The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1880-09-17
THE DAMNING RECORD.
New Orleans City Item.l

! New orleans City Iten'l
The New York Sun revives the story
of how "the Returning Board thieves
hawkcd the vote of Louisiana about
Washington, Baltimore and New York
in November, 1876, and tried to sell it
to the highest bidder" They knew
the great value of the stake they held,
and as the issue was virtually within
their hands they tried to profit by the
sharp rivalry they expected to exist
betwiXt honesty and fraud. In short,
they were con the make" and ready
to sell out to the highest bidder. A
million of dollars is the sum first de-
manded, of which the veritable j.
Madison Wells was to get the lions
share, Anderson to come in as good
second, and the two colored colleagues,
Casanave and kenner, to bring up the
rear in the modest manner of less eX-
acting patriots. OF the two coloreCf
men Wells is said to have spoken in
contcmptuous terms as of sttwO niggers'
who neither deserved nor expected to
get much.
The Democratic managers stood for
justice and the vote. They refused to
pay for what they were honestly en-
titled to, and therefore declined the
reduced offer of 300, 900 in grecnbaclss,
made in this city just before the board
took final action, under tho terms
agreed upon with tho visiting states
men.
Thus the vote of the State was stolen,
Il Democratic majority Of over eight
thousand being fraudulently y extinguish-
ed and ever since, the parties to the
theft have boon revcling in the rewards
of inquity. With the details our peo-
pic are all more or less familiar.
Every one from Wells down to the
lowest striker has been rewarded.
There was, however, period whom
our local conspirators were alarmed !;
that was, when tho State, rescued from
tho clutches of the spoilers, undertook
to prosecute the Returning Boarders
been convicted tho turn of Wells came
next, and he very clearly intimatcd to
the authorities at Washington that un-
less they came to his relief he would,
in the language of the vulgar, "squcal."
This brought Sherman, Garfield and
tho rest to terms, and they not only
bled to some extent, but sent the fol-
lowing letter to Gen. Anderson:
| WAs1I1NGroN, Feb. 4, 1873.
Col. Thomas G. Anderson, Now Orleans, La,
The undersigned feel it due to you
under present circumstances, to assure
you of our unhesitating belief that ir
the matter wherein you stand charged
you arc altogether guiltlcss of any
offence against law that you are false
ly accused and maliciously prosecuted
that the proceeding against you, though
in the form of law, is without the sub
stance ofjusticc that we hereby tender
our earnest sympathics, and express
our hope that tho sense of justice and
love of peace of the people of Louisiana
will protect you, and not permit the
best interests of the whole country to
be disturbed bya revival of sectional
animosities. In any event we are con-
fident that tho American people will
redress any injustice of which you may
| he made the victim.
| JOHN SIIERMAN,
JAMES MATTHEW'S,
JAMES a. GARFIELD,
HARRY WHITE,
EUGENE HALE.
The visiting statesmen who prompt
cd, participated in, and proiitcd by
ssthc crime of the century, declare that
crime no offence against law, and now
seek to make one of their confcdcratcs
President of tho United States! O,
shame, where is thy blush:
| STORY OF RJsICk I'OMEROY