The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-09-24

tG2sIzo ls41I laC4 ~ nuk s5tD1t d1IWs bnHa7g
scheola est & "a. sndi slnaag at
prssie ND q00ag 3 Ihava
ksl ksl Il Oif 1ll 8 "a a,gD D,'rppse ~
P~a1E 70 O'nlfn6 6aA sEsstes m Ire
&outh,zAoEAin9 6lIA .xazwdbSea, ,ea6ier
rtbe gpsEslC pgEhisA the Demo
cfatic paytys I'D n AeEs EitAqqt dis-
nan chising anyh, # ne Kephblioan
ieaders could kA40 oaddslSd their spfsiu-
,dises didssijwn y 36IilieiS<s, ,'aOt to SAY
stateaansh, - na1Y sanall mo1ip4m Of psac-
tacsl Nisd9p H thsy shad 1aaas ttheir
sRpeals g the N dem and members Of
the old Wing psfty, DE supporters Of
Bal ana Rveisstf II iSeo, md Is the mi
nOEity N Ethe DU3saS who had rentafies1
txue 10 the uzfdn saA thnaa9h, the uAr; !;
had given them IN. Federal ofRces which
might reasonably have gone to 0ne-third
Of the States22 aAshfbs. cabinet places.
foreign miisionA Sbpoiiitinents al collect
ora pcstIaApteRiRHd the rest -the1reault
would ha1e-Asea =4he -making Of most of
heqssSteNesnsE,slanafssfa ina8spGihlican-
ism % Massachuietta as Yermopt, j say
this most con6de1t1y 1nd disiptrestedly,
as my Anteced66is T0aM have hxed me
with tie rnihOFisy of souss, net with Che
majority of SH& il@'s aFoj4 - II.
4 ana aware that there is prevalent
opinion at the North that We might have
saved ourselves from the Disastrous conse-
qnences Of the Reconstruction Acts by
actively participating in the early cleo
tions thercander; instead of which, il is
supposed, WE sallmly and sulkily stood
aloof, leaving things to take their course.
assure our visitor that nothing is further
from the truth. A large number Of us at
the Gfst Of these elections (Iees) were
disfranchised- could mot vote, could only
work and talk. This We did and. running
popular ticket for Governor and Con
gressman, F1orida was entitled then to
but one representative to Congress- and
the kepabEpans, caYet- et-baggers and ne
gFoes Being divided into t6e support of
two tickets Of nearly egual strength, the
Conservatives (as Va called ourselves, to
escape the odium or the Democratic
name J undoubtedly poiled q plurality of
votes-all that wa necessary TO elect.
But the other paxty, or rather one wing
OF it, did the counting, and counted in its
own men, all ptbaggers-Re of
Wisconsin, as GoYenor; Gleason, of Wis
consin, as Lieutensnt-G Governor Hamil-
ton, of Pennsylvania, as Congressman
At the next election (ls7O) Of Congress
man, Lieutenant-Gsye and aLegisla-
ture, all political diquali6cations having
ceased, we again carried the State, elect
ing acknowledgement, Congressman
and majority Of the Legislsfqre. Again
the other GdS did tie counting, teversing
the popular veraist. As regards the
Legislature, there was no remedy: Oar
Lleutenant-G Governor elect appealed to the
Supreme Court, our Congressional candi-
date to the House of Representatives at
Washington and, though the court was
Republican and the Congress Republican,
each Of these tribunals was compelled by
the facts to decide in favor of the Demo
cratic contestant These facts our friend,
if he is curious in the matter. will find in
Volume XIII, F1orida Supreme Court
Reports, In case reported under the title
of State e1 rel Bloxham vs. Board State
Canvasser. The facts. say, are to be
found in the report of that case though
it is also true that, with Characteristic
rascality, after the court had ruled the
principles which gave Bloxham the Office,
the Republican leaders, to defeat the ends
of justice, by changing the State Canvass
ing Board gave the court IN. excuse for
not proRouncing, in that case, q final
Judgment In his favor. So that his law
yers had to begin again, not by nsassdamsls,
In which, after the lapse Of some eighteen
months, he obtsined . Judgment of oGster
against his asaFPing opponent. The Con-
gFessional case was that of Niblack VS..
Walls, decided in favor Of the former
only, however, few days before the ex-
piration of the term for which he was
chosen.
"And so the voting went on at every
election, State and national, (save, per
haps, the Greeley 6asco,) the Democrats
doing the electing, the Republicans the
counting, up to and including the memoir
able contest of 1874. Once more the
ernor, Congressman lnow two,), Presi-
Dental electors and . majority of the
Legislature once more their csndidates--
Governor and Presidential electors-man-
ifestly chosen, were counted out By our
model Returning Board, braced and
backed up by Ex-Governor Noyes, now
Minister TO France; General Lew Wal
lace, now GoverDorof New Mexico; John
A. Kasson, now Minister TO Austria-but
not, ann grati6ed to say, by General
Bawlow, ex-AttOrney General of New
York, who did not, while the others did,
get Office from MIR. Hayes. The claims of
the Democratic candidate for Governor
were, as in the previous case of their
Lieutenant Governor, taken before the
State Supreme Court, two of the three
members of which were Republican, who,
under the rulings already made in the
Bloxham case, compelled the Canyasaing
Board to reverse their action. The result
was the Inauguration of the Governor
whom the people had elected. Not DO,
however. Jared the Tkldenaelectors. Ths
Eight-toSeven Commission, Mr.. Garfeid
one Of the Eight, shnt its eyes 70 the fraud
perpetrated BY tie Canvassing Board, and
declared four men whom the people of
EIOrida had not chosen Florida's Presi-
dential electors. From this brief view il
viii he seen with how little justice ,our
people can be charged with standing
ai0Of m the political contests Of the Re
construction period. Lis rather mstter
Of surprise The persistence With which
they repeated, pear aiter yeay, the strng-
ele u ihe pals, With the chances ell n
hvor u tie popular verdict being nullifed
byas asfSnndulsns c0ant. sss5 f,4f% #