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Hunt & Taylor,
ATTORNEYSATLAW
BARNESVILLE, Ga.
\ practice in the countie
VV comprising the Flint .Indicia
Ciicuit, and in the Supreme Court of the
State. &&T Office over Drug Store of J.
W. Hightower. dec2-ly
wm. & 'wmmAwm,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
| VUNESVIIiI.E, GA. Will practice in the
1 > counties of the Flint Circuit, and In the Su
preme-court of the State. sep2B-3m
J. S. POPE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
ZEBULON, GA.
BriT Prompt attention given to business.
B. L. BERNER. C. A. TURNER.
BERNER & TURNER,
A TTO RN E Y S AT LA IV,
Fornyt li, Ga.
WILL practice in all the Courts, and give spe
cial attention to the collection of claims, lie
fer to Win. It. Head, Banker, Forsyth, Ga., Dumas
& Alien, Cotton Factors, Forsyth, Ga. mcbß-tf
Cabaniss & Peeples,
A TTOJi NE Y S A T I, A W,
Foi’\y(li, 4Hi
WILL practice in all the counties of the Flint
Circuit.
James M. Smith*
AT T O li N E Y A T I, A W,
CJA.
iir~ prompt attention given to business.
VEGETINE
Strikes at the root of disease by purifying the blood,
restoring the liver aud kidneys to healthy action, in
vigorating the nervous system.
VEGETINE
Is not a vile, nauseous compound which simply pur
gt s the bowels, but a safe, pleasant remedy which is
sure to purify the blood, aud thereby restore the
health.
VEGETINE
Is now prescribed in scrofula and other diseases of
the blood, by many of the best physicians, owing
to its great success in curing all diseases of this na
ture.
VEGETINE
Does not deceive invalids into false hopes l>y purg
ing and creating a fictitious appetite, but assists
nature in clearing and purifying the whole system,
leading the patient gradually to perfect health.
VEGETINE
Was looked upon as an experiment for some time
by some of our best physicians, hut those most in
credulous in regard to its merit are now its most
ardent friends aud supporters.
VEGETINE,
Instead of being a puffed-up medicine, has worked
its way up to its present astonishing success by act
ual merit in curing all diseases of the blood, what
ever nature.
VEGETINE,
trays a Boston physician, “Has no equal as a blood
purifier. Hearing of its many wonderful cures, af
ter all other remedies had failed, I visited the labo
ratory, aud convinced myself of its genuine merit,
it is prepared from barks, roots, and herbs, each of
which is highly effective ; and they are compounded
m such a manner as to produce astonishing results.’
VEGETINE
Is acknowledged and recommended by physicians
and aootheearies to be the best purifier and cleans
er of the blood yet discovered, aud thousands speak
iu its piaise who have been restored to health.
i* HOOF.
WHAT IS HEEDED.
Boston, Feb. 3, 1871.
Mr. 11. K. Stavens.
Dear Sir, —About one year since, I found myself
in a feeble condition from general debility. Vege
tine was strongly recommended to me by a friend
who had been much beuefifted by its use. I pro
cured the article,, and after using several botlcts
was restored to health, and discontinued its use. I
feel quite confident that there is no medicine supe
rior to it for those complaints for which it is espe
cially prepared, and would would cheerfully recom
mend it to those who feel that they need something
to restore tlu-in to perfect health.
ltespeotfully yours,
r. l. pettingill.
Firm of S M. Pettingill & Cos., 10 State St., Boston.
I HAVE FOUND
the hh;iit medicixe.
Boston, Mass
Mr. H. R. Stlvkss.
IVar Sir,—My ouly object in giving you this tes
timonial is to spread valuable information. Hav
ing been badly afflicted with salt rheum, and the
whole surface of my skin being covered with pim
ples and eruptions, many of which caused me great
Pain and annoyance, and knowing it to be a blood
disease, I took many of the advertised blood prepa •
lations, among which was any quantity of Sarsapa
nila, without any benefit until I commenced taking
tiie Vegetine; and before I had completed the first
t ottle 1 saw that I had got the right medicine - con
sc-quenlly I followed on with it until I had taken
seven bottles, when I was pronounced a well man ;
and my skin is smooth, and entirely free from pim
ples and eruptions, 1 have never enjoyed so good
health before, and I attribute it all to the use of
Vegetine. To benefit those afflicted with rheuraa
lism, I will make mention also of the Vegetine’s
Wonderful power of curing me of this aeute’com
plaint, of which 1 have suffered so intensely.
