4 THE COLUMBIAN, OLCMWA nMOCBAT, STAR OI TUB NORTH ANDCOLUM MANCONSOUDATIB.) Issued weekly, every Friday morning, nt lll,OOM8IIUH(i; Columbia county i'a. Two.nou.ABS per year, payabla In advance, or during tunyoar. Alter tbo expiration of tho year I2.M will bo ehargoil. - To subscribers out of tho entmtv tho term mo tfl ner venr. Mtrirtivtn nt... -M li If not paid In advauco and IM If payment bo. No piper discontinued, except at tho option of th publishers, until all arrearage) are paid, but long continued credits after tho expiration of tho first year will not bo given, All.vapors sent out of the stato or to distant post offices must bo paid for In advance, unless n respon sible person In Columbia county assumes to pay the Bubscrlptlon duo on demand, . fostaui: Is no longer exacted from subscribers In ho county, job miisrTinsra-. Tno Jobbing Department of the Columbian Is vor complcto, and our J b Printing will comparo tarora y with that of tho largo cities. All work dono on mand, neatly and at moderate prices. Columbia County Official Diroctory. I'rcsldcnt Judge-Wllllam EIwcll. Associate Judges-, K Krlckbaum, P. L. shuman. I'rothonotary, Ac II. Frank Zarr. court stenographer 9. N, Walker. teglster K Itecorder Williamson II, Jacoby. District Attorney John M. Clark, Sherirr John w. HotTman. Siirvov or Isaac Dewltt. Treasurer Dr. II, W. Mcltcynolds. Commissioners John llerner, s. W. Mcnenry, Joseph Sands. Connnlssloncrs'Clerk William Krlckbaum. Audltors-M. V. 11. Kline, J. li. Casey, K.li. Crown. coroner Charles (l.Murrhv. Jury commissioners-Jacob II. Fritz, William II. Ult. countv Suporlntcndent-Wllllam 11. Snyder. Bloom Poor District-Directors o. 1'. Knt, Scolt, Win. Kramer, Iiloomsburg and Thomas ltcece, Jcoit, o. 1'. Knt, secretary. Bloomsburg Official Directory. Bloomsburg flanking Company John A. Funston, President, II. H.uro'z, Cashier. Firs Na'lonal Bank Charles n. I'axton, President J. I'. Tustln, cashier. Columbia County Mutual Saving Fund and Loan Assoclatlon-K. H. Little, rrcsldenl, c. W. Miller, Secretary. Iiloomsburg Building and Saving Fund Association -Win. Peacock, President, J. I). Koklson, becrelary. Bloomsburg Mutual Saving Fund Assoclai Ion J. J. Brower, President, C. (1. Uarkley, Secretary. CHURCH DIRECTORY. BAPTIST CI1CRCII. Itev. J. P. Tustln, (Supply.) Sunday services liijtf a. m. and cys p. tn. Sunday school 9 a. m. Prayer Meeting Kvery Wednesday evening at cjtf clock. soma free. Tho public are Invited to attend. ST. MATTHEW'S t.UTnRRAN CnURCII. Minister llev. J. McCron. Sunday Services lOtf a. m. and KP- m. Sunday School On. m. I'rav cr Meoilng Every Wednesday evening at 6)4 clock. Heats f rco. No pews rent ed. All are welcome. PRESBYTERIAN CnCBCH. Minister nor. Stuart MHihcll. Sunday Services lux a. in. and 6 P- m. Sunday School 9 a. m. Prayer Meoilng Every Wednesday evening at an o'clock. Beats free. No pows rented. Strangers welcome. METnOOlST episcopal cncRcn. Presiding nider Itcv. N. S. Buckingham. Minister Her. J. s. McMurray. Sunday Services lnjf and CJtf p. m. sundav School 2 p. m. Bible Class Kverv Monday evenlngatc)tf o'clock. Voting Men's l'raver Meoilng Kvery Tuesday evening nt o'clock. General Prayer Meetlng-Every Thursday evening 7 o'clock. REFORMED CHURCII. Corner of Third and Iron streets, pastor iter. o. I). Hurler, itestdcnce Central Hotel. Sunday Services 10 a. m. and T p. rn. sundav school 9 a. m. Prayer Meeting Saturday, 7 p. m. All are invited Thcro Is always room. ST. PAUL'S CHCRCn. Hector Her L. Zahner. Sunday