Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

mm AMERICAN . .UNION. $2,00 A YEAR. U S. COMMISSONER’S COURT. I'ULLIMINARY TRIAL OF ME. LISTON STEPHENS. We prirtt,, this week, the evidence in the ease of The United States against Lin ton Stephens, for violation of the “Enforce ment -Act” of Congress, the preliminary examination into which was had before Mr. J. Clarke Swayze, IJ. S. Commissioner. The case excited the liveliest interest among the personal and political friends of Mr. and tile tour days iif the trial, the Court room was crowded. Tlie following is a true copy of the EVIDENCE FOIt PROSECUTION. Adolphus Morse, sworn, says: I was a manager for the county of Hancock at the late election; I was interfered with in the discharge of my duties as manager at said elertiop by Mr. Lin,toil Stephens; tin* de fendant came in and said to the crowd in the room that he would have all arrested who voted if they had not paid their taxes for the, year 1860. When he made this re mark some one. wiiu.se name I did. not know, was voting. He cftine in and said to witness, “Adolphus, tin* you not going to put the oath to voters who have.not■ paid their tax for Tst&'i Witness replied, “No, sir, r,\ can’t.g<> over the law.” Defendant said "to witness they, “if you don’t. I >vitl have you arrested?’. Ho had the warrant in his hand aJ? tht» time lie said lie would) have me arrested if did not swear triple who had not paid taxes for I860; he said he had t in* warrants for witness, Gonder and Moseley, managers, also; I was after wards arrested; (his was on t.iie first day of the /'.lection; I ylid not finish holding 4 the election, ber.uase I was under arrest; I was in jail about four hours; a .go-id many persons were hindered irm v iting by the arrest of the managers; thgy were not .80 hindered before our arrest. ('rossej-a mined —The question, “who ad vised you io begin this prosecution,” was ruled out by tin* Court. It was then pro posed to show that this prosecution was malicious and instigated by Gov. Bullock; ruled by the Court'. When the threat to ar . rest managers 'wasmade, I was in the court room standing against the • railing; Mr. Stephen arrested me; Mr. Stephens issued the warrant; Mr. lingers arrested me; Mr. Stephen got out the warrant, and told the slierilT to arrest; I had this warrant taken out but I did not arrest Mr. Stephens; I Was arrested by the Sheriff; it is a mistake \ that IMr. Stephens arrested me; the sheriff took me before Mr. Simmons, the magi strate; they closed thip ballot box; all five of the managers.closed the box and put our seals on it; Mr. Gonder said to the magistrate Thai he, witness, arid Moseley were ready for trial, when we were taken i before him; I did not hear Tax Collector Shivers sworn; 1 do not remember to have seen Mr. "Stephens sworn; I did- nqt agree when the question as to paying taxes was raised, that those who had not ought not to vote; Mr. Simmons committed us to jail; allowed prvilege of bail; was bailed out; don’t know who stood bail for me; 1 did not get any bail; Judge Gonder nor Moseley got any one to go bail; it was given by volunteers; never have found out who did me the favor of going my bail; 1 signed the bond myself; 1 did not notice who ,signed it as security for me; I saw Mr. Jim Harley siting by; the three mana gers, Moseley, Gondeig and myself, decided that it made no difference whether a voter had paid his tax for T 869 or not; it was made to appear to us that many had not paid taxes for 1869. One was arrested who had paid his tax. The managers held that it made no difference whether the voter had paid tax or not; I did not hear defendant say to Mr. Gonder, “Uncle Joe, if you per sist in this ruling, I will have to have this warrant served ;” I did not. notice what was said to Mr. Gonder until I he%rd Mr. Stephens says. “I will be obliged to arresi yon;" I was standing by, and thought 1 was addressed at the same time. The impres sion made ou witness by the conversation with Mr. Gonder was, that Mr. Stephens was entreating and persuading him; I did not see Mr. Stephens hand the warrant to Mr. Gonder; f heard Mr. Gonder say he could not help it. The managers decided that we were obliged to let any one of at •- parent full age, a resident of the conn v and had not before voted, vote at the elec tiori—we so decided from the orders we got. . « „ All live managers concurred in refusing Sandy (. Imply the right of voting,(because he had been guilty of a penitentiary of fence; ruled him out ou the ground that he was a felon—on the alone ground: he had been in the penitentiary; think there were ton or twelve allowed to vote who were charge(k with not having paid their taxes; warrant's were issued sos some who sai. 1 they bad paid their taxes for the previous year: heard only one say so; and that af terwards when you (Mr. Stephens) inform ed the managers that Wm. Lewis had not paid his taxes for 1869, they declined to ask him the question; but he did not pretend iliat he had; Mr. Stephens also informed