The daily gazette., 1878-04-27
The Fraud Laid Bare.
THE INDUSTRIOUS lNIQUIfY OF THE
GREAT CRIME CONFESSED.
] he Stolen Presidency
The Wrongful Occupant Of the
Executive Mansion
must Retire.

to and concerned in the frauds by which
Florida was made TO return the Hayes
electors as elected is as follows:
JUDGE MINIS CONFESSION.
AS member of the late State Board
of Canvassers of the State Of Florida,
feel compelled, by sense of duty to my
self and justice to others, to make the
following statement:
AT the time the canvass was made |
was not at any time conscious of acting
otherwise than right and proper 1
entered upon the canvass with the con-
viction that it was my privilege and duty
III political sense, TO give the benefit of
every doubt in favor of the Republican
party. felt that when question could
be decided either way without doing
violence to public sense of Justice, it
was fairly allowable in politics that i
should always lean to my own party, and
give my decision in its faver even at the
hazard OF straining point. AT no time
did feel that | occupied the position of
a Judge, charged with the duty of a
strict and nice weighing and balancing
OF all the evidence presented. Looking
back now to that time ! feel that there
was combination of influences that
must have operated most powerfully in
binding my judgment and swaying my
action. had been for many years, and
was at the time of the canvass a very
active partisan. sincerely thought
that our State and the nation would
suffer irreparable injury if theDemocratic
party were to obtain the Presidency, and
the policy of hatred to the negro and
those who had been the friends of the
negro should obtain control at Washing
ton. 1t was the common and unanimous
talk also, the existence of the men who
itf has a 4
party depended upon the election of Mr..
Hayes, Mr.. Hayes would sustain them
throughout the South while Mr. Tilden
could crush them l was shown numer-
Gus kilograms addressed to Gov Stearns
and others from the trusted leaders of
the Repubhcan party in the North, in
sisting 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 accus-
toned to defer the Chairman of the Ma
tlonal Committee, and the man who as
the nearest personal friend of Mr.. Hayes
had conducted the canvass, These tele-
grams also gave assurance of the forth
coming of money, and troops if necessary
in securing the victory for Mr.. Hayes.
Following these kilograms, trusted
Northern Republicans, party leaders, and
personal friends of Mr.. Hayes, arrived in
Florida as rapidly as the railroads could
bring them. | was surrounded by these
men, who We're ardent Republicans, and
especially by friends of Gov. Hayes. One
gentleman parti cularly, Gov. Noyes of
Ohio, was understood to represent him
and speak with the authority of warm
personal friend, commissioned with pow
er to act in his behalf, These men refer
red to the general destruction of the
country should Mr.. Tilden be elected, the
intense anxiety of the Republican party
of the North, and their full sympathy
with us. ! cannot say how far my action
may have been influenced by the intense
excitement that prevailed around me, or
how far my partisan zeal may have led
me into error neither can | say how far
my course was influenced by the promise
made by Noyes that if Mr., Hayes became
President | should be rewarded. Ger
tainly these influences must have had a
strong control over my judgment and
action.
Reviewing my action at this distance
of time, with all calmness, with my ardor
| cooled and my partizan zeal chilled by
the President, who has basely betrayed
and mercilessly destroyed the Republican
party of the South, and crushed the very
men who did 50 much for his election, l
am persuaded that the Florida canvass
was not conducted with that cool, calm
Judgment and honest, unbiased decision
that should have characterized "A proceed
ing involving such vast and important
Interests. Instead of this, l now see that
the whole proceedings went through upon
the highest wave of political excitement;
that partisan feeling, stimulated to the
utmost by the most 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 Democratic
M R ttl.l
mony was filed, and the lawyers 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 in the count,
OR retain and count precincts, on the
ground ofillegality in the conduct of the
election or fraud that was charged to
exist
The Attorney General of the State and
a member of the board had decided that
the board has quasi judicial power and
had the right to exclude precincts from
the countif the returns were shown to be
so irregular, false or fraudulent as to pre-
vent the board from ascertaining from
them the true vote. With this view of
its duties the board entered upon the
work of the canvass, with the conviction
that they We're invested with large dis
cretionary powers, which were ofa mixed
character, political and judicial, the po-
lltical largely predominating. Partisan
zeal and Strong political ties had a pow
ert1l influence in the exercises of these
powers, and the Republicans having a
majority of the board, the canvass was
largely in their favor, as the result proved.
II the board had acted IN accordance Nth
the decision of the Supreme Court Of the
State, defining the po,oers and duties Of the
board in reference to Hroaoing out precincts
since rendered, there is no question of the
fact that Mr. Tilden aooatld hare been en-
titled to the uote of Florida. Excluding
the return from Baker county, which was
counted, and which l have since learned
from the parties who made it was falsely
manufactured return, and including the
true return, which corresponded with
the precinct returns of that county would
certainly have given the State to Mr.
Tilden. Archer Precinct, No. 2, Alachua
county, was included in the count. The
fraud committed in the precinct was not
shown to the board by the Democratic
lawyers, although contest was made