C. H. TIICKEK,
Pass. Ag’t Mich. C. R. R.,
No. 69 Washington street, Boston
\ i:<; e r JL' lin i :
Prepared by
H. R. Stevens, Boston, Mass.
VEUETiNE IS SOLD BY ALL DRUGGISTS.
*2 e & e. s e v #
ivs%'y y y * % i
* o t Ii- Working t'lass.-We are
Uuw piepii ed to furnish all cla,se* with constant
employment at home, the whole of their time, or for
Ui.ur spare moments. Business new, light and prof
itable. Pei-aons of either sex easily earn from 60
cents to per evening, and a piroportioxal sum by
devo-.imr their whole time to the business. Boys
ai *d fills earn nearly as much as men. That all who
see this notice may send their address, and test the
unparalleled offer: To such as are not well satis
fied we will send one dollar to pay for the trouble of
writing. Full particulars, samples worth several
dollars to commence work on, and a copy of Home
ami Ku-eside, one of the aargest and besi Illustrated
Publications, all sent free by mail. Reader if you
want permanent, p roll tabic work, address, oeougf.
tinson ic Cos., Portland, Maine.
'il
VOL. VIII.
Medical Dispensary.
I>r. Geo. W. Marvin again ten
tiers his professional service to his
old friends and the public. Dispone
sary and consultation rooms, No. 1
White hall street, in Centennial lmil
<bng, Atlanta, Ga., where patients
can get reliable treatment for all
diseases of the Throat, Lungs and
Catarrh. The above diseases treated
by inhalation.
1 lie Doctor treats all diseases of
long standing, such as Eruptions,
Gravel, Paralysis, Rheumatism, Go*
itr y* Biopsy, Biliousness Diseases of
the Kidneys, Erysipelas, Nervous
Depression, Dyspepsia, Liver Com
plaint, all Diseases peculiar to Wo
men, oil Private Diseases, Heart Dis
case Swollen Joints, Coughs, Gout,
M Lite swelling, St, Vitus Dance, etc.
Electricity in cases whore
it is required. The Doctor is per
manently located, and persons who
ha\e been under the treatment of oth
er physicians and have not been cur
ed, are invited to call, as lie treats all
curable diseases, and cures guarnteed
or no pay. Call and see the Doctor
without delay. His charges are mo
derate, and consultation free. Otlice
hours from 9 a.m. to 4 pm
feb22-ly
THE ELECTORAL FRAUD.
Jihlrc J. S. ((lack JBxcoriulc*
llie liil'nmoiiM Coitunissioii.
THE CAR BET-BAGGERS—THE LOUISI
ANA RETURNING BOARD—ITS IM
PUDENT FORGERIES PRESIDENT
GRANT AN ACCOMPLI CE —PETTI FOG -
* GINO OF THE ELECTORAL EIGHT—
THIMBLE-RIGGING IN THE FLORIDA
CASE —THE NATION BETRAYED.
In the North American Review
for July Judge Jeremiah S. Black
appears as the contributor of an ar
ticle entitled “ The Electoral Con
spiracy, wlo’ch is by all odds the
most complete, eloquent and scath
ing exposure that lias yet been made
of the fraud by which Rutherford
B. Hayes was foisted into the Presi
dential chair. \Ye regret that our
space will not permit uf to reprint it
in full, and that we must confine
ourselves to tlie most striking pussa*
gcs.
After brielly adverting to the in
dignation felt by honest men thro
ughout the country at the great out
rage upon the people, Judge Black
proceeds to depict the condition of
affairs m flic JStatc of Louisiana pre
vious to the Presidential election.—
First, he describes the carpet-bag
ger:
WIIAT TIIE CARPET-BAGGER IS.
The people would not have been
wholly crushed, either by the soldier
or negro, if both had not been used
to fasten upon them the domination
of another class of persons whose
rule was altogether unendurable.—
These we call carpet-baggers, not
because the word is descriptive or
euphonious, but because they have
no other name whereby they are
known among the children of men.
