Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1879-11-15
: A Fair Count for
1879.
HOW IT WAS DONE IN 1870.
An Odious Comparison.

III inc yCaI vi our LoTu Ic|Vr JOIN
s. Chapman of the State of Maine,
was Supervisor of Registration for
the parish Of East Baton Rouge, in
Louisiana. TO do the "faii thing"
for the good people of the latter
State, the Warmoth Legislature had
enacted an election law, which Was q
marvel of ingenuity. The registrar
under its provisions was the "Grand
Mogul' within the scope of his do
mains it was he who designated the
polling places, named the ward com
missioncrs Of election; and lastly,
the boxes were brought to his head
quarters, where the ballots were
counted ut his leisure, before such
Witnesses Us it was his good pleasure
to call in.
AS we have already stated Cllap-
man was the "honcst john who was
drumming tho election machine ut
that period.
Let US sec what happened:
Instead of having n polling place,
at each one Of the twelve warils Of
this parish, according to the old Gus
tom, Chapman tho virtuous New En-
lander, adopted II different plan, one
that he felt sure was bound TO work
well. The mass of the cOlored voters
inhabit the western side of this parish
OF rather the river front, while the
whites largely prcdominatcin tho Eas
tern or rear portion. Honest john had
served rs u Captain in u colored, regi-
mcnt in the late war, and WINS some
thing of u tactician 80 he located the
polls in u strategic manner: Ono at
Port Hudson, three at Baton Rouge,
and tho other two in the lower, river
wards, all on y line, 80 that tho voters
could got water without going Zoo far
out Of the range Of the ballot boxes.
This of course was for the cbnvcn-
fence Of his colorcd friends. The
"wliitc trash" of the backwoods might
either ride in to the river polls, or
stay at home, just to suit Themselves.
The consequence was that the cleo
ton on the first Monday in Novcm-
Der 1870, was us if held iii u jug,
with the handle in long Johns hand.
With the exception of the, whites
who lived near the polling places
there were hardly any other but col
ored men who voted ON that day..
And withal the Democrats were
not us happy as long John expected
them to be. They were 80 llnrcason-
able US to call him u sc0undrcl as he
passed them on the street, even
when he bowed to them with his
usual"cxquisite courtesy A strange
people those rebels are, he must have
thought, to be dissatisfied with his ar
engagements to give "a free bcllA and
q IaW count ut the poHs."
But they were angry nevertheless.
Tie sun slonc Us radiantly in
Chapman's interest, as it did for Ma
polcon on the field of Austcrltz. The
ballot boxes were brought to the
Court House nicely sealed, and placed
under the tutorship Of the "Mainc
boy"
There was no use to conceal it, but
tho rebels were indignant, and there
were small groups Of them here and
there who believed that the election
had been q mockcry and IN insult to u
free people. Night came, and in the
darkness u pistol shot vas fired,
which acted Us If u match had been
thrown into q powder magazine. A
promiscuous fusiladc cnsucd, and
Chapman run, faster than any human
being had ever done before, holding
OH however to tho two ballot boxes
just handed in, which served as a
ballast enabling him to follow a
straight line towards the commons.
The rest is known. Captain Myers
U. S. A., as accomplished II villain Us
ever bore false testimony III u Court
Of Justice, reached the scene at the
head of u company of soldiers. For
three days the arrests went on until
sixty Of our citizens wore huddlcd
in the barracks. From thence, they
were embarked Oh II revenue cutter,
and transported to New Orleans, where
they were lodged in the parish prison;
and from day to day, for two weeks,
they were marched under guard, to
and fro, to tho Custom House where
they were being tried for murder,
and conspiracy against the govern
mcnt Of the United States. They
were finally acquitted.
Now comes the sequel.
After years undesirable anguish
and misrule, the Radical party was,
by an almost superhuman effort, hurl
ed from power. The horrible scenes
~ 4 II. Il 4. l..