Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1879-01-10


Negroes Defrauded and Degraded---Ho
Alabama Democrats Carried Their
State by Fraud.
AT the election in November, thou
sands of colored Republican voters in
this district with its 10000 Repub-
lican majority were deprived of the
right of voting for member of Congress.
AT most of the large Republican pre-
cincts Democratic officials secured pos
session of the ballot-boxes, poll-lists,
etc., and kept themselves hid all day,
thus preventing the opening of the
polls. Thousands of colored voters re-
manned around the polls throughout
the day, waiting for their opening. But
they waited in vain. The law in this
State is that the ballot box must be
made of wood, tin, or sheet-iron, and
securely locked 1t was impossible for
the Republicans, therefore, to hold
valid elections in the absence of these
boxes and the printed blanks also re-
quired by law to be used. The law also
compels each elector to vote in the pre-
cinct of his residence. The Democratic
party has control of all the election ma
chinery in this State. Democratic
Judges appoint all the election man
ayers; Democrats make up the returns;
and Democratic Supervisors do the
counting. In this large Republican
district there was not one single Repub-
lican election official appointed.
In the Second District, which is very
close, but which really has a fair Re-
publican majority, the Greenbackers
nominated candidate in opposition to
Herbert, the Democratic nominee and
present member. The Republicans
supported the Greenbacker as a choice
of evils. 1t was known throughout the
State that Herbert's nomination gave
great offense to the Democracy; that
large numbers of white men in every
county of the district publicly made
| known their determination to support
Armstrong, the Greenback candidate.
On the nighU of the election it was be-
lieved that Armstrong had been elected.
! The returns from the various counties
| footed up a fair majority for Arm
strong. But the Democratic managers
had the Supervisors of two counties,
remote from the railroad, to hold back
| their returns until all the others were
in No efforts to get news from these
| two counties were successful. At last
they came up with overwhelming ma.
iorities for Herbert aiorities so large
| that every Just man in Alabama must
admit that they are the result of fraud,
| The Greenback candidate instituted in
quiries into the facts concerning the
two counties which were doctored BY
the Democracy, and he soon discovered
evidence enough The United States
District Court has been IN session al
Montgomery since Nov. 18, and its
Grand Jury has made diligent inquiry
into these election frauds. Enough
evidence has been elected, from un
disputed and unimpeachable sources
to show that the Democratic candidates
in the Second and Fourth Districts were
defeated beyond question, and tha
they received their certificates of elec
ton through the grossest frauds.
Having by this means secured con
troll of the government of the State
the Democratic Legislature now in op
Grafton at Montgomery has enacted
laws which seek directly to drive th'
colored people to the wall. This par
tisan Legislature has passed an act ap
plying to all the large colored counties
solely, that no man shall sell a pounC
of seed-cotton or any lint cotton il
quantities of less than three hundred
pounds. In nearly all the coloret
counties white owners of farms hav,
rented their lands to colored farmers
generally at very low rates, for other
wise the colored man would purchas
land of his own. The object of thi
law is to force the colored farmers Il
| divide their crops with the white own
ers from whom they have rented lands
in addition to paying in money. Un
der this law the colored farmer mus
get the white man to sell his cotton fo
him, for it is only the negro who
punished for selling seed-cottOn-no
the white man. .,.
The Democratic Legislature ha
passed various laws, every one of whicl
/ is intended to degrade the colored peo
pie and rob them of their rights. Il
order to do this the Democratic leader
} hesitate at nothing; they do not car
whether or not they are consistent. A
, an evidence of this, the action of tn
Democratic Legislature few days ag
| is sufficient. There were two contest
before that body-one in which Dem
ocrat contested the seat of colore
| Republican, and one in which whit
: Republican contested that of Demo
/ crat. The same state of circumstance
/ surrounded both cases. In the cas-
against Carson, the colored Republican
sitting member, the evidence wa
{ overwhelming in his favor, but tn
: Democratic partisans who now cor
troll the Legislature did not dar
/: to go back to their prejudiced constii
| uencies and admitted that they voted +
? keep Il " nigger' in and Democrat out
: hence they retained the Democrat i
one instance and ousted the Republica
> in the other So unjust and full of pal
tisan partiality was this conduct of tn
: Legislature, that several Democrat
I journals of the State declared that
was an outrage upon the whole people
r and that the Democratic party coul
= not afford to perpetrate such rank IL
. mstice. Another strike at the colore
people is the effort of the Democrat
. partisans here to induce this Legisls
9 ture to petition Congress to change tn
9 mode of selecting cadets to West Poir
| so GnaJ Uney small DC cnoseu from VII
r State universities. 1t is well know
: that no colored boy is ever admitte
!, within the portals of the University {
D Alabama, although the cOlored peopl
Q contribute to the support of that inst
n tuition. So long as the present mod
V of selecting delegates is in force til
+ colored youth have some little chanC
J of receiving recognition, but let Cor
l. gress provide that cadets to the Mil
g tary and Naval Academies must |
J. taken from State Universities, and IL
70 negro will have no chance.
n Colored children have virtually bee
" driven from the public schools. Not
/ colored man now holds an Office in IL
10 State; he is not permitted any more
n sit on iuries, nor was he even allow'
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