Year: 1876

FREE-A TILDEN MAJORITY ON TILE FACE OF


TIE RETURNs-PowERs OF THE RETURNING


BOARD.


IBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE


NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 3.-The Returning Board
closed its doors with yesterdays session. The next
news which may be expected from 1t will be the an
nouncement Of the vote of the State, probably on
Tuesday morning. Counsel on both sides improved
the last opportunity yesterday to file great mass OF
testimony, to which the board will be Obliged to
give very hasty consideration AS the case has
now been fully mado up, review of few OF the
most striking points brought out and established by
the boards of investigation win be timely, and will
be a valuable aid 20 proper understanding OF the
verdict when it is rendered.


First: No controversy exists touching the correct
ness of the returns of the election At nearly every
former election in this State the election officers or
returning boards have been accused OF " "dOctorlng
the figures of some of the returns This was true in
1874 and in one case that year a SUPERVISOR swore
before Mr. Hoar of the Congressional Committee
that the returns shown him, and which were can
yaSsed by the board changed after leaving his
hands Nothing of the kind has occurred this year.
Everybody agrees that the election commissioners
returned the vote at each precinct exactly
as It was cast, and that, with two or
three exceptions, the supervisor of each
parsh also reported the vote correctly. In
all those cases where the supervisors arbitrarily and
illegally neglected to report the vote from certain
urecincts on account of alleged fraud or rreguarty
the board after some hesitation, to he sure, either
ordered the baot-boxes with the original returns to
be produced or sent for duplicates deposited with
clerks of the parish courts. There is therefore no
pretense that the figures have in any case been
tampered with The figures that are canvassed are
mQuestionably the correct ones.


But while this is true, some things have been
done either by members Of the board OF its clerks,
which were clearly illegal and indefensible, and
none the less because they have not affected the
figures of the actual returns. For instance, no one
has any right open returns from any parish after
they have been filed with the clerk of the Return
ing Board until they are opened by the board itself
nj the regular meeting to be counted. There Is an
abundance of indisputable evidence that the returns
from several parishes were opened and That atter
papers had been inserted in the packages, they
were again sealed up and laid before the board as
original packages sealed by the supervisors. All the
particulars of the De Soto Parish case which was one
of this kind, have been published; but there
were several others, of the most notable being
that of Ouachita, to which attention was called
during yesterdays meeting of the board. In this
case the record made by the clerk of the board
showed that the returns from Ouachita received

were handed over to the Democratic committee for
examination they found among them the following:


EEw-ORLEASs Nov. %, 1876


Mr. ABELI, Secretary OF the Returning Bodrd,DKAR
eR: Inclosed please fnd affidavit OF Eliza Plnkston'
which was received late to file with my returns
Please say that il was brought in with the returns men
nUEed NeEy respectfully ~ Ni|ANi'


Grady was supervisor of the parish. As this letter
was sealed up in the package with the returns,
it proves two things-frst, that the returns were
filed with the secretary of the Returning Board prior
to the date when he made the record Of their receipt
and secondly, that they were opened by him aud
sealed up again. AS this was Illegal and dishonest,
the board owes 1T to itself and the country either TO
explain or punish its secretary. Abel has charge of
compiling all the returns. and il he will tamper with
Official papers in this way in any case he is not fit TO
hold his responsible position.


SeooRd There is no question in regard to the le-
gahty Of the vote actually cast and returned
do not mean by this that men who bad right to
vote were not prevented from doing so or that some
were not forced to vote against their wishes or con-
vctions but do mean that except at one poll IN
kew0Tleans there is pretense on either side that
there was illegal voting, repeating, or any OF the
ordinary election frauds; or if such accusation has
been made, there has been no attempt to prove IT,
This fact simpfes the controversy here very greatly
As far as any evidence has been adduced, men who
voted with the exception noted all had the right to
vote


Third: The election was a remarkably quiet
At no recent election in this OF any other State have
there been so few disturbances on election day. The
intimidation and violence, what there Of it, oc-
cured prior to the 9TH of November. In all the
great mass of testimony which has been introduced,
remember very few cases of alleged intimi1gtion
or Interference with the polls election day. In
Ouaehta pckets were thrown out on the roads lead
ing into Monroe, to prevent negroes going into that
town to vote and one constable was bulldozed on
ms way to the polling place with ballot box. In
some Of the other parishes the men stood at polls
and made lists of the negroes who voted the Repub-
hean ticket The Democrats say it was to prevent
then from voting again elsewhere, but the RepuD-
hcans CLAIM it was to fughtcn them with the pros
pect Of future punishment. This was all. The evl-
dence of violence Of many kinds during the months
preceding the election is very vouminous, but there
svery little touching election day.


Fourth Under the election law of this State, the
Mourning Board has not to decide how Louisiana
sctually voted, for there is question that Tiden
had majority Of about 5000, but whether there
Eas full and free election in every parish. IL there
Sas, then the State must be returned for Tiden. If
soere not then the entre vote in every precinct
where the election was not free and fair must be
ihrown out and not counted, and the result in the
Remainder Of the State must be returned. The duty
u the Returning Board is not to find how the State
voted, but how that portion of 1t voted where the
slectiOn was fair. full and free.


tVtA: The Republicans expect this State will be
Usen 70 Hayes aud Packard, because they think