Year: 1877

Assembly shall meet in the House of
Representatives and examine and count
the votes"


1t will be observed that this provision
Of this Constitution requires the return of
votes for Governor and Lieutenant Gov
ernor to be sealed up and transmitted by
by the proper returning officers to the
Secretary of State and the same provis-
ion is made in substance as to the mem
bers ofthe General Assembly.


About the Returning Board.


But in 1870 the Legislature passed an
act amended in 1872, which created a
body called the Returning Board consist
ing Of five members to be appointed by
the Senate and to be the returning off
GERS for all elections in the State.


The act provides that:


"The Commissioners of Election at
each poll or voting place shall count the
votes making list of the names of all
persons voted for, and offices for which
the votes were given the number Of votes
received by each, the number of ballots
contained in the box, and the number
rejected, and the reason thereof, and to
make duplicates of such lists and to send
one to the Supervisor of Registration of
the parish of New Orleans and one to the
Secretary of State"


The law further requires the Supervis-
or Of Registration to consolidate the
returns received from the different polling
places and forward them with the origin
ais to this Returning Board.


The act further provides


"That ifthere shall be any riot, tumult,
acts of violence, intimidation and dis
turbance bribery or corrupt influence, at
any place within said parish at or near
any poll or voting place, or place of reg
istration, which riot, tumult, acts # VIC
lence, intimidation and disturbance, bri-
berry and corrupt influence, shall prevent
or tend to prevent fair, free, peaceable
and full vote of all qualified electors, it
shall be the duty of the Commissioners
to make statement of such facts and |
forward the same to the Supervisor of
Registration with his returns of election |
and the Supervisor of Registration |
shall forward the same to the Returning
Board.


The Returning Board is requiredto to in
vestigate the statements of intimidation,
and to exclude from the returns which it
makes to the Secretary of State the re-
turns received by it from those polls or
voting places where fair election has
been prevented by cause above named.
The same law further declares. 1T
shall be the duty of the Secretary of State
to transmit to the Clerk of the House of
Representatives and to the Secretary of
the Senate of the last General Assembly
list of the names of such persons as
according to the returns, shall have been
elected to either branch of the General
Assembly, and it shall be the duty of the
Clerk and Secretary to place the names
of Representatives and Senators-elect so
furnished, upon the roll of the House
and of the Senate respectively, and those
Representatives and Senators, whose
names are so placed by the Clerk and |
Secretary, respectively, in accordance
with the foregoing provisions and none
other, shall be competent to organize
the House of Representatives or Sen
ate.


1t is claimed by the counsel for the
Nichols Government that this act, so far
as it interposes the Returning Board |
exercising these powers of exclusion,
between the Parish Supervisor of Regis
tration with his consolidated returns and
the Secretary of State, is, when applied
to the election of members of the General
Assembly, of Governor and Lieutenant
Governor, plain violation of those pro-
visions of the Constitution of Louisiana
which say the returns of all elections for
for members of the General Assembly
shall be made to the Secretary of State,
and in reference to Governor and Lieu
tenant Governor, the returns of every
election shall be sealed up, and trans
mitted by the proper returning officers
to the Secretary of State, who will deliver
them to the Speaker of the House of
epresentalives.


On the other hand, it is insisted by the
counsel for the Packard Government
that the Legislature has power to create
a Returning Board, and give it authority
with which the act clothes it. 1t is also
claimed by them that the constitutionality
ofthe act has been settled by the Supreme
Court of the State; but the Nichols party
denied that the question was decided by
the Supreme Court in mannerthat could
be considered authoritative,


Small Plea For Hayes's Title.


It should be further stated that it is
not claimed by counsel for the Nichols
government that the Legislature could
not create Returning Board, and clOthe
it with these powers in regard to the
of Presidential electors,
since the provisions of the State Consti-
tuition on which they rely relate only to
the election of members ofthe Legislature
of Governor and Lieut. Governor. We
quoGe the following sentence from one of
these printed arguments Indeed, as to
electors, the mode of their
is by the Constitution of
the United States, left to the discretion
of the Legislature of the State, therefore
the General Assembly of Louisiana might
create any tribunal whatever, and con-
.ide to it the appointment of Presiden-
tial electors, consequently it may prop
erly authorize such tribunal in the case
Of the election of Presidential electors by
The people to count the votes and decide
and declare who were entitled to seats in
The Electoral College"


The Legal Title Of the Claimants.


As matters stood on our arrival here
The legal title of the respective claimants ;
TO the Office of Governor depended on the
question we have stated. There was no
judicial tribunal acknowledged to be au-
thoritative by both parties, by which it
could be solved for reasons already given.
The only hope ofa practical solution was
by union of so many members Of the
rival Legislatures with constitutional
quorum in both the Senate and House,
IF members whose title to their seats is