The sun., 1878-11-06
The Florida Fraud.


/ 50 much noise his recently been made, be
| true or false; whcl'cr perverted from their
! real meaning, or honestly translated:
whether used at this time in the desperate
! hope OF withdrawing attention from the
! Great Fraud or onlya political device on
the eve Of general election for members OF
/ Congress; the fact in no way disturbs,
weakens, or impairs tho certainty that the
! Presidency was stolen by corruption, by
! forgery, by periul y, and by other crimes.
II every word of these dispatches be ex-
actly correct. as published. the main and
! overshadowlng fact would In no way be
affected The whole country knew. on
the sth OF November, that Mr.. TILpES
was elected by n majority Of the cleo
toral colleges and by a majority OF the pop
ular vote. HAYES himself admitted TIL
pES's election in speech To his Republican
friends at Columbus, when he deplored the
future fate Of the black man as the result OF
that victory.
The conspiracy TO steal the Presidency
was organized inside Of twenty-four hours
after the result was known, when Secretary
CHANDLER sent out his audacously false an
nouncement, HAYES has Is5 votes, and is
elected" That was notice eerved on the Re
turning Boards, and on their corrupt con-
federates. TO prepare to falsify the returns.
and that they would be supported by the
whole power OF the Administration the ar
my. aud the Treasury. Agents known TO bc
astute and skilled In partisan management.
and INSCRIPTIONS as to the methods they
employed, were at once sent TO South Caro-
lima. Florida, and Louisiana Jy the National
Republican Committee. with supplies OF
{ money ior all immediate wants, with the
open support Of GRANT, and with iull
authority 70 make pledges OF future reward
III the event Of success.
GRANT appointed his partisan Board Of
Visiting Statesmen, TO aid the iniqulty
under the pretcnce Of seeing fair
count; and HAYES delegated his most con-
ldcntial friends 70 represent him, with
an unlimited power 81 attorney. in the three
states proposed 70 be stolen from TILpEN.
and without al Of which, to the last clcctor,
the Fraud could not have been consum-
mated. This was the situation when Mr..
HEWITT, then Chairman Of the National
Democratic Committee attempted TO couH-
teract the HAYES conspirators by requesting
several leading Democrats to attend in PER
son al New orleans. Tallahassee, and Colutn-
bia TO watch the proceedings, and 10 protect,
as far 40 possible, the rights Of Mr.. TILDEN.
Louisiana was the pivot upon which the
whole conspiracy turned. because II cast
the greatest vote OF the three, and without
the assurance that it could be carried the
others would have failed. Hence JoHN
SHLRIAN aud the chiefs expended thor
force on that State knowing that II IL could
be made certain, means could be found 10
get Florida and South Carolina, through
similar agencies, simultaneously operating
at Columbia and Tallahassee. and in constant
communication, by cipher. with the head
quarters at New Orleans. II JOIN SHER-
MANS plot had not succeeded, Mr.. TILDEN
would have received the electoral votes OF
the three disputed States, In accordance
with the honest returns.
short experience in New Orleans som
disclosed what had boen previously known
to Mr. HEWITT and to other leaders. WELLS
and ANDERSON regarded the opportunity, t.
Use the language Of the former, as the last
Of his life" Though preferriug to give
their own side the preference, they knew NIr
TILDEN had "A clear majority of over seven
thousand, which would require cxtraordi
nary efforts 10 overcome. They sent agents
] ~ HNAl NllN iNAuAL VI Nlli DVhlh W NhollAS
ton, TO Baltimore, and TO New York, ant
they negotiated personally for n sale In New
Orleans. The vote OF Louisiana was thu.
put up at auction, as has beon proven before
several Committees of Congress. The Demo
Gratis had no money to buy 1t with. At tho
last moment before WELLS and his assoc
ates reported, one hundred thousand dollar,
in cash would have done the business al
though they had demanded two hundreC
thousand as the closing price. What VA
seen in New Orleans was repeated In tn,
other States. The Returning Boards were
all in market seeking the best price fol
their votes.
1t is not at all improbable that somc Demo
Gratis. finding these rascals for sale, were
willing to pay them something TO get tru'
return Of the votes cast. Thoy were
dealing with sharpers, and they saw th'
temptations by which these tralilckers wer,
, surrounded, who held majority Of th'
, electoral colleges in their hands. Every
day almost banks aud merchants and In
surance companies are seen compromising
iclanles with professional burglars in ordo
10 get back part Of their stolen property
which othorwi-c might mover he recovered
We cnnnot admire the morality of tia
; conduct, but the men who do it stand hlgi
s in the community and in the church, anl
d are not condemned for striving to recove
= their own by sharp turn in the road o
"a righteousness.
Several things arc established beyond al
doubt, II thero were millions OF telegram
o worse than any yot disclosed
Is !. The Returning Boards were for sale.
It II. They were not bought by the friends q
d Mr. TILDEN.
l. III They were bought by the agents G
Z nv HAYES, and the price was partly pai
s in greenbacks, hut mostly Ia salaries fror
II tho public Treasury, in contracts, and In job.
y The three foremost places in the Cabinet