The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-11-16

Kc. Tbe bare returns IN strong nepubncan
counties prove frauds. Never has there been %
many Republican votes COST IN the counties Of
MAdison, jefferson, Leon, 0adsden and jackson
g 6 the last election and never with % isw Re
publican votea counted out Ip one precinct
there were over two hundred votes In excess OF
the number a voters, and when the excess was
taken lfOm the boz, al but ten were Republicans
votes. One man put 10 tho box 100 votes In
another county, there was an excess Of 81 votes
In one precinct, and ell that was taken out 70
even up the ballots with the voters, were Repub-
lican BALBOA There were Frauds enough com
mitied In the above counties. to moro than bal
ance all the majority returned for Mr. BlOxham,
unless their has been some unheard-of transac-
ton. In this county. and 10 the up-river coun.
election. We hear of no very grave charges Of
anything different, and 10 these counties there
has been Republican gaia.
The Sun and Press is the victim of
mental hallucination, aggravated by a
perverse disposition to believe all the false
hoods which disappointment may suggest
or ingenuity invent. In the outset it be-
lieved or pretended to believe that Flor
ida is Republican State" and that ga
fair vote and an honest count" would de-
monstrate the fact, when a reasonable
amount of mother wit, backed by q
knowledge of the State outside of single
county, would have dispelled the illusion.
Florida is not and never was Ga Republi.
can State" as was abundantly proved
four years ago when all the election ma
chinery was in Republican hands and was
used with devlish malignity to perpetuate
Republican power, and has been again
proved in this year of grace 1880. The
late imperfect census showed preponder-
ance of whites over blacks Of more than
$4,000 and an excess of over 5000 white
voters. This significant fact indicated to
sensible people how the election was go
ing to result, but it had no effect on the
San and Press whose editor knows
great deal more about Maine than he does
about the State which he honors with
his presence and Of whose people, espec-
tally the Democratic portion thereof, he
manifestly has an Indifferent opinion
That frauds may have occurred in the late
election Is pOssible-they occur, more or
less in all elections, we apprehend-but
when sifted to the bottom they will be
found to be utterly insignificant, not
amounting in the aggregate to the cele-
brated Archer fraud of 2l9 in 1879, to
say nothing of the little jokers :"
stuffed into the box in a single precinct
by Bowes in Leon county. So far as the
sweeping charge of the Sun and Press
inculpates this county, we believe the
statement is false. We have heard of
but two instances of stufing," and in
both the Democrats were the sufferers.
One of them occurred in stones throw
of the F LORID1AN Office, (precinct No.
1877 where twisted" ballots were
found to contain more votes than the
law allowed and all were destroyed by the
unanimous consent of the inspectors the
other instance was at precinct No. 8,
where Republican ballots were found
these too were destroyed. We will state
that late in the afternoon of the election
distinguished white Republican came to
the editor in condition of considerable
excitement and reported that at precinct
No. IS, mentioned above, the box was
being largely stuffed and that one person
had voted as many as fifteen ballots at q
time. The writer went at once to the
precinct, told the inspector who received
the tickets from voters what he had heard
and was informed that the only suspicious
looking ballots that had been handed i'm
had been twisted " by hun with unusual
care and that the inspectors were on the
watch against wropg-doing, When the box
was opened these ballots were destroyed
as stated above, and yet the falsehood has
gone out of innumerablc Democratic
frauds in this county, based on no better
evidence than this circumstance,
The whole vote of Leon county shows
IL votes less for Bloxham than were given
for Drew in '7o. No Republican, whose
opinion is worth a straw, ha> complained
of the fairness of the registration, and no
one will pretend that ebstrpctions were
thrown in the way Of voters depositing
their ballots by the Democrats, All the
buIldozing and intimidation there was was
practiced by the other side, and this was
done in the most outrageous manner, as
will be proved, we think, By Republican
candidates for the Legislature, of whose
contest mention is made IN another column
and as may yet be shown by innumerable
arrests under the law Of the State.
The mistake the San and Frees and
others as ignorant as it makes lie in sup
posing that aNthe negroes in the black
counties vote the Republican ticket. They
do no such thing. In this county four
years ago, over 400 colored men voted
with the Democrats and between three
and four hundred did the same this year.
More would have done 20 bat for the fear
of personal violence from their race. The
same is true in all the black belt. The
man is fool who does not admit that In.
telligence will havs its influence, and in
this election this power was exerted a.