They were unprincipled adventurers
who sought their fortunes in the,
South by plundering the disarmed
and defenceless people; some of!
them were the dregs of the Federal
army—the meanest of the camp fol
lowers; fugitives from Northern jus
tice; the best of them were those
who went down after the peace,
ready for any deed of shame that
was safe and profitable. These,
combining with a few treacherous
“scalawags*’ and some leading ne
groes to serve as decoys for the rest,
and backed by the power of the gen
eral government, became the strong
est body of thieves that ever pillaged
a people. Their moral grade was far
lower, and yet they were much more
powerful,*the robber bands than in
fested Germany after the close of the
Thirty Years’ war. They swarmed
over all the States from the Potomac
to the Gulf, and settled in hordes,
not with intent to remain there, but
merely to feed on the substance of a
prostrate and defenceless people.—
They took whatever came within
their reach, intruded ihemselves in
to all private corporations, assumed
the functions of all otlices, including
the Courts of Justice, and in many
places they “run the churches.” By
force or fraud they either controlled
all elections or else prevented elec
tions from being held. They return
ed sixty of themselves to one Con
gress, and ten or twelve of the most
ignorant or venal among them were
at the same time thrust into the
Senate. This false representation
of a people by strangers and enemies
who had not even a bona fide resi
dence among them was the bitterest
of all mockeries. There was no show
of honor or truth about it. The pre
tended representative was always
ready to vote for any measure that
would oppress and enslave liis socall
cd constituents; life hostility # was
unconcealed, and ho lost no oppor
tunity to do them injury.
HIS DESCENT UPON LOUISIANA.
The agricultural and commercial
weal h of Louisiana made her a strong
temptation to the carpet-baggers. —
Those vultures snuffed the air from
afar; and, as soon as the war was
over IheV swooped down upon her
in Hooks that darkenened the air.—
The State was delivered into their
hands by the military authorities;
hut the officers imposed some res
traint upon their lawless cupidity.—
Thev hailed with delight the advent
of nogro suffrage, because to them
a legalized method of stuffing the
ballot box,' and they stuffed it.—
Thenceforth, and down to a very
THOMASTON. GA.. SATURDAY MORNING, JULY 14. 1877.
recent period, they gorged them
selves without let or hindrance.
The depredations they committed
were frightful. They appropriated,
on one pretense and another, what
ever t hey could lay their hands on,
and then pledged to themselves the
credit erf the Slate for uncounted
millions more. The public securi
ties rundown to half price, and still
they put their fraudulent bonds on
tne market and sold them for what
they would fetch. The owners of
the best real estate in town or coun
try were utterly impoverished, be
cause the burdens upon it were heav
ier than the rents would discharge.
During the last ten years the city
of New Orleans paid in the form of
di ’cct taxes more than the estimated
value of all the property within her
limits, and still has a debt of equal
amount unpaid. It is not likely
that other parts of the State suffered
less. The extent of their spoliations
can hardly be calculated, but the tes
timony of the carpet-baggers them
selves against one another, the re
ports of committees sent by Con
gress to investigate the subject, and
other information from sources en
tirely authentic, make it safe to say
that a general conllagrution, sweep
ing all over the State from one end
to the other, and destroying every
building and every article of person
al property, would have been a visi
tation of mercy in comparison to the
course of such a government.
THE INVESTHIASION OF SCOUNDREL
ISM.
This may seem at first blush like
gross exaggeration, because it is
worse than anything that misrule
ever did before. The greediest of
Roman proconsuls left something to
the provinces they wasted; the Nor
man did not strip the Saxon quite
to the skin; the Puritans under
Cromwell did not utterly desolate
Ireland. Their rapacity was confin
ed to the visible things which they
could presently handle and use.—
They could not take what did not
exist. But the American carpet
bagger has an invention unknown to
those old-fashioned robbers, which
increases lus stealing power as much
as the steam engine adds to the me
chanical force of mere natural mus
cles. He makes negotiable bonds of
the State, signs and seals them “ac
cording to the forms of law,” sells
them, converts the proceeds to his
own use, and then defies justice “to
go behind the returns.” By this de
vice his felonious fingers are made
long enough to reach into the pock
ets of posterity; he lays his lien on
property yet uncreated; he antici
pates the labor of coming ages and
appropriates the fruit of it in ad
vance; he coins the industry of fu
ture generations into cash, and
snatches the inheritance from chil
dren whose fathers are unborn. Pro
jecting his cln’at forward by this
contrivance and operating laterally
at the same time, he gathers an
amount of plunder which no coun
try in the world would have yielded
to the Goth or Vandal.
