Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1881-05-03

the charge. do not think he would have
done that if there had not been overwhelm-
! ing evidence; does the Senator!
| Mr.. George.--He might have pleaded
guilty upon some sort of idea that was
common. / believe OF that time that II
he would plead guilty 1t would cost him
| less than IL would to defend his case.
remember hearing something Of that sort
at the time there, that men who were In
dicted, who brought their cases in the
courts when there was mistrial, were adj
vised that the court would be lenient with
them aud 1t would be cheaper TO confess
and plead guilty than TO go on with
the prosecution. But the gentleman said
that the evidence was overwhelming
against him aud Mississippi jury refused
to convict; that was his statement.
want TO know where Is your authority for
the statement that the evidence Is over
whelming. Was the evidence given before
the Jury reduced TO writing and certified
by ANYBODY who heard It, or is it the opin-
ion of somebody that the gentleman has
succeeded in getting from the Attorney
Generals Office:
Mr. Frye said it required no further
evidence than the fact that landall plead.
will require no further evidence.
Mr.. George-But you said, sir
Mr.. Frye.-I decline, Mr.. President, to
be interrupted now
The Presiding Ofiicer- The Senator
from Maine declines 10 be interrupted.
Mr.. q, orge.-Allow me 20 say one word,
IL YOU please The confession Of this mtn
was made after the mistrial. Your state
ment was that the evidence before the
jury was overwhelming. and You under
took 10 impeach the honesty aud fairness
OF the jury by saying that notwithstanding
the evidence was unimpeachable to them
they disagreed. | say that OF the two
statements one does not sustain the other
The fact that the man afterwards bad
pleaded guilty Is not To be considered as
proving that the eyidenc, before the jury
wa> unimpeachable and overwhelming.
Mr. Frye.-Now, Mr.. President, | will
resume the floor | only repeat | did not
suppose that he pleaded guilty 10 the same
Jury that tried him before. We do not do
il in that way in our country.
Mr. George pleaded guilty to the
court
Mr. Frye decline To be Interrupted
again nv the Senator unless he asks for the
interruption in proper form aud order un-
der the rules.
Mr.. George. All right.
Mr Frye.-That Jury disagreed. aud i'm
mediately the man was aTraigued for trial
again aud pleaded guilty aud the people o {
this country will not question the state
mcnt that | made that the evidence was
overwhelming. The gentleman says in ex-
PLANTATION that there In that county they
plead guilty when they are not guilty;
that sometimes they plead guilty when the
evidence Is not overwhelming.
Think of IL. Here is a white man, a gen.
tlemAu because he is white and because he
i a democrat, an officer elected To rcspon-
siblc position in Mississippi, the clerk OF
the circuit court. who j. charged with the
Infamous crime OF taking poor black mau
and beating his head with the butt OF his
pistol, aud he, forsooih, for some reason
which nobody knows pleads guilty .
There is no testimony, aud yet he pleads
guilty. II those are the gentlemen In
Mississippi IL Is very singular 10 say the
least: and | do not believe the gentlemen
of Mississippi will thank the Senator from
Mississippi for undertaking 10 get them
ont OF IL In any such weak way ~ that.
At RAYMOND. the shire town of Kinds
county. after the voting had commenced,
the democratic officers suddenly got up a
sham tight they fred their pistols into
the walls and ceiling OF the room. The
democrats outside hearing IL began to yell,
Riot, Niger Riot, aud rush toward the
voting precinct, and the negroes rushed
for the woods.
Again. in Kinds county, Captain Kerr,
-. -, l.. off al N
Estelle. a lawyer-the senator will know
these men; he was captain In the Mexican
war: both were white both were cOnicder-
ates and both We're residents OF Jackson
went 10 Dry GROVE the night before the
election 20 distribute republican ballots.
An armed body OF white democrats sur
rounded them aud escorted them nine
miles, placed them abOird the train and
sent them back % Jackson. No repu1li-
can ballots were distributed ut that p"lling
place. There the Jury disagreed be-
cause conspiracy was charged, aud that
gave a chance for them u disagree on
what the word conspiracy" meant
Again. in Enterprise. Clark County,
there were twelve convictions on trial and
pleas OF guilty Of violence - republicans.
All were democrats. There were twenty
four democrats uuder arrest for violence
At Chahuta they had anyilS, an anvil at
one side OF the polling place, loaded,
and an anvil AZ the other side OF the poll
ing place, loaded. Afr they had been
voting IA short time. a gray headed re>ptc c.
table gentleman, a democrat, took his cane
aud marked with IL line from one Anvil
10 the other anvil Ia front OF The polling
place. Then he declared in a loud voice
that that liue was the dead-liue, that
no Garfield Niger could cross that"
Did the Garfield negroes know what the
dead-line was: Dad the respectable South
eTn gentleman know what the dead line
was: Had those cOlored men ever heard
that when our brave boys from the North,
down there In your cursed prisons. starved
day by day. had In their hunger aud weak
ness from starvation, dared OH Bonded
knee 10 crawl across the dead-line 10 pick
up some bone that some Southern dog had
dropped, they We're Drained on the spot:
Dead-liue, ALI that line meant something,
aud no Garfield negroes crossed the dead
line that day.
Again in the Northern district of Mis-
sissippi. at the December term, three plead
guilty To ballot box stuting; three plead
guilty 10 turning the vote oione precinct
a. the vote or the whole county five plead
guilty OF expellipg by force supervisors
OF election; one was convicted of the same
offense: two commissioners plead guilty
of erasing names OF voters from the poll
list; three plead guilty OF driving the
supervisor from the polls with pistols.
There were about seventy other indlct-
ments, AS near as l can learn. There
were others indicted for aiding in this pis-
tol business, and they were let of. Elec-
ton commissioners were tried for fraud
uIeutly making up poll book thejury &C
Quilted them, and then the district attor-