the managers at that time that the tax book was there; as dso the tax collector to show, the foot that said Lewis had not paid his tax for 1869; two managers, Culver and John fiesr. differed with the three in the decision ■Bowing voters to vote, who had not paid their tees; I know that voters were hin dtfsvd hem voting by my being arrested, I ■or bec:ius-e, we three managers were ar ms*-. ‘ kn. *w that they did not vote only \n wnai they said; I did not vote myself; .ha not offer to vote ; reckon J could have nteff after ms arrest if 1 had wanted to; •i town that night after my arrest; when 2 eras back next day the election was go ing on; I did not advise any colored per sons not to vote; did not hear such advice toitt) BXalitt ftfeari* given; did not at any time hear Judge Step hens object to any one voting because of his color, race or previous condition of servi tude; the only ground of his '‘objections were felony and non-payment of taxes, and these objections were addressed to the man agers and not to voters; in eadh case as such a voter appeared, the objection was addressed to the managers and not the vo ter, and he did not challenge any vote; the managers were all present, and the polls j opened when the Judge first came into the room and made the announcement that all 1 who had not paid taxes/ for 1869 would be it they VuLed. Direct-examination resumed —l was ap pointed manager by the Governor and con firmed by the Senate. (The commission, or notification of appointment from the Exe cutive Department, was produced and read by witness. The commission was then offered ns evidence and objected to on the ground that the Governor did not sign it, nor was there any evidence that the person pur porting to be the secretary of the Gover nor, was his secretary in fact. The objection* was withdrawn by Mr. Stephens. The commission was considered as evidence i ('rossexamination resumed— The commit ting Magistrate on trial of witness, decided that the evidence showed there was proba ble cause of guilt of felony as charged, and * witness was Sound over or committed by i judgment of court. | "Recalled— Mr. Gonder is a lawyer, and spoke for the managers before the commit ting court. ' - Ridley Mosely, Sworn, says: I was one of the managers of the late elect ion, in Hancock comity; I commenced to hold the ejection, but I did not "hold it; we began ; about 7 o’clock in the morning, and com menced voting people, when Mr. Stephens came to us,and said,“You must administer the oat hto voters before taking their votes. “The witness did not understand what oath it was he wanted administered; three of the-man agers decided that it was not necessary to administer any oatli unless they suspected the person of not being entitled to vote; we then went on to take votes for a little wliile; Mr. Stephens then came to rue with a war rant in his hand, arid said, “I have taken this out for you. If you agree to it I won’t have it issued.” I thought served and is sued was the same thing; what I understood Mr. Stephens to say, was that if the mana gers did administer the oath, be would not have (is arrested or served, but if we did not he was us arrested; we did not admiiiisfcjje oath; I told him I did not think it was i;ight, and I was not going to do it; as soon as I said “No,” Mr. Stephens stepped off and got Mr. Rogers, who arrested us; Mr. Gonder demanded a trial, and the Justice of the Peace commit ted us to jail; I Remained in jail about four or five hours; we did not hold the election; Mr. Stephens said, put ns in jail and the election would be held under the old law; I had'no more to do with the election; we came out of jail, and signed our bonds; the people lmd pretty much gone si way when we came out; some ten or twelve were ar rested for voting because they had not paid their taxes; one of them, after he was ar rested, said he had . his tax receipt at home. Cross examined. —l did not see Mr. Ste phens draw any gun or weapon, or have any about him at the election. The mana gers consulted together about the oath to be administered as required by Mr. Ste phens; I thought Mr. Stephens meant the oath in the Governor’s letter; I know the grounds Mr. Stephens took was about tax es; the payment of taxes was the only, point made by Mr. Stephens as to the oath to be administered by managers, whatever oath it was, we three managers decided we would not put it; I understood that the oath was to be put to all voters; we did decide that we would put the oath only to them whom we suspected; we decided that, we would put no oath to any voter about taxes, hold ing that it was immaterial whether the vo ter' had paid poll taxes or not; we did not put the oath to William Lewis, when Mr. Stephens told us that he had not paid his taxes, and witness Lewis did not pre tend to say that he had, and that the tax books and the collector was there to prove it; I don’t know Win. Lejvis; don’t recol lect him; <3on’t recollect that Mr. Stephens challenged any voter; what he said was to us managers; can’t say that Mr. Stephens denied any man’s right to vote; I don’t re member that Mr. Shivers, Tax Collector tes tified before magistrate, that the voter about whom managers were arrested* had not paid his taxes; the man was not introduced to prove that he had paid his tax; I did not deny; I know that he had not paid his tax; the warrant against me was f6r being principal, in second-degree, aiding and ; abetting illegal and felonious voting; Mr. Stephens said put us in jail and hold elec tion under old law, white he was arguing the case to Mr. Simmous; I don’t recollect that Mr.