 10 by Mr. BuIchard, and objection
oyncrrqleel1 A.-lo, So. ,.......,,,.,.., 49,.
regular order ol business before the board
a want T. mp'lify the answer which made
b"rrd. Then W" tool, II to the clerks office and
mad" a compilation. jisi 10 show the face Of the
flufisi mat r. when my attention was first
,'u'u to inns paper; that WIS before the board
nag passed uf"h It,
h,at,I a. br'sun". -. II came from the
= lime luu seen this identical paper prior
By Mr Bur'Agrl-Q ,-Nimo one Of the times
~ s,r ~. A. "a 'h7 "a phpgr ,hefe Auon sunday
.nS ,h'9.l nu"ly pr .ceding the official promul-
~ Ar' ihcf" amy marks on this paper which
~ h,,Wnl nj that timof A.-'rherc are
Nlh y0u ! ont ihcm out, A-TLis Undi.
saylnI. , that 9r WE ~ ~ s,mn,y mgmorandum
eral polls ivr candidates tor police Jury Omitn
The next DAY h. answered AN questions Min.
out hesitation and with dircctuo,-.
BY Mr.. Flcld-Q.-Please explain now vonr
us know all about 1t. A-Mhat DO Won d,sire
70 know about ~