TIIE REIGN OF ANARCHY,
Security of life can never he coun
ted on where property is not protec
ted. When the public authorities
wink upon theft the people are driv
en by stress of sheer necessity to de
fend themselves the best way they
can, and that defense is apt to be
aggressively violent. Justice, infu
riated by popular passion, often
comes to its victims in a fearful
shape. Disorders, therefore, there
must have been, and bloodshed and
violence, and loss of life, though
they are not enumerated, or clearly
described in the reports. It is
known that bands of •'•’regulators”
traversed many parts of the State,
and the fact is established that sev
en of the storehouses used as places
of stolen goods were burnt to the
ground in one night. The officers
of the carpet-bag government “car
ed for none of these things.” They
saw the struggle between larceny
and the lynch law with as much in
difference as Gallio looked upon the
controversy between the Jewish Syn
agogue and the Christian church at
Ephesus. This horrible condition
of society was caused solely by the
want of an honest government.
But this is not nearly the worst of
it, if carpet baggers themselves and
their special friends are worthy of
any credence at all. They* testify to
numerous other murders, wanton,
unprovoked, atrocious, committed
with impunity under the very eyes
of their Government. General Sher
idan says he collected a list of 4,000
assassinations perpetrated within
three years. Senator Sherman and
his associates of the visiting commit
tee swell this number greatly, and
add “half the State was overrun
with violence.” no effort was made
to repress these <b -orders or punish
the criminals N 'body was hung,
nobody tried, nobody arrested. The
murderers ran at large ; the victims
fell at the awful average of about
four every day, and the public offi
cers quietly assented to let “the ri
fle, the knife, the pistol and the rope
do their horrid woik” without inter
ruption. Are such men fit to gov
ern a free State ? Fit to govern 1
No. not to live.”
The genesis of tiie returning
BOARD.
The wretched system of carpet
bag government could not possibly
last. From the first it had no real
support. The native people and the
immigrants, who went there fo.’ pur
poses of legitimate business, held
it in abhorrence, and the negroes
were not long in finding out that it
was a sham and a snare. As early
as IB* 0, and lie fore that, the hand
writing was seen on the wall which
announced that a large and decisive
majority of all the votes, black and
white, had determined to break up
this den of thieves: They must,
therefore, prepare for flight or pun
ishment, unless they could contrive
a way of defeating the popular will
whenever and however it should he
addressed. Then the Returning
Board was invented. *
This was a machine entirely new,
with powers never before given to
any tribunal iu any State. Its ob
ject was not to return, but to sup
press the yotcsAf the qualified elec
tors, or change them to suit the oc
casion. By the terms of the law it
can exclude, suppress, annihilate all
the voles of a parish for violence,
intimidation of fraud, which it finds
to have been committed and adjudg
es to have materially influenced the
result of the poll. This is judicial
authority so broad that no Court
would consent to exercise it—inflict
ing the fearful penalty of disfran
chisement upon thousands at once,
without a hearing and without a le
gal evidence, not for any offence of
their own, but for the supposed sin
of others, over whom they confessed
ly have no control. Of course it is
in direct conflict with the State Con
stitution, which declares that all ju
dicial power shall be vested in cer
tain ordained and established courts,
and forbids it to be used even by
them, except upon trial before a ju
ry, and conviction on the testimony
of creditable witnesses confronted
by the accused and cross-examined
bv counsel. It is, besides, a most
insolent affront to the fundamental
principles of an elective government,
for it makes the poll of all people
a mere mockery, which decides
nothing except what the Returning
Board does not graciously favor. Its
power to veto a popular vote extends
to all elections, for every class of of
ficers, judicial, legislative, ministe
rial and executive, including elec
tors of President and Vice-Presi
dent.
