The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-01
THE MIssIssIPPI PLAN.

G
BaIlot-Box stuhing and the Shotgun Openly
Advocated as Proper and Necessary.
To the Editor of the Indianapolis journal:
At the last term of the federal court held in
Aberdeen, Miss, an indictment was found
against five young men for ballot-box stuhing, a
crime that no white jury in this State will punish.
The district attorney, seeing that the jury was a
packed one, and knowing that all efforts to con-
Wet the prisoners would prove futile, and prob
ably not wishing to prosecute a case in which
his sympathies were with the defendants, made
a proposition to the defendants that if they
would promise to abstain from such question
able proceedings for the future he would dismiss
the case. After a consultation with his clients
the counsel for the defense arose and said that
three of his clients had decided to take advan-
tage of the proposition of the district attorney
and make the promise, but that the other two
wished him to say for them that they
elections so long that they considered
it one of their rights H) which they
would suffer for rather than forego." The dis
trct attorney seeing that he could never carry
the prosecution to a successful termination, dis
missed the case, and the ballot box suffers went
unpublished. Is not this a sad state of affairs,
when the common practice of fraud renders the
law Furnishing that fraud a dead letter. Can a
man of honor cast his vote and interests with q
gang of that kind?
In Pontotoc county, in this State, recently,
the Republicans held q primary election, the
vote being over 2, 400. Soon afterwards, at the
general election, the total vote of the county was
a tri6e over 800. Can any one claim that no
votes were thrown out herel That this was a
square, honest count of the vote that was polled
on that day2
AtHolly Springs, Miss, at the last general cleo
ton, a gentleman noticing the large number of
negroes in town, remarked to a prominent citizen
that from appearances he should judge that the
Republicans would carry the election by an
overwhelming majority. 'Weli," was the laugh
ing response, they do the voting, but we do the
counting; so you need have no fears for this
county" At this same election an entire county
(LefOre) was thrown out because there was a
dash under the heading of the Republican
ticket, and the State law sJipulates that the
tickets shall be plain, without signs or marks on
them, this law having been passed to prevent
the negroes that were unable to readfrom know
ing which ticket they were voting, thus en-
aiding thS Democrats to f0ist their own or
spurious Republican tickets upon them. One
county (Yazoo(, in 1856, gave two Republican
votes for Gafheld-the postmaster and one
negro-the shotgun policy being at that time at
its zenith. In regard to the use of the shotgun
for carrying elections, q gentleman of promi-
nence remarked to your correspondent
that he had always condemned ballot
box stufing as dishonorable; that he
wanted every vote that was Dolled
counted, that he always insisted on the use of
the shotgun to keep the negro away unless he
wanted to vote the right ID ticket. Now, is not
this a demoralized condition of affairs, when a
clear-headed, high minded man thinks that
when he acts as above, he is going according to
the dictation of his eonseienee2
A gentleman told ne yesterday thinking that
I was u Democratl that Mississippi hadn't
counted their votes at an election for years,
that they fixed it up after the closing Of the
polls.
Now, if your unprecedented voter will read
this and think about it, he will never think of
casting his vote for Cleveland and Hendricks,
for should they succeed in gaining sufficient
Northern States to apparently elect their men,
the Democratic party have a patched up
lot Of election returns in the South to explain,
and no doubt sufficient evidence could be
brought to bear to convince any electoral COM
mission that Mississippi, Alabama, louisiana,
Georgia and Florida were not fairly Democratic,
there being no doubt that if the vote was counted
as fairly in the South as in the North, the Dem
ocrats would have fewer Southern than they
have Northern States. Let them practice what
they preach, "a fair count, and they cease to
exist as a party in the South for want of sup
port. f.
ABERDEEN, Miss, Oct. 20.