The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-08-01
,gn1ttical
KELLY'S DISAPPEARANCE,
TIE MISSING WITNESS WHO KNEW
ABOUT THE FORGERIES.
His Letter to Mr.. POtter-Hurrled on by Senat
Employee for whom Kellogg Got leave OF
ALsence-The AhldaVlt Mill,

ALsence-The AfldaVlt Mill,
New Orleans, July 2S,-The evidence
brought out to-day is very Important
Ex-Governor Robert G. WiCkliffe, one o.
the most distinguished men of the State
with Col, S. ]. Powell and W. W. Leak e
both prominent citizens, testified as tt
the manner in which the election wa'
carried in West Feliciana in 1876. The
integrity and truthfulness Of these wit
nesses are unimpeachable. They Were
the Democratic leaders in their parish in
1876. They organized and directed the
movements of their party there. and
their testimony as to how it was con
Quoted must be accepted by candid mer
as worth more than the sworn state
ments of John Sherman and the othel
visiting statesmen who suborned PERU
ry, uttered published forgeries, and viii
fully deceived the people with their ly
ing report in order to place in power {
Fraudulent Administration and reap the
spoils of its patronage.
Gov. Cox called two more of the aft.
davit manufacturers. One had been
caught stealing several hundred dollars
worth of whisky in 1865, but he helped
make affidavits in 1876 now he is a
Government letter carrier. The other
Il v,1nnnu ot IL al
logg's police and the other as affidavit
maker. Neither Of these men, as they
confess, would have taken any affidavits
in which the atlantis said a good word
for the Democratic party.
Documents were produced which go
further toward proving the forgeries in
the second Louisiana certificate, and
others which showed that Thomas s.
Kelley, the confessed witness to the for.
geries, had been taken off to Washing
ton by Kellogg's man, Assistant Door
keeper Kennedy, to prevent his testify
ing. So much has now been found out
that all the plot must soon be known.
Robert G. Wickliffe testified that he
resided in West FeliCiana in 1876; had
been Senator three times, and had been
elected Governor before the war. In
1876 he was an Eector from the State at
large on the Democratic ticket. He
made special canvass of the Sixth Con.
gressional District. In every ward oi
West Feliciana colored Democratic clubs
were organized. He addressed their
meetings, making special points as to the
extravaganza in the management Of the
Government by the Republicans, and
the misappropriation of their school
funds. He promised them better man.
agement with the Democratic party in
power; if the funds were not better man
aged, he told them he would Join the
Republican party. These appeals and
others influenced the Colored voters to
join in large numbers, and their clubs
showed more zeal and enthusiasm than
the whole Democratic clubs. There
were barbeCues, parades, and torChlight
professions throughout the parish for
four months preceding the election, in
which the Colored voters outnumbered
the whites two to one. He never heard
or knew of single instance where a COL
ored man or a Republican was wrongful
ly influenced or forced to vote against
his choice. The vote in 1876, over l 200,
was the fullest ever polled in West Fe-
ECiana. Toward the close of the elec-
ton, D. A. Weber told Major Bascom that
all was quiet. He said this in witnesses
presence. Witness was much surprised
when he saw that Weber had filed pro-
test. When the Returning Board was in
session, he requested permission in wri-
ting, on behalf of the Democratic elec.
tors, to be present at the opening and
counting of the returns. This was &C.
corded him, and the next morning he
appeared in the boards room. He was
requested to leave by their sergeant.at-
arms. After the boards labors were
finished and the printed reports of the
afidavits were published, Julius Green,
Tom Dalton, and others in West Felici-
ana told him that they had made no such
statements or afidavits as appeared over
their names. There were enough polls
rejected by the board in West FeliCiana
to change Democratic majority of four
or five hundred votes into Republican
majority.
Col. S. j. Powell testified that he had
resided in West FeliCiana for thirty
years, and was member of the Demo
cratic State committee from that parish
in 1876. In the early part of the cam
paign he undertook to organize the par
ty in that parish, but went North in the
summer. After his return he found col
ored Democratic clubs organizing rapid
ly. He was called upon frequently to
address these clubs with Gov. Wickliffe
and others, They succeeded in remov-
ing the impression prevalent among the
negroes that they were more numerous
than the whites in the United States; in
demonstrating plainly to them the iden-
tity of interests of the whites and blacks
in Louisiana; and in convincing them
that they would get good schools under
a Democratic State Administration
They soon found general disposition
on the part of colored voters to change
their politics, and there was a general
breakup of the color line. He did not
believe there was man in West FeliCi-
ana restrained in his choice Of voting
After the election Weber told witness in
New Orleans, on Nov. n, that he had
filed his returns and had made no pro-
test.
A. W. Leake, ex.District Attorney Of
West Feliciana, testified that he first en-
tered politics actively in his parish in
1876. He addressed his arguments par
ticularly to colored voters, and soon
found that the great point with them
was public education. They had teachers
for their children utterly incompetent
and immoral, and the chief part of their
school funds had been stolen or misap-
propriated. He showed them that they
came to the Democrats for employment,
for medical attention, for legal services,