Services ui a. m., 7tf p. m. Sunday school 9 a. m. First Sunday In the month, Holy Communion. Services preparatory to Communion on Friday evening bofuro tho st Sunday In each month. Pews rented; but everybody welcome. ErANORLICAL CHURCH. Presiding Klder-llov. A. L. Itecser. Minister Iter. J. A. Irvlno. Sunday sorvlco 3 p. in., In the Iron Street Church. l'ruv er Meellng-Ecry sabbath at a p. m. All are Invited. All aro welcome. TnK cnuRcii or cnRisr. Meets In "the llttlo Brick Church on the hill," known as tho Welsh Baptist Church on nock street east or Iron. Itegular meeting for worship, every Lord's day af ternoon at Stf o'clock. scats free s and tho public aro cordially Invited to attend. BLOOMSBURO DIRECTORY. QCIIOOL ORDERS, blank, just printed nnd Tj neatly bound In small books, on hand and for sale at tho Columbian omce. Feb. IB, lsis-tt TVLANK DEEDS, on Parchment and Linen I J Paper, common and tor Admlnlsi rators, Fjcccu Curs and trustees, for aalo cheap at tho Columbian omce. ' TTARRlAOE CERTIFICATES iust printed 1VL and for sale at tho Columbian orttcc. Minis ters uf the Uospel and Justices should supply them Belvcs with these necessary articles. JUSTICES and Constables' Fee-Hills for sale nt tho Columbian ortlce. They contain tho cor rected fees as established by the last Act of the Leg slaturoupon tho subject. Kvery Justice and con stable should have one. "ENDUE NOTES just printed and for sale V cheap at tho Columbian ofllce, BOOTS AND SHOES. J 71 M. KNORR, Dealer in Roots and Shoes, ll . latest and best styles, cornerMaln andMarket streets, In tho old post omce. CLOCKS, WATCIIKS, &C. CE. SAVAGE, Dealer in Clocks, Watches . and Jewelry, Main St., Just below the Central PROFESSIONAL CA11DS. Q(l, BARKLEf, Attomey-nt-Law. Office , in Brower's building, 2nd story, Booms 4 4 5. .1. IS, '75. DR. WM.M. REHER, Surgeon and Phyi clan, onico H. U. corner Hock andMarket streets. T R. EVANS, M. D., Surgeon and Physi I . clan, (Onice and Residence on Third street, corner Jefferson. B. McKELVY, M. D., Surgeon and Phy sician, north side Main street, below Market. " B. ROBISON, Attorncr-at-Law. Office . m llartman'a building-, Main street. H. ROSENSTOCK, Photographer, Clark & Wolf's Store, MalnBtreet, MISCELLANEOUS. D AVID LOWENBERG, Merchant Tailor Main St., aoove central noui. 8. KUHN, dealer iu Meat, Tallow, etc., . centre Bireci, between beconu ana - uira. HEN YOU WANT A FIRST-CLASS SHAVE or anything In tho TO.NbOHIAL LINK gu iu JAMES HEILLY'S BAUBEIt SHOP, THE BEST IN TOWN, Under Exchange Hotel, Bloomsburg, Pa. Oct. 13, 1i- CATAWISSA. w "M. H. ABBOTT, Attorney-at-Law, Main "W7"M. L, EYERLY, ATTO IINE y-AT-LAW, Catawlssa, I'a. Collections promptly made and remitted. Ofllce uvjahuuj uuuiwuum Liepwui. JJIUIK. .Ul-OS To the Working CIa.. We aro now prepared to furnish all clasbes with constant employment at home, tbo whole of Uie time, or for llielr spare mo ments. Business new, light and profitable. Persons of either sex easily earn from to cents to (5 per evening, and a proportional sum by devoting their whole lima to the business. Boys and glrla earn nearly as much as men. That all who boo this notice may Bend their address, and Lest, the buslnoes we make this unparalled offer. To such as are not well sutured we will send one dollar to pay for tho trouble of writing. Full particulars, samples worm ev era! dollars to eommenco work on. and a conr of Home and Fireside, one of the largest and best Illustrated Publications, all sent free by in all. Head er. It you want permanent, protltablo work, adaress Kept, 8, -TS.