* Stephens told the magistrate that the case was a bailable one but a sham bail ought not to be taken; I don’t remem j ber, that Mr. Stephens said in his speech, jin reply to what be stated Harrison said about “all voting and going to Penit eutiary together,” that Harrison had paid his tax l and was in no danger; (hat he would go to i the Legislature, and the other negroes who > had not paid their taxes would go to the Penitentiary; Mr. Stephens said about Har jrison’s remarks, it pieant that the Repre sentatives would go to the Legislature, and the others who had-not paid taxes would go to Penitentiary; I understood that what Mr. Stephens said about sending people to the Pemteutiary meant only those who had not paid their taxes; I did not understand him as meaning that auv would be sent there because they were black; Mr. Stephens did not object, as far as I know, to any one voting on account of race, color or previ ous condition of servitude; L was released from jail by giving bail; aU of my sureties were white people and Democrats; Mr. MACON. GA., THURSDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 2, 1871" Simmons’ decision was that we would have to go to jail or give bond; my securities were volunteers; I did notask any ofthem to goon the bond; Mr. Gonder’s bond was $5000; and ours, Morse and Moseley, was S2OOO each; Mr. Gonder said to the magistrate, we have no bail to offer; then I thought Mr. Stephens meant either the oath in the Gov ernor’s sletter or Farrow’s letter. Direct examination resumed —We were j holding election.by authority of the Gover nor; authority from the Governor admitted; ; when I speak of taxes in my testimony I mean poll taxes. Ax Cross examination resumed. —We managers decided that we could hinder no one from voting who was of apparent age, who re sided in the county and who had .not voted before at said election, unless we Suspected i him, then we could administer the oath in Farrow’s letter; we did hold that we were , bound to let every one vote (hat the Con i stitution allowed to vote; we would admin ister the oath to them if we suspected them; if the voter did not take the oath he would not be allowed to vote; we held that it was ! our duty not to let auybody vote if he was suspected bv us of lacking any quaifications j prescribed by the Constitution, and when •we suspected him we would administer the Farrow oath; the rfianagers necessarily acted on that idea when yje excluded a felon who lived in the countv and was of full age and i had jiot. voted before. ' Harrisoulsworn Says: I was a por i fifth of the time at the election in Hancock; I saw Mr. Stephens there; I did not hear Mr. Stephens say anything to the managers of election; I did .not hear him make any threats about having parties arrested; I heard him as counsel address the Magis trate at the trial; I did not get to the polls until about 8| o’clock in the morning; I did uot see or hear Mr. Stephens until I saw him before the court; I heard him say nothing except what he said as counsel before the Magistrate; Alex, Latimer, Eli Barnes, Wil liam Wilson, Jackson Tilley and some oth ers, were prevented from voting by the ar rest of the managers; the arrest of the managers seemed to create a good deal of excitement; Mr. Stephens said in his speech that, those who had not, paid their taxes, and had voted, would go to the peniten tiary; that they had voted illegally and against the Constitution, and that he 5 in tended to test the matter in the courts. Mr. Stephens further said that those who had so voted* illegally would go to the peni tentiary, while they who advised them would go the Legislature; tlie persons re ferred to as going to the Legislature were Republican candidates; no Democrats that I know -of were arrested there that. day. Cross-examined —l don’t know about any one voting but myself; I did not understand Mr. Stephens to say in his speech, that when he, witness* and Eli Barnes said “Come oil, and let us go to the penitentiary together,” that it meant those who had not paid taxes, and had voted would go to the penitentiary, while the Representatives would go the Legislature, and that witness and Eli had paid their taxes, and were in no danger; Eli aud myself had paid our taxes; in 1869 I advised all to pay their taxes ; Jackson Tilley is also known as Jackson* Mitchell; I only know that Jack son Tilley did not, vote, from what he arid others told me; I don’t know about