Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-12-13
A STORY FROM THE PAST.

An EN-Confederatt Tells how he Ar
ranged to Puic!. the Louisiana
Returning Board
New York specIaI: Z j. White in
this mornings Tribune has long article
on the Louisiana returning board of
1875, and among other things tells the
following story. The Tribune edi-
torially says it does not believe that
the board at any time intended to sell
out to the democrats. but the story is
worth reading. MIR. White says:
Among those who spent the winter of
1851 IN Washington was General
"DIek" Taylor, OF Louisiana. He was at
that time tall and soldierly in bearing,
with gray hair and mustache and the
autocratic positive manners of the "cId
school, southern gentleman. / re-
turned from New Orleans after the vote
OF the state had been announced early
IN December, and spent the evening of
the 18th of that month in small COM
pany OF gentlemen, one of
whom was General Taylor.
Another member of that party
was the Hon. Abram s. Hewitt. OF
course nothing but the presidential
election, then undecided, was talked
| about. and in the conversation, General
Taylor, who probably talked more freely
| than he would have done before dinner
mado the following statement, which |
wrote ont IN my note book at the time !:
81 have known Governor Wells and
General Anderson, the white members of
the Louisiana returning board, for long
time. l served in the state senate of
Louisiana eight years before the war
| with the former, and several sessions in
the lower house with General Anderson.
The latter WAS also in my command in
the confederate army. 1 am also we'll
acquainted with the two colored
members of the board, Cazenave and
kenner. You ask me if L believe the
board to have been corruptible. know
it. Why, on Sunday night before
the returning board made its
| report, / had concluded q
| bargain by which the vote of Louisiana
| was to be returned for Tllden. The sum
to be paid, $250,000. had been raised in
New York-not by or in the interest of
politicians; the contributors are not all
democrats, bat men OF business, who
were ANXIOUS to have the presidential
election settled as quickly as possible.
The suspense had checked all business.
and was ruinous to trade. Wells and
Anderson were to receive 100000 each
| aud the colored members of the board
$4,000 apiece. The arrangements had
ali been completed, the channel through
| which the money was to be paid had
| been selected and the means OF getting
| the members of the returning board ont
of the country as soon as they should
have finished their work had been pro.
vided. Wells said that he would
trust no other man IN the north but me.
said that the bargain had been COM
pleted on the Sunday before the return
ing board made it's report, but that
night the whole scheme fell through,
Some one suggested that there might be
an investigation by congress, that the
names OF the subscribers to the fund
might be disclosed, and they themselves
dragged into publicity and suffer erea,
odium. This idea spread rapidly among
those who had pledged the money, and
one after another Withdrew. Ii had had
the money the thing would have beer
done and the election would have beer
decided and in favor OF Tilden
Neither Mr.. TIlden nor Mr.. Hewitt
knew anything OF negotiations. l have
already said that the contributors IL
the FIND were business men, not polit,.
CLANS, nor was the money to be raised il
the interest of politicians. / purposel,
kept from Mr. Tilden and Mr.. Hewitt al
knowledge OF my transactions. In cas-,
y committee OF congress should make ar