IIOW IT DID ITS WORK.
The board consisted of five per
sons. They were originally appoin
ted by a carpet-bag Senate, without
end of their tenure and with power
to fill vacancies, which made them a
close corporation and gave them per**
petual succession. To put on some
show of fairness, the law required
that nil parties should'he represen
ted. This was at first thought to be
met by the appointment of one Dem
ocrat, but when a deed of more than
common business was to be done,
the Democrat was got rid of, and
the other four, desiring to work in
secret, refused to fill his place.
This suppressing Board did its
work thoroughly from the start. It,
was never known to falter. Since irs
first organization in 18T0 the majori
ty of the whole people has been de
cidedly against tbe carpet-baggers at
every election. But the Board al
ways intercepted the returns, and so
altered them as to make a majority
the other way. Kellogg was a can
didate for Govornor ; he was large
ly defeated, but the Board certified
him elected. The certificate was so
glaringly false that the carpet-bag
gers themselves would not help to
install him, and Democrats deter.*
mined to assert their rights. It was
then that Gen. Grant, to the un
speakable shame of the nation, lifted
him into office on the bayonets of
the army. Afterward the outraged
people rose in revolutionary wrath,
drove him to shelter in the Custom
House, and inaugurated the man
they had lawfully elected. Again
the President made war on the State,
and restored the usurper to the place
which did not belong to him. The
Democrats regularly elected a major
ity of the Legislature ; as regularly
the Returning Board certified a ma
jority of llicir scats to carpet-bag
gers or scalawags or negroes not cho
sen ; and when the true members
met to organize for business the
army was punctually on hand to
tumble them out of their hall.
APPLIED TO THE PRESIDENTIAL ELEC
TION.
The election came off on the prop
er day, supervised and controlled at
every polling place by officers of the
carpet-bag interest. According to
tbeir own count, the result was a
majority of 7,039 for the Tilden
electors! It lias never yet been de
nied that this majority was made up
of ballots cast by citizens legally
qualified. The vote was regularly
taken and properly counted, and
a true record of it made in perpet •
uam rei memoriam. These facts are
being undisputed, it follows that
the Tilden electors were duly appoin
ted, if the people of the State have
the appointing power, which they
certainly have, unless the constitu
tion and the statute book are not to
be relied on
But the opponents of Tilden and
Hendricks determined that the rec
ord of the appointment made by the
people should be mutilated and
changed so as to make it appear as if
electors for Hayes and Wheeler had
been chosen. They pretended to
believe that violence and iutimida*
tion frightened the African Hayes
men from the polls, and that their
cowardice ought to be visitted, in
form of disfranchisement, on the
heads of others who had intrepidity
enough to perform their political
duty. The allegation was utterly
false. It was made not only with
out evidence to sustain it, but in
the face of overwhelming proof to
the contrary. -All the places of reg
istration and voting were guarded
by the creatures of the Federal and
State administrations, superinten
dent.-, commissioners, deputy mar
shals and soldiers, and all of these
with one voice said that tneelections
were peaceable and free. Indeed, it
is literally impossible that any inti
midation or violence could have been
practiced. No sensible person ever
gave credit to it for a moment.
Notwithstanding much mental anx
iety about the resuh, various rea
sons combined to make the election
in Louisiana probably the most qui
et and undisturbed in the Union.
THE CHARACTER OF ITS MEVp.KRS.
The personnel of the Board jus
tified tiie faith of the carpet-bag
gers and their allies. If the evi
dence concerning its members be
rightly reported by the investigation
committee, they were marked out
by the history of their previous lives
noted and signed to do any deed of
shame which might be required at
their hands. Wells was a Custom
House officer at New Orleans, and
one of the worst of that bad lot ; a
defaulter to tlie State of long stand
ing, without diameter for integrity
or veracity, and for honesty was
equally bad ; lie had earned it in
part by aiding while he was a Sena*’-
tor to put up a fraudulent job upon
the State, and taking the iniquitous
proceeds to himself. Of the two
niulattoes, one was indicted for lar
ceny, and, after admitting his guilt
was allowed tu escape punishment,
and promptly taken into the Board.
