The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-11-06
FRAUD, FORGERY, PERJURY.
THE FORsERr or TIiE LOUISIANA
HIYEs ELECTORJL CLKIIFfC.IIb.

u,,su1vor,)S, Nov. Ito all the mis-
a..as known IN the plot by which the voto Of
S.,t.i,rn WAS east for Nnycs. the Potter in
-, he aided this: In ia" cer;iicat" from
f1,,islaps counted Tor Hayes tn signatures Of
r.. electors were forged cight times. Ono
nInt,r. L. y. Iev.see. has ilentlca his forged
t,,,t,i,,,; the o;hor tvn iorgerics stand on
,,snreyIcnca This forgery was done 10y u
iIrle Knot Of bad men vino had the making aud
,bo casting Of eight electoral votes. Behind
,heru stood the leaders o! the Republican party.
who in M earlier stage Of this greut WRONG led
these men t. thwart the spoken will OF tae
STATE through periurcd evidence. NJthnvng
The intelligence knayrs Mood. these men blum
,lereI in drawing tue certificate by which they
conveyed the stolen goods in their hands to
Hayes. Tho Constitution said there must be
Two separate lists Of the votes Tor President and
vi,,.Prcsidcnt. These mon made ono list.
Tho law required an endorsement. signed by
lie electors. on the envelope holding tho re-
turns. This they omitted When these mon
lacked votes. they throw out votes by the free
uss OF perjury. Lacking brains they supplied
that lack by forgery This has surprised no
one. Republicans say that forgery cannot in
,nre tho title Hayes has. They are right This
f,rgery is n mere episode. out It is al uncom-
mon and somewhat interesting episode. illus
trhtins title as good as George Washing
TONS
The earlier steps In tho Louisiana conspiracy
being over, Thomas G. Anderson brought tho
return which recorded its success TO Wash
ington tho Sunday before Christmas. 1876.
Before the week was out another cortin-
cate was forged These men did not delay
when crime WAS needed. Anderson was the
messenger oi the Electoral College. n respon-
ly,c1 L., .fl
man fresh from an earlier forgery FOR which
Jury hrs since then found him guilty. Monday
morning he says he saw Ferry at his hotel.
Ferry says tho rcturn from North Carolina was
the only ono presented and withdrawn at his
MOTEL This is the first al the triiiing contradic-
tlons between Republican witnesses IN dealing
with this family Incident Ferry saw and
showed Anderson that the needed endorsement
was aaseut he told him nothing else. They
10Th agree IN this. Anderson took the sealed en-
vs!opeto bis room. Thete he opened It, There
was nothing 70 prevent this but n statute. and
Anderson was Republican politician and a
member ot the Returning Board which re-
turned Hayes. Even Kellogg was struck by
isa.i. o. remember that. said KELLOGG Of n
later dciail because. although DO not recol-
lsct that | said anything. l noted that no had
opened the envelope. and | was a little sur
prised when he showed it 10 me- OPEN Having
opened the envelope. Anderson says he did not
seethe constitutional flaw In tho certificate. He
says no one showed il to him. He Went back
90 he says. TO New Orleans. having seen no ons
but Ferry. The forged certificate cured this
1aw. This might be difficult 70 explain but for
one circumstance. Anderson apparently lies.
Clarke. Kellogg's private secretary. says this:
cen Anderson. when he handed me The enyelore. sid
hAt snt Ia washington thousht there ought u nc tive
9-wss, iu.trnshon or acsc da he expres. % yea IN
Wshnytan thought tia, Instead the Pres.
Sent and Vice President bens Oh one sheet they should
$50 that cen Aricr,on pointed on, two deieet..he
eea0Ie lisi saecuns the ee,iinss,e i,sei' Ayes IL
Seeing this. remembering that the mcssen.
ger who Brought back the revised and forged
return went direct to Zach Chandler. that Ferry
received the return only before a witness.
that John Sherman acted as that witness. and.
having 50 acted. sen, Kellogg. by the messen-
ser a private note. sealed. It is not hard to see
who these friends in Washington" were. and
thsss friends in Washington" must share the
responsibility OF this episode.
Anderson reached New Orleans on Thursday,
He saw Kellogg that day. BY organic and
statute law the Governor stands between
the State which appoints and the Federal
power which counts the votes OF the cleo
tors. Usually this responsibility Die merely
clerical. This time Il was not. Note what had
happened. revolution was near. The State
was rocking under the approaches Inaugural
ton OF rival State Governments. The chamber
where Kellogg sat was guarded The State
House was garrisoned by an armed police. The
walls which separated It from the barracks OF
Federal troops had been torn down. The last
and solitary hope OF keeping Kellogg's party In
power was in seating Hayes. Two investi-
eli Ann In Mar
Orleans. searching every step in the plot
Much was already known. More was likely to
DO known. To this condition and stnte OF affairs
comes Anderson TO tell Kellogg that friends
In Washington say this certificate will not do.
II IL now known that one day later another
messenger was on his way back with certi-
1cats throe signatures to which were forged.
How thatwas done is not yet known. Every man
responsible ia now In ONCE. Each man shirks
responsibility for the forgery. This IL natural.
Kellogg asks US to believe that at this imminent
moment. when he found the first certificate WINS
Illegal. he called in private secretary to pre-
pare a new one: Clarke AYERS that being in
trusted with this work. he left these title deeds
Of great Office spread on the table OF an UNI
locked room, open 10 the forgery Of all the
world Anderson swears that he having accepted
duties which tho law makes obligatory under
heavy penalty. lounged carelcssly in and out Of
the room where lay exposed the certificate,
gathering to itself forged signatures by n sort
Of political absorption natural TO the atmos-
phere these men breathed.
The details o, the story these men tell, spread
through $50 pages OF printed evidence. arc no
less strange. Kellogg received Anderson IN his
oiice, ana sent up stairs Tor Clarke. Having
put toe matter in charge OF Anderson and
Clarke. Kellogg gave It no further concern. ex-
eept 10 sign rs Elector. It is significant cir
eumsance that he never signed certifying rs
Governor 1T curiously happened" says
Clarke. that hal quite a number OF these
certificates" In this executive Office. ap-
parenlly. they kept old certificates TO 1T new
,orgeres. Clarke and Anderson conferred,
Ihs was Thursday afternoon. Clarke went
printing ONCE and had blanks printed
lley were filed out that day. and he left
thrn secured. it may be, by paper
weight but he Ia not sure even OF that
over hight spread on the table Of this room
accessible 10 others besides himself That day
or the noAt Kellogg signed rs elector Late
mo next day. In the last moment before the