Year: 1876

Farwell, Courtland Parker, Sid

 ney Clark, J. C. Wilder:

 | GENTLEMEN-We are in receipt of your answer to our letter of tho

 l4th inst, in which you inform

 us of your determination not to confer with us fer the purpose ol eXerting such influence as we may possess in behalf of such can vass of the votes actually east at the election in Louisiana. as by it's fairness and impartiality shall command the acquicscence and respect of all parties. We sin. cerely regret the failure of oui attempt to secure the cooperation of citizens from other states in ] Intolerance of the purpose which, as we supposed, had brought them hither at this juncture. We regret it all the more because your refusal to confer and co operate with us appears to be based upon a serious misapprehension of the language no less than the spirit of our communication. It can hardly have escaped your notice that our statement of the result to be attained by the cooperative action which we sought to bring about was a simple reproduction of the language of President Grant, at whose request we nn- derstand you are here. In his recent order to Gen. Sherman, that language was deliberately used, no doubt in vlew of the fact about which, as we conceive, there, can be no dispute, that the first and most essential requisite to an honest and just declaration of the result of the recent election in Louisiana is fair and impar- tial canvass of the votes actually cast, and it seems to us that you do the president great injustice in supposing that in speaking of the votes actually cast he meant to include the votes illegally cast, as you certainly do us injustice by the imputation of q desire to insist upon narrow and vicious interpretation. In our judgment the expression "votes actually cast" of necessity designates the votes legally cast, and as a conse quence of such votes only did we desire to secure fair and impar- tial canvass. We beg leave to say, therefore, that you are mis- taken in the belief that we sought unduly to narrow the basis on which we invited your co-opera- tive action, and you are no less in error in attributing to us pur- pose to interfere with the legal authorities of the state in the dis charge of their duties, to claim the rights and to arrogate to our selves powers which we do not possess. In writing our letter we were aware that both the organi- zation and action, whether judi cial or ministerial, of the return ing board of Louisiana, were be- yond any authoritative control from without, and that 1t would, be the height of arrogance and folly to attempt to alter the laws of state of which we are not cit izens, or to obtrube our interpret ation of these laws upon those whose duty it is to administer them; but we had supposed, nev- ertheless, that there was an infiu- ence which might be rightfully eXerted by the citizens of this re- public, who are strangers in this state, and we had taken it for granted that your presence here, in response to the suggestion of the president was recognition of this fact. We had supposed that It was not improper for us to remind the authorities of this state, by our mere presence at least, that there are certain rules of fairness and justice, which un -' derlie all constitutions and laws, and upon whose observance must depend the acquiescence of the people of all parties in the declar- ed result of the Louisiana election rules such as these: no one ought to be judge in his own case; that the decision of any contest ought not to depend upon mere arbitratcment of the parties there to; that before such decision is made both parties ought to be fully and fairly heard; that all questions of law ought to be de- cided in conformity with its es- tablished genera! principles, and al, questions of fact upon the evi- dence duly presented and weigh ed, under rules which are of uni versal recognition in all the states of this union; that the trial of all causes involving public interests at least ought to be public; and that all proceedings reported for the purpose of determining the issues of the present electoral contest ought, by their manifest impartiality to disarm suspicion; that forms of law have been per verted into instruments for the violation of it's spirit. In this connection we may De permitted to observe that while undoubtcd- ly, as you say, sedulous medication