The other was too ignorant to know
his duty, but his testimony showed
such indifference to the obligations
of an oath that he was deemed as
safe for the carpet-baggers as either
of his colleagues.
They comprehended the situation
saw the difficulty of the work before
them, and resolved to make it pay in
something better than mere promises
of “recognition,” however “gene**
rous and ample.” Wells, who was
their spokesman in private as in pub
lie, wrote in strict confidence to a
carpet bag Senator then at Wash
ington a letter which, being conden
sed into plain English, means, this :
“There’s millions in it. See our
friends and act promptly. Buy us
immediately or we will s3ll out to
the other side. Talk freely to the
gentleman who presents this; he
knows the moves.” To the bearer
of the letter he explained that it
was very hard work to count in the
Republican candidate—the Demo-*
cratic majority was too large to han
dle—he wanted to serve his party,
but he would imt take this job with
out compensation ; lie must have
“8200,000 apiece for himself and An
derson, and a smaller sum for the
niggers.” On this basis lie author
ized his ambassador at Washington
to negotiate with the Republican
managers. At the same time he
offering himself at New Orleans to
the Democrats, at first for half a
million hut afterward proposed that
he would leave in enough votes to
elect Mr. Nicholls (Democratic can
didate for Governor) if $200,000 cash
were first placed in his hands.
THEIR VIOLATIONS OF TIIF STATUTE.
The ac ion of the returning offi
cers in this whole business was un
supported by legal authority. The
Legislature of the State did not, be
cause it could not, give them power
to disfranchise qualified electors.—
They lacked, therefore, the general
jurisdiction which they assumed.—
But that is not all ; they proceeded
in the very teeth even of the void
statute which they professed to fol
low. That statute pretends to
give them no such authority as they
exercised over any return to which a
protest or statement or charge of in
timidation is not attached when it
is sent in by the Supervisor of Reg
istration or the Commissioner Elec
tion, and the charge so attached to
the return must be supported by the
affidavits of three citizens of the pro
per parish.
Wanting this, the Board was abso
lutely without the pretence of 'pow
er to touch the return from anv
parish or polling place, except for
the purpose of compiling it and ad
ding it as true to the others. By
the election law* of Louisiana the
Board has no more authority to exa
mine or decide a question of intimi
dation which is not raised by the elcc
tion officers than a private individual
would have to steal it from the re.
cords and burn it. So stands the
law. The fact is established by con
clusive evidence that from every one
one of of the Democratic parishes
the returns came up without any
charge, statement, or protest. In
all those cases they were therefore
without color of jurisdiction.
FORGING AFFIDAVITS AND RETURNS.
But the conspirators could not af
ford to he balked of tbeir game by
the failure of the local officers to
make a false charge of intimidation.
These votes must be excluded per
fas aut nefas, and the Returning
Board must do it ; that was what
the Board was made for. The re
turning officers went upon the prin
ciple aut inveniam aut faciam.—
They made tiie protests which they
could not find ; affidavits which no
creature in the parishes was base
enough to back with his oath were
fabricated in the Custom House, and
used by the Board with a fnllknowl
edge that they were mere counter
feits. The exclusion of returns on
the ground of intimidation was in
every case dishonest, for in none was
there a particle of evidence to justi
fy it. When nothing else would
serve the purpose, they did not scru
ple a resort to plain forgery. Of
the return from Vernon parish every
figure on the whole broad sheet was
altered with elaborate pains under
the special direction of Wells. Per
jury and subornation of perjury en
tered largely into the business.—
There is hardly any species of the
crimen falsi for which the law has a
punishment that did not become an
elementary part of the great fraud
which was committed when the de
feated electors and State otlicers of
Louisiana were falsely certified as
chosen bv the people.
PRESIDENT grant’s COMPLICITY.
