The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-02-14
LOUISIANA
Official Prosecutions by tho Democrats

Tuesday, explains Itself:
MIR. sherman was asked if it was.true,
- was stated in the morning papers,
that he, Mat Eews, Garfield, Hale ana
White. had sent q dispatch TO Gen. An
dersom. lie aid il VAS true and a. that
fact had been made public he would
furnish a copy Of the dispatch, and
they meant what they said. Mr.. Sher-
man then regarded the arrest, trial ana
convictions OF Anderson as a grcal out
rage Under color of the forms OF law.
Anderson was not indicted. The
Grand Jury had refused to indict him.
The proceeding against him Is called
an "lnformatiOn." and is expressly !
prohibited i'm cases of felony by the
Constitution of the United States, and
most Of the States, but is provided for
bv the law OF Louisiana. The "iniOr-
nation was signed aud filed by q man
who was an officer Of the White
League, identified with all the mOn-
strous crimes OF that organization. The
Judge who tried the case is a public
defmlser for over SG00, GOO. When An
dcrson was arrested he was acting Col
lector Of the Poit of New Orleans, and
The arrest was made while he was in
the discharge OF duty at the Custom
House, which stands, as Nh. sherman
thinks, on ground under the sole juris-
diction of the United States by ceSSion
from Louisiana. he was buried to
prison, required to give excessive bail,
and falling to do 50 WAS kept in CustO-
dy, denied al pOStponement, forced to
trial, convicted. and is now held for
sentence without the benefit OF bail.
The Jury was packed to convict. The
panel was carefully selected, almoSi
exclusively of one political party II
one race: their examination as called
showed the deepest and strongest prey
udice against the defendant and iii any
tribunal he (Mr. Sherman) knew near
Is every one would have been rejected
on his oath. and yet, though cha!lang-
ed. they were sworn in. With such Il
Jury | am prepared to believe the story
| lclrgraphpd this morning that the two
| Colurpd Jurors were ,rickcd into agree
iug 70 this verdict by an empty appeal
| to The mercy OF the court. The cause
! If this excitement against Anderson
| and associates in that III pursuance OF
their lawful duties, in plain pursuance
OF law. and upon ample testimony they
pIiuin ltpd from tie election re u Ms III
Louisiana the results of viG!clco and
intimidation. Though this was not al
lngrd in The ''informatiOn, > vet every
body knew that this was Il e g ayelmeh
OF their Gilrnsc, an without it no man
OF this jLrJ would have con Iced N
derson. II is this that excited this p =
ulacc, heated with passion, to the higi =
est state of resentment. Inc pre- eu'e
set up for the prosecution was that An
dcrs0n Lad participated in the 10! gerry
or alienation Of the Vernon parish r.
turns, but there was not n particle
of evidence to convict him Of this act.
The whole had been thoroughly exam
ined here by the committees OF Con-
mrcsS, and all the documents ana re
turns had been spread before them. ana
| even Littlclied, who made the ait2ra-
lion, had eXculpa;ed Anderson from
any knowledge of it. The truth is, the
parish returns were opened by the Re
turning Board before hosts Of witness
es on the oh day Of the examination /;
were printed precisely Is they were III
the daily papers and in both houses oi
Congress. ana the subsequent altcra-
ton by Littlciieid Of the copy Of the
returns was done either as a put up
lob by him. or i'm the interest of local
candidates, having no effect upon the
general result; and there does not ap-
bear to be a single scrap OF testimony
showing that Anderson participated in
it in the slightest degree. There was
no motive for such an alteration by
Anderson, the true return being prtn-
ted in so many forms IT was absurd to
think he would alter it, and yet, upon
this false prcteXt he has been convic-
ted. | still hope that this conviction
will not be carried into execution, ana
if it j., as Il matter of course, tn deep
est feeling Of resentment aud hostility
will exits in the minds OF the great
mass Of oar people who believe that
these returning Ollcefs did but their
simple duty. Nothing has been done
here pending the trial to Interfere in
any way with the course Of judicial
proceedings, but if Anderson Is i'm
prisoned under sentence, it Will be Il
mockery of public justice, and VIII
bring into contempt all efforts at peace
and Cancellation. 1t is an unlocked
ltI dlll ltIllbl' commenced y WI Nv -
forts of the President to quiet the dis
turbancl and violence of Louisiana pO.-
tiles, and seem to me an act OF folly
AMI madness.
The dispatch to General Anderson Is
as follows: Washington, Fec. 4, 1878.
Col. Thos. c. Anderson, New Orleans,
La. The undersigned feel it our duty
10 You, under present circumstances, TO
assure you Of their unhesitating belief
that in the matter wherin you stand
charged you are altogether SuiItless of
any Ollensc Of the law; that you arc
falsely accused and maliciously prose
cuted; that the proceeding against you,
though in form of law, is without sub
stance Of justice; that we sincerely
tender our earnest sympaties aud eX-
press our hope that the sense of justice
and love Of peace of the people OF Loui-
siana will protect you and not permit
the best interests of the whole country
to be disturbed by the revival of see
tional animosity. In any event we are
confident the American people will re-
dress any injustice of which you may
be the victim. [Signedl
john SHERMAN,
STANLEY MATHEWS
j. A. GARFIELD,
EUGENE HALE,