The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-05-03
FLORIDA'S FRAUD.
Text of the Statement of Judge Nc
Lin, as Published in New York,
Regarding the Canvass of
the Vote.
His Conclusion Irresistible that Mr..
Tilden was Entitled to the Elec-
toral Vote of Florida.

NEW YORK, April 20.-Ihe follow
ing is the text of the statement OF
Judge McLin regarding the canvass
of the vote in Florida for President,
as published here i'll a long special dis
patch from Washington:
GAS a member of the late State
Board of Canvassers of the State of
Florida, l feel impelled by sense of
duty to myself and justice to others to
make the following statement: At the
time the canvass was made, l was
not conscious of acting otherwise
than right. | entered upon the can
vaSs with the conviction that it was
NV privilege and duty in a political
sense to give the benefit of every doubt
in favor of the Republican party. l
felt that when question could be de-
cided either way without doing ViO-
lence to the public sense of justice it
was fairly allowable in politics that l
should always lean to my own party
and give my decision in its favor,
even at the hazard of straining q
point. At no time did / feel that | Oc-
cupied the position of a Judge charged
with the duty of strict or nice weigh
ing and balancing of all the evidence
presented. Looking back now to that
time feel that there was a cOmbina~
ton of influences that must have Ope-
rated most powerfully in binding my
judgment and swaying my action. 1
had been for many years and was at
the time of the canvass a very active
partisan. l sincerely thought that
our State and the nation would suffer
irreparable injury if the Democratic
party were to obtain the Presidency;
and the policy of hatred to the negro
and those who had been friends of the
negroes shOuldObtain control at Wash
ingtOn. 1t was common and unani-
nous talk, also, that the very eXis-
tence of the men who in the South
had upheld the Republican party, de-
pended upon the election of Mr.. Hayes.
Mr.. Hayes would sustain them
throughout the South, while MIR. Til
len would shun them. | was shown
numerous kilograms addressed to Gov
ernor Stearns and others from trusted
leaders of the Republican party in the
North, insisting that the salvation of
the country depended upon the vote
of Florida being cast for Hayes
These kilograms came from those to
whom | had been accustomed to de-
fer. The Chairman of the Nationa
Committee, and the man who was the
nearest personal friend of Mr.. Hayes,
had conducted the canvass. These
telegrams also gave assurances of the
forthcoming of money and troops, if
necessary, III securing victory for Mr..
Hayes. Following these teIegrams,
trusted Northern Republicans, party
leaders and personal friends Of Mr..
Hayes, arrived in Florida as rapidly
as the railroads could carry them. l
was surrounded by thousands who
were ardent Republicans, and especial
ly by friends OF Gov. Hayes. One
gentleman particularly, Gov. NOyes,
Of Ohio, was understood to represent
and speak with the authority of a
warm personal friend, commissioned
with power to act i'll his behalf. These
men referred to the general destruc-
ton of the country, should Mr.. Tildeu
be elected, the intense anxiety of the
Republican party of the North, and
their full sympathy with us. ] can
not say how far my action may have
been influenced by the intense excite
ment that prevailed around me, or
how far my partizan zeal may have
led me into error; neither can ] say
how far my course was influenced 10y
the promise made by NOyes that, if
Mr.. Hayes became President, ! should
be rewarded. Certainly these influcn-
ces must have had strong control over
my Judgment and action. Reviewing
my action at this distance of time,
with all calmness, with my ardoT
cooled and ny partisan zeal chilled 10y
the President who has basely betrayed
and mercileSsiy destroyed the Repub-
lican party in the South and crushed
the very men who did SO much for his
election. | am persuaded that the
Florida canvass was not conducted
with ihat cool, calm judgment and
honest unbiased decision that should
have characterized a proceeding in
volving such vast and important in
terests. Instead of this, / now see
that the whole proceedings went
through upon the highest wave of po-
liticaI excitement; that partisan feel
ing, stimulated to the utmost by the
mSst powerful agencies, usurped the
place of reason and sound judgment,
and political eXpediency ruled the
hour. A large number of precincts
were either contested by the Demo-
cratic or the Republican party. SOlu-
minous testimony was filed, and law
yers of both sides argued each for
their side Of the issue, that it was the
duty of the board to throw out and
not include i'll the count or retain and
count precincts on the ground of ille-
gality in the conduct Of the election
or fraud that was charged to exist
I The Attorney General of the State "A
member of the Board, had decided
that the board had ,uasi-iudicial pow
er, and had the right to exclude pre-
cincts from the count, if the returns
were shown to be so irregular, false or
fraudulent as to prevent the board
from ascertaining from them the true
vote. With this view of their duties
the board entered upon the work of
the canvass, with the conviction that
it was invested with large discretiona-
~ powers, which We're of a mixed
character, political and Judicial, the
| political largely predOminating. Par
tisan zeal and strong political ties had
| powerful influence i'll the exercise of
| these powers; and thej Republicans
! having q majority of the board, the
canyass was largely in their laEor, as
| the result proved.
TIE VOTE or FLORIDA.
If the board had acted in accordance
with the dGbisiOn Of the Supreme
| Court of the State, defining the pow
ers and duties of the board in reference
to throwing out precincts, since ren-
| dpred there is no question of the fact