Another question arises which the
Muse of History may answer at her
leisure : Is there any justification
of General Grant’s conduct in this
business ? Within two or three days
after the election it became perfectly
well known to the whole country
that in Louisiana there had been a
full poll, and a large majority fori
the Tilden electors. No reason was
suggested by anybody for falsifying
this result. The apprehension that
it would be falsified m the return
arose solely out of the fact that the
election machinery of the State was
in the hands of mere knaves who
were just base enough to do it ; and
these were General Grant's own
knaves, whom for years he had kept
in their places by lawless force. It
was then that he said no man could
afford to be President by a fraud,
and sent a committee to see that a
true count was made. This was
fair seeming enough, but he did not
row the way he was looking. Every
one of his committee favored the
fraud, and their report, which been*
dorsed and sent to Congress, was a
defense of it from beginning to end,
lie had supported and enforced
frauds of the same kind several times
before, and now his troops were at
New Orleans avowedly to protect the
carpet-baggers while they were re
peating them on a large scale. Be
sides, when Chandler promised the
fraudulent Governor of Florida to
send troops and money to that State
after the election—troops and mon
ey to count the votes he declared
in one of his dispatches that the
President had been consulted. Still
further, while his party in Congress
were holding up the fraud, he an
swered the arguments in favor of
Tilden’s right by ordering to the
capital all the cavalry, artillery and
infantry within reach. Whether
these circumstances be suflicient or
not to convict him of participation
in the fraud, let the world judge.
THE CREATION OF THE COMMISSION.
But how was the object of the
conspiracy to be accomplished ? The
House of Representatives was Demo
cratic, and without its consent, ex
pressed or implied in some form or
another, tho Senate could not give
effect to a false count. The first in
tention was to claim that the Presi
dent of the Senate had power to de
termine absolutely and arbitrarily
what electoral votes should he coun
ted and what not. This was the
great rallying point until Mr. Conk
ling took it up, and, in a speech of
surpassing ability, utterly demolish
ed and reduced it to invisible atoms.
It became settled, therefore, that
the two Houses must count the
votes, and this clearly implied die
power to inquire and determine what
were votes. It could not be denied
that the voice of the House of Rcp
rcsentatives was at least as potential
as that of the Senators ; and it was
not supposed that the House would
suffer a fraud so glaring as this to
be thrust down the throat of the
country, “against the stomach of its
sense.” But if the two bodies would
declare inconsistent results of die
count and proclaim the election of
different Presidents, a state of
things might come which would sub
ject our institutions to a strain se
vere enough to endanger them great
ly., It was in these difficult circum
stances that a mixed Commission of
fifteen was proposed, consisting of
five Senators, five Representatives,
and five Judges of the Supreme
Court. The mode of appointing
them made it certain that fourteen
would be equally divided among
the parties ; and as the fifth Judge
would be named by the consent of
his brethren on both sides, ho might
be expected to stand between them,
like a daysman, with a hand as
heavy on one head as the other.
The Democrats consented to this in
the belief that no seven Republicans
could be taken from the Court or
from Congress who would swear to
Heckle the truth and then up hold a
known fraud ; if mistaken in that
opinion of their adversaries’ honest
ly, they felt sure, at all events, that
the umpire would be a fair minded
man. They were bitterly disap
pointed ; the Commission went
eight to seven for the great fraud
and all its branches ; for fraud in
the detail and in the aggregate ; for
every item of fraud that was neces
sary to make the sum total big
enough—eight to seven all the time.
IT REFUSES TO DO ITS DUTY.
We must look at the state of the
case as it went before the Commis
sion. Tilden and Hendricks had
184 electoral votes clear and free of
all dispute, one less than a majority
of the whole number. They also
had in Louisiana eight, and in Flor
ida four, appointed by the people
but falsely certified to Hayes and
Wheeler by the Governors, In Or
egon they had one certified by the
Governor, but against whom a pop
ular majority had been cast for an
ineligible candidate. To elect Hayes
it was necessary that each and every
one of these thirteen votes should be
taken from Tilden ami given to
Hayes. As this required many dis-
r pUF. GREAT HARD TIMES I’Ari:i>
1 The Best, the Che*prut and the mont popu- I *
lar. You can’t afford to be without it.
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no. ao.
tinct rulings based upon contradicto
ry grounds, the path of the Commis
sion was not only steep but crooked.