Alexan der Latimer, Eli Barnes, and William Wil son voting only from what they told me; I know where Eli Barnes was during the three days; he Was either at my house or his own all the time; I was near enough to know where he. was in fifteen minutes time; lie pame on the train from Augusta, on the train at 12:40 p. m.; I might have laid down during the three nights, but I don’t know whether I slept any; Barnes and myself were together pretty much all the time; I don’t know 7 that Barnes in coming through town tried to vote; don’t know that he voted; I don’t know that Barnes voted after the first managers were arrested; he did not vote before they were arrested; I can’t tell whether the above named persons did not vote at the election held by the second set of managers; all know about persons be ing hindered from votiug, was at the first election* held by the first set of managers; after the arrest of the managers, I advised my friends not to vote; Alex. Latimer was in iby employ; Wilson had been to town; witness thinks he left Aleck at his house when he went to town ;■! don’t know that Wilson did not vote before I went to town, onlyfrom whathe told me; AleckLatimer did not vote, because he wlas j£t my house; I did not see him try to \pte; I suppose it would have made no difference whether a voter had paid his tax, if he was going to i vote the Democratic ticket; I nWer heard ! Mr. Stephens put a man’s rightdo vote on the kind of a ticket he was going to vote; llt is my impression from Mr. Stephens’ speech before the magistrate, that race, col or and previous condition had a good deal to do with it; I got my impression from the statement that a good many colored people did what they did do from what Bill Harri son told them; I got the impression from, the fact that Air. Stephens attacked nobody but colored people; I heard Mr. Stephens attack Governor Bullock and Blodgett; Bul lock and Blodgett are not black. ( Ihe testimony as to what Wilson, and Latimer, and Barnes said to witness, was ruled out;) I know that Mr. Stephens did not praise Gov. Bullock aud Blodgett; I won’t say that I don’t know that Mr. Stephens blamed them; on reflection I will say that lif calling a man a thief is blaming him, he i did blame him; I was not present when the witnesses before the.magistrate were ex amined. ~ EVIDENCE FOB DEFENCE. J." Clarence Simmons, sworn says: The Tax Collector was sworn befpre the com | uniting court at trial of the managers. He ; testified that Wm. Lewis had not-paid his tax ; es; Linton Stephens swore that he informed i the managers before Wm. Lewis voted, that he had not paid his taxes; this was said to j managers at the time Lewis was about to j deposit his vote; Mr. Stephens further sta-. ted that the,hooks and collector were at. hand to prove that Lewis ha}l not paid his j taxes for 1869; I know that . Mr. Stephens so informed the managers; the managers, did receive Lewis’ vote after this informa- ! tion was communicated, without swearing j or questioning him; I am the magistrate j before whom the managers were tried; the | managers did not question the fact that! Lewis had not paid his taxes for 1869; they j ► were represented by Judge /lender; the j defence, was pnt on the ground that their j oath required them to let any one vote who j was a resident of the county,’ and of appa-j rent full age, and who had Hot. voted be-i fore at the election. The following is the j oath administered to the managers, to-wit: j “I do swear that I will,fart! fully and im-; partially hold the present election, Ij will prevent no person from Voting who is of apparent age, a / resident of the county, and who has not previously voted /at this election. I will not open any closed ticket until the polls have been closed, nor will I divulge for whom any person voted, unless called upon by some legal tribune; I will permit no one to challenge, delay or hin der,, any voter from the free and speedy casting of his ballot. I will in good faith, to the best ability, endeavor to carry info effect the provisions of this act and the other laws for holding jelections; will make a fair, correct and honest and impar tial return of the result of the election. So help me God.” The managers construed the first part of the oath to mean that they could not pre vent any one from voting who was of appa rent full age, a resident of the county, and who had not previously voted at the elec tion, whatever else might fce the, case.