The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-01-11
The Bourbon Outrases in Mississippi.

The public statement recently madebyl
the Chairman of the Republican State
Central Committee and Of the National
Greenback Labor Central Committee in.
Mississippi, shows that the shotgun and,
the various atrocities of the bull-dozeri
are not the only methods by which the
Bourbons have kept down the Republic
an majority in that State Their state
ment confirms what has often been al
leg That the most shameless
acts of fraud have been committed un-
der the open sanction Of those whose
duty it was to uphold the purity of the
Election laws. The browning fraud was
perpetrated at the last State election.
In this contest, Benjamin King was the
Gubernatorial candidate of the Repub-
hcans, Greenbackers and Independent
Democrats, who coalesced and united
upon one ticket to defeat the Bourbons,
whose ticket was headed by Robert
Lowry. The fraud commenced by
cheating the combination party out Of
its Commissioners and Inspectors of
election, whose appointment devolves
Governor and Secretary of State. In
twenty-nine counties, which are strongly
Republican, the Commissioners and In
cRCCbOAo aRRQAntCo WCAO IL COlA-
plete sympathy with the Bourbons, or,
in some cases, were ignorant, in
competent, and timid negroes instead of
by the Republicans and their allies.
Having packed the list of Commis-
sioners and Inspectors as the first step,
the methods Of fraud to be practiced
were reinforced by the methods of vio-
lence which for ten years past have
been in vogue in that Bourbon-ridden
and negro Killing State Meetings were
broken up, midnight gangs of rHffians
threatened violence to colored voters,
and even at the polls cavalcades of red
shirted rufiians, heavily armed, rode up
and scared away the timid At the
polls every conceivable form of swind-
ling was practiced. Ballot-boxes were
openly stuffed. Tally sheets were re-
versed, the votes cast for the anti
Bourbons being counted for the Bour-
bons. The names of voters were
scratched of the registry lists. In
numerous cases the ballot-boxes were
carried off and kept several days by the
Bourbons, and were returned after their
contents had been fixed up to suit their
candidate. All this could be easily
done, because even in districts where
anti-Bourbon Commissioners and In
spectors were allowed they were not the
intelligent and competent persons Sc
lected by the committees, but negroes
picked out by the Bourbons, and were
too timid to act, or too ignorant to read
and write, or too incompetent to know
what was going on
What the result was under such man.
ipulation of votes as this, is shown by
the following analysis of the figures
made by the Chairmen of committees.
The returns thus far made show total
of 127, ,729 votes, of which King (anti-
Bourbon) was 81, ,S64 and Lowry 76, ,365.
The voting strength of the whites Is
about 95, 900, and of the colored popula-
ton 10000. The -colored vote Is Re-
publican, and to this, if there had been q
fair election, would have been added the
Greenback vote and that of the discon-
tented Democrats. Only three-fifths of
the votes were cast. What the political
character of the remaining two-fifths was
it is not difficult to infer. In the twenty
four strongest anti Bourbon counties the
Bourbons rolled up their heaviest ma
jorities. How that was accomplished it
is not difficult to infer. In the whole
State, upon a three-fifths vote, the Bour-
bons ostensibly secured q, 900 majority.
If there had been q fair election it Is easy
enough to see that the Bourbon cam
didate would have received an immense
majority, and, even as it is, the Chair
men believe that majority of 10000
was actually cast for him and, of course,
counted out, or rather not counted at
all, but thrown out or turned over in q
lump to the Bourbon candidate.
How much longer is this abominable
political iniquity to be tolerated. Is
there no honesty or deceney in the State
of MississippiP Apparently the only
hope is to wait until the wave of anti
Bourbonism which started inVirginia and
is gaining some headway in North and
South Carolina and Georgia reaches
Mississippi. Even then, win the down.
trodden, prosecuted and terrorized
voters have the courage to rally? Every
other issue should be thrown aside, and
voters of every class who are honest and
law-abiding men, who believe in vindi-
eating the law and establishing and
maintaining the purity of the ballot-box
ought to unite, whatever their political
principles may be, in an overwhelming
onslaught against the frauds and cor
ruption of the Bourbons. Hurl them
from power first. Re-establish honesty
of elections and settle political issues
afterwards. That is the duty of the peo-
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