The great and important duty
cast upon the commission bv a spe
cial law and by a spociai ituth of
each member was to decide, in the
case of contested votes from a State,
“whether any and what votes from
State are the votes provided,
for by the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, and how many and what
persons were duly appointed electors
in such State.” It is not denied
that the sole power of appointing
electors for the States of l/ouisiami
and Florida is in the people. It was
then and still is an admitted fact
that the people had exercised the
power of appointment in the pre
scribed and proper way ; they did du
ly make an appointment of electors,
and their act was duly recorded, ami
Sv. made a i>erpetual memory. This
thing was not “done in a corner
it was “seen and known of all men.”
That each of the two States named
had duly appointed Tilden electors
at a regular election called for that
purpose on the 7th of November, in
pursuance of law was a part of their
history as much as the fact that they
were States of the Union. All the
members of the Commission know
it as well as they knew thegeograph
ical position of Tallahasse or New
Orleans. It needed no proof ; but
it specific evidence had been requir
ed, there was the record, from which
the truth glared upon them as clear
as the sun. They shut tli#ir eves
upon the record and refused to see
“how many and what persons were
duly appointed electors” by the peo
ple, hut listened eagerly to the evi
dence (aliunde though it was) which
snowed “how many and what per
sons’’ had been designated by the re
turning officers. It was ultimately
held (eight to seven) that the ap
pointees of the Roturnin g Board
were duly appointed, and 1 he appoin
tees of the people were unduly ap
pointed. Did the eight suppose that
the legal power to make such an np*
pointment was vested by law in tho
Returning Boards ? Did they think
it was not vested in the people ? No,
that is impossible. But they may
have conscientiously believed that the
interest of their faction would ho
well served by Hayes’ election.
They may have been prompted by a
virtuous admiration of carpet-bag
government, and when sincerely
anxious to save it from Tildcn’s re.
form.
ITS PETTIFOGGING. \
But this decision in favor of fraud
which so shocked the common sense
and common honesty of the nation
was not made without some attempt
to justify it. The eight gave rea
sons so many and so plausablc that
Kellogg and Wells must have chuck
led with delight when they heard
them. One argument very seriously
urged was that it would be trouble
some, and require a great deal of
time, to ascertain who was duly ap
pointed by the people, It was much
easier to accept the false vote and
say no more about it. To decide
how many and what persons got cer
tificates from the Returning Board
was a short and simpb process;
but to push the inquiry behind that,
to inquire whether the certificate
was honest, to look for the evidence
which would show who were duly
appointed— liic labor hoc opus esl.
Tho seven reminded the eight, but
reminded them in vain, that the due
appointment which nobody in tin*
world, except the people, "had the
least right to make, was the verv
thing which they were there to find
out ; and they could not be excu-ed
from a duty to which they were
pledged and sworn by the mere in
convenience of performing it. Be
sides, the eight knew very well that
there were no difficulty in it; it was
but looking at the record of the ao
pointmentas the people made it up ;
they could read it as they ran ; the
truth was plainer than the lie ; the
honesty of the case was as easily
seen as the fraud. But no pursua
sion could influence them to ca t
even a glance at the actual appoint
ment. What did they think this
Commission was made for? Why
was this great combination of learn
ing and statecraft set up ? Accord
ing to the eight its sole purpose was,
not to determine any matter in dis
pute between the parties, nut merely
to declare that the Returning Boards
had certified for the Hayes electors;
which everybody knew already, and
nobody ever denied. If it3 object
was what the law said—to decide
who were duly appointed—then tin
eight succeeded in making it merely
a splendid abortion, because among
other reasons, it was too much troub
lesome to make it anything else.
HEDGING FOR OREGON.
But the Commission, following the
lead of counsel for Mr. Haves, insis
ted that the certificate of the proper
State officer ought to be regarded as
conclusive evidence of the appoint
ment made by the people. It is un
doubtedly true that the State has a
right to speak on this subject through
her own organs, and'when she docs
so speak, her voice should be regard
ed as true. But what officer is her
proper organ ? The Governor being
her political chief, and his certifi
cate being requirt#by act of Con
gress, it would not have been unrea
sonable to hold that it was conclu
sive unless tainted with fraud. The
Haves electors had the Executive
certificate in Louisiana and Florida,
and this, in regard to those States,
gave theeight a great legal advan
tage.
(Concluded next week, )