— The managers also held that they relied on the act of the Legislature declaring the poll tax of 1868, ’69, and 70, illegal; as magistrate, I held that the oath,as construed by the managers, was in conflict with the Constitution, as also the above mentioned act of the Legislature. The accusation against the managers was that they were principals in the second degree, aiding and abetting illegal and felonious .voting. Mr. Stephens argued the„case for the proseicution before me. I did not hear Mr. Stephens in his argument call. Governor Bullock a thief, that epithet was applied, to those persons who had squandered the pell tax which was dedicated by.the constitution to school purposes. My final decision in the case Was that there was probable cause of guilt, and I committed them with privilege of bail. Judge Stephens maintained before me that the case was bailable,and bail was allow ed, When Mr. Stephens was sworn as a wit ness, the two managers, Morse and Mose ly, \vere very near them, from 4 to 6 feet. I was a member of the > second board of managers. Colored persons voted. Radi cal tickets were polled; two wrere polled. I told negroes on my place that they could vote; that they were qualified, their taxes had been paid. The second board of man agers did not allow any Democrat, white or colored, to vote if he had not] paid his tax es; I remember one colored man who had not paid his taxes tad desired to vote the Democratic ticket, but Mr. Lawrence in formed him that he could not vote; Mr. Lawrence is a Democrat; the second board of managers was composed of B. T. Harris, H H. Quiver, L. Piqrce. jr., Henry Harris and witness; they are all free-liolders ; the hour of 10 o’clock a. m., had passed when that board was organized; Messrs. Culver and Johnson, of the first board, declined to act after the other managers were committed; when the second board was organized no managers designated by law! to hold the election were present; the remark made by Mr. Stephens in his speech about persons going to the penitentiary was in reply to what had been said by Harrison; that Har rison and Barnes had paid th£ir taxes, and it meant that they would go to the Legisla ture while the other colored j persons ad dressed by Harrison would go to the peni tentiary; the second board was organized under the law in the Code; I did not hear Mr. Stephens at any time during the elec tion, object to any one voting on account of race, color or previous servitude; Mr. Ste phens did not object to any on 3 voting who possessed thfe qualifications prescribed by the Constitution; Mr. Stephens did not challenge any voter that I knoiv of. Gross-examination. —l am a Justice of the Peace of Hancock county; have been for about twelve months; I was commissioned by Governor Bullock; I issued the warrants for the arrest of the managers; the warrants were issued against Adolphus Morse, Ridley Mosely, .and Jos. B. Gonder; there were five on the board of managers;'uo com plaint was made before me against the oth er two managers; the affidavit on which the warrants issued were made by Judge Stephens; I can’t say to whom I delivered the warrant; I generally deliver warrants to the sheriff or to some constable; I can’t re taember as to this particular warrant; the sheriff was on the ground, and I may have delivered it to him; I was in the Court-! house when the warrant was served; the 1 warrant issued by me was served; the man- : agers were tried before me; this was on the first day of the election; the warrant was issued about 9 or 10 o'clock—nearer 9 than j 10 o’clock; the managers sealed the box;, the trial proceeded at once in the Court house; I did not see Judge Stephens at the time of the arrest; the last jl saw Judge Stephens before the arrest, he was \ talking to Judge Gonder in tvfo or three feet of the ballot box ; he did hot go there ] at that time to vote; he asked permission j to speak to the managers; there was no voting after the arrest of the managers; it was about two hours after the a,rrest before the second board was organised; during this time no voting was going on; the Clerk of the Superior Court swore in the second board; the second board proceded ‘under the Code; as far as I was concerned, I tried to conducl the election under the law of 1870, with my Construction of the funda mental law; we tried to carry oat tlie law of 1870, so far as could be done in harmo ny with tie Code and the Constitution; it was held for three days,and persons were not allowed to come nearer than fifteen feet of the polls; I did not think that I could car ry out the law of 1870. and obey the Con stitution; I do not think ii is the province °l the per pie to set aside a law as uncon-- | stitutional until it be.en declared by some judicial tribunal. The second board unanimously decided (hat a man who had not paid bis poll tax so. 1869, could not vote. Something over 700 Democratic votes, two Radical votes and one blank were polled. Probably 750 votes were polled, i here are ; boii r 2.000 voters in Hancock. The reason uiore votes were not polled was tliat no more voters came forward; there are about 1,200 t o 1,400 colored voters in Han cock count v; a good many colored votes were cast a : t no. election, but only two Rad ical votes; . don’t think any persons were challenged by the.second board further than was si ated in direct examination, in reference to| the information given to mana gers about a negro by Air. Lawrence; a gootlAleal of excitement prevailed; I don’t know . whether there was as many votes polled by the second board as wonkU have been, polled