The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-02-14

lar Democrat has the seat Featherstone is
the head Of the great farmers organization
| OF the southwest called the "Wheel." he
was supported by the Republicans, as he was
running against the regular Democratic or
ganiZation.
The Maryland case of Mudd VS.. Compton.
Mudd is white Republican, who contests
the seat on the ground that Democratle
| roughs from Baltimore went up into MS dlS-
trlct and with reyolvers dTI intlmidatea negro
In the Alabama case of Threet VS.. Clark,
| the contestant, Threet, belongs TO the negro
wing of the Republican party, but Is in
reality very able mulatto. he Is thriv-
| ing country merchant, who has been a can
didate for Congress three times. He claims
| that he has been elected twice and counted
out, which is very likely true.
The Indiana case of POsey VS.. Parretis,
one of northern Democratic mischief
Bowen VS.. buchanan is case from the
ninth Virginia district, district where nine
tenths OF the voters are white, and where the
white Republican party is strong.
Waddell VS.. Wise is another Virginia con-
test, from the Richmond district. The vote
was very close, Wise, who is Democrat, and
the sitting member, having 261 votes only re-
turned over the vote for Waddell.
Eaton VS.. Phelan is a Tennessee case, the
sitting member being Democrat. He is in
very poor health, and intends to resign after
the contest for his seat has been settled.
McDuffie VS.. Turpin is from the fourth Al
abama district. The return of the votes
showed that Turpin (Dem.) had 1s.77S. while
McDuftie, who is white Republican and
Judge, had but 1928. The size of the one
vote and the smallness of the other is the
suspicious feature in a district where the
number of the negro voters is very large.
Chalmers VS.. Morgan Is a contest from the
second Mississippi district Morgan, the sit
ting member, is Democrat, and Chalmers,
the Republican, is an ex-Confederate gen.
eral.
In the third Mississippi district there is
another contest Catchings, the sitting
member. is a Democrat and a colored Re
seat. Mississippi methods are the Iynu grounds Ids
of the contest.
Another colored contestant is Prof. John
Mercer Langston, who iran as an indepen-
dent Republican candidate, and now contests
was returned as having 13,209 votes to 1867
for Langston and 3.207 for Judge Arnold, the
Malone Republican nominee.
The third and last case where a colored
contestant is involved Is that of Miller VS..
Elliott, in the seventh South Carolina dis
trict Miller Is classed as colored man, be-
ing only one siXty-fourth negro and much
whittier than many white Democrats, how
ever; and legally white. He is lawyer and
mas been prominent in South Car olina poll
tics for many years. He was chairman of
the committee on elections in
the famous South Carolina legislature of
1876.
There is also a contest in the seventh
Mississippi district, where Kernaghan,
Republican, white, contests the seat of
Hooker, the Democrat.
The last of the seventeen cases is that of
Goodrich VS.. Bullock, who sits for the sec
ond Florida district. Goodrich is white
Republican whose misfortune 1t has been to
run Tor Congress in an old, conservative part
OF Florida, where Republicans are plenty
enough, but where Republican votes are dis
cOuraged.
These cases are being heard by the COM
mittee on elections as the contestants
are ready to present their cases, and when
ever the committee decides on a case it is re-
ported to the House, which takes it up when
ever convenient So far but one case has
been taken up by the House, the last case
will not be heard by the committee before
April or May, and the House will not pass
upon it until much later. The evidence is
very voluminous, and in the cases of contests
from Southern states like Alabama and
Mississippi some stories of astonishing per-
formances with the right of suffrage are told
1t would not be surprising if some of
the Southern Democrats learned that when
Republican Congress sits with power to do
business, it is one thing to count in and an
other thing to have the House of Represen-
tatiyes clndOne the fraud,