Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-03-04

elections were over, the Democrats had
majority as returned by the Republican elec
| ton ofhcers of some ten thousand, the vot
| polled being the largest ever polled In tn
| State, and larger In proportion to the popula
| ton than that of the other States. The Re
| publican officers made returns of the vote &C
cordingly, and declared that the election wal
perfectly peaceful and fair. The Republicans
| In order to overcome this majority, theI
usurped powers not given to them. In sup
| port OF this, the report recites the finding Of
| the Hoar, Wheeler and Frye committee, tnai
| the returning board had no power to discard
votes where the protests, as required by law,
had not accompanied the returns, no instance
OF which existed at this election. Notwith-
standing this, the returning board decided Ia
discard the necessary number of Democratic
votes. As pretext for this usurpation they
| obtained protests from certain parishes, which
they picked out as parishes IN which to pre-
tend intimidation had taken place. These
parishes were all largely OF negro population,
| which the Democrats had fairly carried. The
report then deals with the question of intlm-
idation, and argues that it was impossible for
the Democrats to gain anything by it, because
the returning board had been created on
purpose to neutralIze any such action by
throwing out votes IN localities where
it should prevail. 1t recites the outrageous
conduct OF the same returning board in that
respect In 1874, and in how its action had
been condemned by the forty third congress,
giving instances where they had counted In
officials without color of nght-men whom
the congressional committee had caused to
be turned out and their places given to Dem
ocrats; the Democrats knowing that they not
only could gain nothing by intimidation, but
that they could only hope for some show of
justice by avoiding anything which might be
made pretense for allowing it. The report
Nnn of, 10 hot do
throughout the State by the Democrats TO
concillate the black vote, showing by the evI-
dence of Republican witnesses, as well as the
testimony of gentlemen of character, like
Governor Whitfield, how the planters COM
bined with the negroes to get up clubs of
both colors, and referring to the promises
and assurances made to the negroes, even to
equality in cars, theaters, etc., far outrun-
ming the Republicans. The leaders having
joined the Democrats, the whole mass of the
negroes came In and became quite enthusi-
astIc supporters, and thus the vote In some of
the so called bulldozed parishes was the very
largest ever cast. As to the conspiracy In
East Feliciana parish, the report states
that after the Democrats had coucliated
the negroes there, Kellogg wanted An
derson, who was supervisor, to
have no election, and Anderson
fraudu,ently ran away with that view to
furnish an excuse for throwing the parish
out, as Grand parish was thrown cut, because
the supervisor of registration absented him
self on election day, Notwithstanding other
officers held the election and made one return
of the vote. The Democrats in East Felici-
ana, knowing that they had captured the
negro vote, hired Anderson to go back and
hold an election. The Republicans then hit
upon new plan and directed their friends
not to vote, so as to pretend intimidation and
exclude the parish. They sent out word to
their followers not to come to the polls, and
refused to permit any tickets to be printed or
and exercised their influence to
withhold their own vote entirely. Eighteen
hundred registered votes were cast, and four
hundred and fifty more, which Anderson had
prevented from being registered, made about
twenty three hundred votes cast, ali Demo-
cratic but not one Republican would vote,
though urged to do so. The whole vote Of
the parish at prevlousIelections, both sides,
had not exceeded twenty five hundred votes. |
The Republicans purposely withheld cast
ing any vote at all, and subsequently
made claim that they had been intimidated |
and could not vote, and the returning board |
on this pretext, purposely pre-arranged, ex- |
cluded the vote of the entire |
parish. The report then refers |
to the supplementary papers obtained from |
Anderson and Dan Weber, both of whom are |
known by Republicans to be for sale; that |
these supervisors, having made returns that !
were induced to make supplementary pro- |
tests, and that they both confessed they did |
this because of reward. In other parishes, |
where the officers had seen and certified to a |
perfectly fair election, Kellogg, by pressure, |
exacted like false protests. The report then |
goes on to show how the returning board, |
having got possession OF such unlawful pro- |
tests, proceeded to take evidence, United |
States officers and money being used to bring |
ignorant negroes from the interior fields into |
4 great city. where they were herded together, |
aiken before officials, and had afhdavits |
written down for them, to which, upon |
making their marks, they received their fees, |
and were sent home. The process of manu- !
Iacluring these affidayits is set forth to show |
now the negroes were imposed upon, and |
now worthless the afhdavits were. As an IL
of how reckless the returning
BOARD was in considering the evidence, it
points out that in East Feliciana only twenty
six witnesses to any kind of distur Dances
could be collected. The disturbances
10 which they testified had arisen
rom cotton-seed and other thefts
oy negroes, and their suppression,
which had been conducted by leading Repub-
lcans, had nothing to do with politics; and |
although this and the fact that the election
was entirely peaceable and the Republicans
refused to vote was shown by |
welve hundred witnesses, and although four
lid vote with the Democrats, the returning
BOARD threw out the whole vote. The reports
point out a great many other instances of
which it styles the fraudulent, outrageous
and desperate character of the returning
BOARD, and shows the imposslbilIty of their
considering the testimony before them, as
hey had more than could be read by man |
-eading ten hours day in two weeks, when
hey went into consultation, and how the
next day their intended decision was known,
md, indeed, never had been in doubt, every
hing connected with them being a travesty
IN Justice, and showing how absolutely
abandoned and INSCRIPTIONS they were.
The report states that the returning board
would never have so outraged the people but
or their encouragement from visiting states
men and the support which they and the
roops gave them. Then follows the details
Is to how some of the visitors were deceived
oy local managers and innocently co-operated
n the frauds OF the returning board, while
)thers did not. 1t refers very briefly |
% the alleged bargain by which Hayes, who
ladlthree thousand less votes than Packard.
rot counted in, while Packard was counted
tut, and mentions Sherman's offer to prove
but points out that whenever
he committee offered to receive it the evil
lence was not produced, and they were met
,y some sham excuse for not producing it;
low they had examined many of the w.t.
lesses that were before the returning board,
Who in almost every instance recanted and
Explained how they came to make their aft
lavit in the first place, and how such state
nents as they made were totally unfounded.
{ then refers to the Sherman letter, in re-
,ard TO which it simply states the facts as
hey stand showing that letter was actu-
lily written and largely influenced political
elton, whoever signed it, and drawing at
ention to the attempt, in the interest of
sherman, by Mrs. jerks, whose husband and
'rother are employees in the treasury depart
nent, to induce the committee to produce
forged letter The Florida portion of the
eport is followed by a list of all the persons
onnected with the election there, and In
he Louisiana by still longer list of persons
a that State appointed to Office. The third
art of the report deals with the forged Lou
sian electoral certificates. 1t tells how the
lice President, having refused the first GER
ifcats of the Republicans, secretly manu-
actured another, ante dating it and made it
d paper and printing to resemble the one
previously made; how, having very little