Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-05-01
PERVERTED HIS MORAL SENSE.

pOIuts ne Ulu NOT CO0elOer nlme0lf
Judge, but partizan. He now sees
that powerful influences swayed his
judgment and
PERVERTED HIS MORAL SENSE.
He was surrounded by northern
partizans who urged on him the me-
cessity of the Republicans carrying
Florida, who pictured the danger to
the negroes if Tilden triumphed, and
received telegrams daily insisting on
his saving the country. The chair
man of the National Committee and
the man who was the nearest person
al friend of Hayes urged him to do
his Republican duty, and promises of
troops were freely given. Governor
Noyes was present and was under
stood to speak with authority from
Hayes. The influence of these men
and the circumstances and excitement
throughout the country may have led
him to error, and especially Noyes'
promise that
HAYES WOULD REWARD HIM.
His ardor was now cooled by time
and by reflection. That the Presi-
dent had betrayed and mercilessly
destroyed the Republican party and
crushed those who did so much for
his election he was now convinced !;
that political expediency and not
calm judgment ruled the hour; there
were many contested cases and much
legal discussion.
The attorney general of the state
with number of the board had de-
cided that the board had quasi Judi
cial power and had right to exclude
precincts from the count if the returns
were so irregular, false or fraudulent
as to prevent the board from ascer-
tanning from them the true vote.
This had powerful influence and
the republicans, having majority of
the board, the canvass was largely in
their favor. Had the board acted le.
gally the State Supreme Court decis-
ion shows they would have declared
Tilden elected.
Excluding the returns from Baker
county which were counted, and
which have since learned from par
ties who made it, was falsely manu-
factured return, and including the
true return which corresp0nded 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 in this precinct
was not shown to the board by the
democratic lawyers, although con-
test was made and much attention
given to that precinct, but / have re-
Gently learned from q republican
leader of that county that after the
returns had been brought to Gaines
vile, the county seat, 2l9 votes were
added to the returns by the inspectors
and clerks of said precinct.
In Leon county seventy four small
ublican ballots were stuffed into
the ballot box at precinct No 9, yet it
was not made to appear to the salts.
faction of the democratic members of
the board that these were false bal
lots.
Subsequent confessions show that
these were stuffed into the box. /
had seen Joseph Bower, one Of the
inspectors, have tickets similar to
them few days before election and
cautioned him against their use un-
less they were generally adopted and
afterwards learned that he had given
them up.
In jefferson county, in the precinct
al which J. Bell was inspector, 100
votes were surreptitiously added to
the ballots and counted. No charge
was made as to this fact before the
board. The confession of J. Bell
since made to me, discloses the fact
that had the 2l9 votes fraudulently
added to Archer returns, and the IA
votes stuffed in the box in Leon coun-
ty, the 100 votes surrepticiously ad-
ded in Jefferson county, aggregating
1874 votes been registered and the
democratic precincts which were ex-
cluded for irregularity and illegality
contrary to the decision of the su-
preme court been retained and
counted, Tilden would have carried
the state. The conclusion, therefore,
is irresistible that Tilden was entitled
to the electoral vote of Florida and
not Mr.. Hayes.
In making this statement my mo-
tive will doubtless be questioned by
many, but facts will stand alone as
the truth without any motive to sus-
tain them. am free to admit that
viewing things as l now do and re-
membering that Mr.. Hayes was con-
tinually inspiring his personal friends
and trusted agents, by every means
in his power to secure for
him the electoral vote of
Florida and Louisiana and believing
it to have been a conscious wrong on
his part, done with knowledge that
he had not been elected, as his subse-
quent reputation of Gov. Packard,
whose title was bound up in his own,
aud his willful and cowardly deser-
ton Of the very men who contributed
so largely to his election, has shown,
my contempt for the pitiable little
ness of the man is beyond my power
of expression. Mr.. Hayes has
DENIED THE VALIDITY OF HIS OWN TITLE
in denying Gov. Packards. He has
ignored his Florida friends, showing
that he believed them unworthy and
tainted with fraud. Yet he holdl
on to the presidency which in hi
own opinion was secured by this very
fraud. He has in q cowardly manner
abandoned and betrayed southern re
republican friends thro' fear of bein,
ousted from an office that he believed
he never was elected to by the people
Whatever may be the opinion Of mel
in regard to my motives appeal to