by the first; Judge Stephens #aid to witness, that any one voting illegal ly out to be arrested. Direct examination resumed. —One hun dred and forty-nine votes were polled before the first managers; the votes in the two boxes were not counted together; at the election of LB6B, next before the last, the Radical vote was 73. The Democratic ma jority was very large. Cross-exair ination. —The first ballot box was sealed before the trial. I think Air. Culver took the keys, and Mr. Johnson took the bo::. The second managers did not think they had a right to interfere with it. . I considered the election a fair one and a legal one. We would not have allowed a man who haci voted at the first board to have voted, again before the second board. I voted before the first board, and not be fore the second. None who voted before the first board presented themselves as vo ters before the second board of managers. John D. Cilver; sworn, says: I was one of the managers on first board.- I was nomi nated by the Ordinary, Mr. Johnson ; was appointed by the Governor. Air. Gonder was nominated by the Ordinary, but his nomination was withdrawn, and Air. Butts substituted, bit the substitution was not regarded by tie Governor. I was present at the arrest of the three managers. They were arrested on an accusation of being principals in the second degree, aiding and abetting illegal and felonious voting. The case was made on Wm. Lewis. I think Mr. Stephens announced to the managers when Wm. Lewis w;,s about to vote that he had not paid his te xes, and the books and col lector would prove it. It was certainly an nounced to the managers by some one; Johnson and myself held that the payment of taxes ought to be inquired into, but the other three held that it made no difference whether the trx had been paid or not; they did not act in reference to any doubt as to the correctness of the information, but as to its being immaterial whether he had paid it or not; I remember that Mr. Ste phens got permission to approach the man agers; no one approached without consent of the managers; I have an impression that Judge Stephens did speak to one of the managers, and that his object was to coun sel with him :n reference to the warrant; Mr. Shivers, lax Collector, and Judge Ste phens, were sworn and testified lie fore the Magistrate; Morse and Aloselv, the colored managers, were present; Air. Shivers testi fied that William Lewis had not paid his taxes; the managers did receive Wm. Lew is’ vote; I don’t recollect that Air. Stephens called Governor Bullock a thief in his argu ment before the court; I heard tlie speech; the remark alxmt “thief” was applied to those who had squandered the school fund; Adolphus Alorse, one of the coloreol mana gers, held first with Johnson ami myself that the paymont of taxes ought to be in quired into; ht afterwards changed; Morse seemed to be conscientious as to his duty about the taxes; I read or explained to him Governor Bulk ck’s letter and Farrow’s re ply, and the oath in Farrow’s reply; he .then said, “we will have to swear them;” but he change ! his opinion pretty quick when Judge Ge nder told him they had no right to put any oath; I then stated that we must settle the matter before proceeding any further; Judge Gonder held that it was a violation of his oath not to let every one vote who was a resident of the county, of apparent full and who had not voted before at the election, and that these were the only necessity qualifications; as to the felon’-s voting, it. was the decision of the board that lie could not vote; the case of the felon came up after the decision of the board in reference to the payment of the taxes; Johnson I and myself refused to act after bf tlie other managers. Cross-examined,—l was one of the mana gers on first bojlrd; I todk the box and in presence of the other four, it was sealed and put in possession of Air. Johnson, and wit ness kept the keys; about 150 voted before first managers; 1 he other managers not be ing a quorum, declined to act farther; I don’t remember that any one was challenged; the lelon’s vote was the only one rejected; it was announced that there were about a dozen who had not paid their taxes, but they voted; Lewis is a colored man; I think the announcement about Lewis not having paid his taxes was made by Judge Stephens; and his was the first case that came up. Direct examination resumed. —l have no NUMBER 1251. idea that Mr. Johnson is a free holder. George F. Pierce. Jr., sworn, says: I was present wheu the managers were arrested; I heard Mr. Shivers testify before magis trate that William Lewis had not paid Ins tax for the year 1869, and referred to his books—this fact was not denied on the oth er side. I heard nearly all of Mr. Stephens’ speech; I did qot hear him call Governor Bullock a thief; this ephithet was applied to those who had appropriated the school fund; I was a candidate at said election for the Legislature; I heart! Judge Ste phens approveiadvi» w #riven t<- Democratic colored persons who