Birmingham state herald., 1896-06-14
THESEARE EFACTS,COrD FACTS But They Make the Heart of the
 Democrat Burn. THE RAPE OF FRANCHISE Was Never More Unblushingly Done Than in the Contested Gas, From the Ninth
 Alabama District.
To the State Herald:

The true democrats of this congress sional district must have read with sat- isfaction your editorial yesterday morn- Ing on the partisan outrage perpetrated by the republican majority of the house Of representatives in stealing the seat from MT. Underwood, to which he was fairly and honestly elected, and giving tito the republican, who was defeated.
 You barely state in general way that the result was brought about by convert Ing majority of more than 1000 for the contestee (UnderwooD into a majority for the contestant and that for that pur- pose all the voters of Marion and Union- town were practically disfranchised, and counting for Aldrich nearly 300 negroes who never voted at all in the November. 1894, election. The record and committee reports prove your statement to be ab. Solutely true.
 At Marion, Perry county, Underwood received 257 votes and Aldrich 45, giving the contestee PIP majority. This box was thrown out because according to the Aldrich committee at that precinct, "the secrecy and integrity of the ballot were So far impaired that no one can certain. ly say the ballots of the voters, unless it may be the 45 Qer Aldrich) just mem tioned ever went into the ballot box.' Of this charge there Is no legal evidence In the record or elsewhere. The only proof of fraud at the Marion box was by one of Aldrichs witnesses, and showed that it was for his benefit. A majority for Aldrich could not possibly be worked out except by the wholesale disfran- chisement of the honest white voters of Marion, and therefore 1t was done
 At Uniontown Underwood received 177 votes, and Aldrlch none The chief ground upon which this box was thrown out was that one Richard Ware" testiI aA1 IT.. |. fo-NxF tHf yards from the polls from before the time they were opened until about o'clock, and saw twelve colored persons enter. And yet not single vote has been returned from this Uniontown) precinct for contestant; therefore the contestee was robbed of 177 majority.
 The sworn returns of Gallon beat, Hale county, showed 272 votes, all for the con- testee. The vote at this box is largely colored, but it Is a fact that cannot be successfully controverted that the ne- groes of that precinct and section have been for more than fifteen years voting the democratic ticket openly and almost unanimously. Underwood proved that 132 colored men voted for him at this box by the identical persons who cast their ballots Yet upon the false assumption that negroes invariably vote the repub- lican ticket, and upon the theory that 132 colored men committed perjury in swearing they voted for Underwood, AL drich's henchmen on the committee dis allowed their votes, and by artful ma- nipulation of the balance of the vote re- duced the number of the contestee's vote to 3S.
 Greensboro gave Underwood 23S votes and Aldrich D. This was the certified re- suit as reported by sworn election man agers, one of whom must necessarily have been a republican. Underwood proved by undisputable testimony IFS thaf aaG e did not disprove that any part of the balance was cast for the contestee, but, nevertheless, his committee robbed Un- derwood of 60 legally cast votes at this box.
 The committee henchmen of Aldrich re- sorted to the same fraudulent and revo- lutionary methods at various other pre- cincts in Hale and Perry counties to rob the contestee of large number of votes necessary to give the contestant the seat.
 But with all the frauds they committed in these counties, their man was still sev- eral hundred votes short of an election. So they came to Jefferson county and at Bessemer, under the pretense that a fraud was committed by the democrats of that city-presumably the democratic election managers-succeeded in the de- struction the night before the election of nearly all the ballots, by which republi- cans were prevented from voting. ana gave Aldrich 365 votes which were never cast dI all, anu WllnOut any pIOOl Wnot- ever that the parties whom they counted were qualified electors and entitled to vote at that precinct, the theory being that as most of them were negroes they would necessarily vote for Aldrich, and, therefore, should be counted for him. their votes being absolutely necessary to secure for him a majority. The read ing public are somewhat familiar with the Bessemer affair. The ballots gave out about 8:30 o'clock the morning of the election, and messenger were dispatch ed to Birmingham for more tickets and returned at 1:30 p. m. with an abundant supply There still remained several hours-abundant time-within which all the voters present at that polling place during the entire day might have voted had they so desired. Only 127 ballots were cast before the supply was exhaust ed at 8:30 a. m, and 329 votes were boiled after new supply of ballots were receiv- ed at 1:30 p. m., showing that 1t was gen. orally known over the city that the eiec- tion was in progress and without obstruc- tion, and it does not appear anywhere in the testimony that a single voter was prevented from voting in the afternoon, nor that the 230 votes cast for Aldrich were not a part of the 365 who, 1t Is al- leged would have voted for him, and which were illegally counted for him by his committee. And, be 1t remembered In this connection, that there Is no reliable testimony that these parties would have voted for Aldrich, and that no effort was made to prove by a single one of tho parties themselves that they would have done so. whereas, at Gallon precinct Un- derwood proved by the voters themselves that they not only voted, but voted for him. In the one case 365 ballots that were never cast were counted for Aldrich without any proof whatever that they were qualified electors or that they would have voted for him. while in the other, Underwood was robbed of 132 votes. which as shown by the poll lists, the cer- tifcates of the election managers and fhe affidavits of the electors themselves were actually cast for him, and upon the false assumption that being negroes they were republicans. and the outrageous pre-. sumption that the election managers and 132 negroes committed perjury.
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 (Contiuued ouf Eleventh Page.)