had not paid their tax not to vote; Judge Stephens did not object to*any one voting who possessed the qualifications prescribed by the Constitu tion; I know that Judge Stephens did not maintain that any one should not be al lowed to voie*on account of race, color, or previous condition; I know that„ Judge Stephens, in a public speech, a short time before election, advised the colored people to go and vote like freemen, as they were—to vote as they pleased, and not to be dragged up to the polls; the majority for members of Congress and of the Legis lature, at the election held by the second managers, was 792 votes; Morse and Mose ley were present when the tax colleefcpr tes tified before the magistrate. v H Cross-eqatninediZZ- 1 was in the Court- House when tlie managers were arrested, but I did not hear the conversation between them and Judge* Stephens; in the last box there were 792 votes; I have heard that there were about 2,100 to 2,200 votes regis tered in the county in 1868; in my judg ment, there are now about 2,000; Mr. Ste- Ijhens’ speech was not a threatening one; I did not see Mr. Stephens when he was be fore the managers; Mr. Stephens’ position and his manner was an earnest appeal to the people, white and colored, Radical and Dem ocrat, to abide by the law in voting. *J. Clarence Simmons-recalled: When Mr. Stephens went to the first managers to con verse with them, the warrant had not been issued. It was a short time before it was issued : Judge Gouder was the manager ad dressed by Judge Stephens; I was in 15 feet of them, there was no noise, but I did not hear anything that, was said, what was said was in a low tone of voice; Judge Stephens’ manner was persuasive. Jno. L. Culver, recalled by prosecution: I don’t know wliotker Judge Stephens had a warrant in his hand when he approach ed the managers. . Geo. F. Pierce, jr., recalled by defence: After the second board* was organized, - I mentioned to a crowd of colored people that there was no difficulty in their voting. I proposed to accompany a colored man whom I knew to be a Radical, that I would go to the polls with him. Like advice was given by others to the colored people; Mr. Stewart, who has been sheriff for many years gave them such advice, also Mr. Lit tle, a lawyt. of the place. The defence here closed. No i*ebutting evidence was offered on the part of the Gov ernment. • Upon the conclusion of the testimony, Col. P. B. Bedford* attorney for thefprose eution, stated his points in the case and was replied to by Cols. DeGraffenried and An derson, when the Court adjourned to Mon day, 23d, Mr. Stephens being order to make his defence. At the appointed hour, a large numbej/jof the most prominent citi zens of Maecjjri were assembled to hear him, and they were evidently well satisfied with his effort, he having confined himself al most entirely to a justification of his course. After nearly three hours, he closed the ar gument for the defence, and Mr. Bedford , proceeded on the part of the Government. At the conclusion of his argument, the Court deeming that the importance of the case re quired a written decision, adjourned until Tuesday morning, when the following de cision was rendered: The United States, ! Yiolaton of vs. •> “Enforcement Act.” Linton Stephens. ) The main object, on the part of the de fence in tliis case, 1 seems to have been to £ show, that, under the State laws, the Mana gers of election for Hancock county—three of whom were recomemended by the Gover nor, and two by the Ordinary of that coun ty, and all of them confirmed by the Senate —were acting under an unconstitutional law; and their authority, and the instruct tions and law under which they were* acting, was, therefore, illegal, null and void. This question, it is not the province of this Court to determine. The charge against the accused is that he “did hinder, prevent and intimidate per sons from exercising the right of suffrage, to whom the right of suffrage is secured by the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitu tion of the United States, in that he did interfere with the officers of the electipn, W’hile in the discharge of their duties, by procuring their arrest and imprisonment.” It has been shown in evidence that these managers of election were appointed by the recognized authorities of the State, in deference to a solemn law, passed by an un disputed Legislature of the State, and hence, must be recognized and protected, as such, by the laws made and provided by the Congress of the United States. A law, approved May 31st, 1870, arid known as the “Enforcement Act,” prescribes “that if, at any election for Representative or Delegate in the Congress of the United States, any person shall * * * * by force, threat, menace, intimidation * * * or otherwise qplawfully prevent any quali fied voir of any State of the United States of America, or of any Territory thereof, from freely exercising the right of suffrage * * * * or interfere in any manner with any officer of said elections in the discharge