-lim. Babcock & Wyeth's Ads 1 Is taken Internally, and Posltlrrly Cures Itheuma. JV holesale and Hjtull DrugfUts everywhere, send -viuvuiui iu. HELPIIENST1NK HENTLKY. Urugglsts, ashtngton, V, . Oct, e, IC.-ly, B A; w PATEN T S. F. A. Uuuumn,fco!lcltor of American andFore'gn Patents, WashlLgton, L, C, All bUblneBs connected with Patents, whither Lefore the I'alent Ofllco or the Courts, promptly attended to. Nochargamado uileuj a patent Is secured, bend for a circular, jaay,'IMf b w o:iiiwllT'E41tor!ndPropri,Ur,. BUSINESS CARDS, jyn. J. C. RUTTER, rilYSICIAN & sunaEON, ornce, North Market street, , Bloomsburg, rn. Mar.sT,74- E. ORVIS, ATTOHNKY.AT.T.AW. Sept.'is wSm N" "C"ur"l,lan" Building. s AMUEL KNORR. A T T 0 It N E Y-A T-L A W, BLooMsnunn. pa. nniw n.rim.n'u mt. ........ StrCCtS Off. (,. r,. Q W.MILLER, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW onico In Brower's building, second floor, room No. Bloomsburg, Pa. Julyl,73 N, U. (CKK. L.E. WALLER. FUNK .1 WALLER, Att or n ey ri t Ltvvv, BLOOMSBURG, PA. Ofllce In Columbian Bcii.niNo. Jan. t, ',7-ly c 1 R. & W. J. BUCKALEW, ATTOItNEYS-AT-LAW, Bloomsburg, Pa. omco on Main Street, nrst door below court Houso Mar.,'74 V. it J. M. CLARK, ATI OKNEYS-AT-LAW, Bloomsburg, Pa. April 10,'H ' Office In Ent s Building. T? 1'. BILLMEYER, ATTORNEY AT LAW. Office Adjoining C. H. ft W. J. Buckalew. Bloomsburg, To. Apr. U,1t. II. LITTLE. ROU'T. K. LITTLE. II. A R. R. LITTLE, All Ultrt Uil S-AT-LAW, Bloomsburg, Pa. rWBusIness before tho U. S. Patent omce attended to. onico In tho Columbian Building, as JgROCKWAY & ELWELL, A 1 TU it JH K 1 S-A T-L, A W, Columbian builoino, Bloomsburg, Pa. CMcmbers of tho United states Law Association. ollcctlons made In any part of America or Europe. "yiLLIAM BRYSON, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, Centralia, Pa.- Fb 19, '70. MISCELLANEOUS. H 0 W E L L, U lii IN 'J.' 1S T. Ofllce In llartman'a Block, second floor, corner Main and Market Streets, BLOOMSBUBO, PA. May !0 ly. BROWN'S HOTEL, Bloomsburp, Pa., B. Stohncr, Proprietor. Accommodations flrst- lass. i i.za in ji.ou per uuy. jicBiauiuubukuiciii-ut ucLouero, io-ii PI M. DRINKER, GUN and LOCKSMITH. sewing Machines and Machinery of all kinds re paired. Opera House Building, Bloomsburg, Fa. 17 J.TIIORNTUM Pj. would annoanco to the citizens of Blooms burg and vicinity that ho has Just received a lull and coaipieiu assortment, ii WALL PAPER, WINDOW SHADES, FIXTURES, CORDS, TASSELS, and all other goods In his line of business. All the newest anu must uppruveu pnut-rus vi uie uuy are always to bo found In his establishment, Main street, below Market. oct, S-ls -yiLLIAM Y. KICSTER, MiUiCJirlAJNX 'X'AIJ-.Olt corner of Main and West Ftreets, three doors below J. K. K) i'i 's store, Bloomsburg, Pn. All orders nroraDtly attended to and satisfaction guaranteed. Apru xi, ii-tr F REAS BROWN'S INSURANCE AGEN CY, Exchange notel, Bloomsburg, Pa. CaDltal. Etna, Ins Co., of nartford, Connecticut... ,6uo,iKo Liverpool, London and Olobe 20,i,ono Hoyalot Liverpool 13 soo.ooo Lancanshlre 10,000,' oil riii)AiMw.inuuu, ruiwuciyumi..- ........ e,.uu,uuu Atlas of Hartford mo.oiio Farmers Mutual or Danvuio 1,000,01x1 Danville Mutual 76,lxi Home, New York. 5,io,ooo Commercial Union 17,000,000 tl7S,68,000 March tt,n-j THE UNDERSIONED, representing several of the most connervatlvn and reliable Ameri can Flro Insurance Companies, would beg leave to offer his services to the cltlzenH of Bloomsburg and vicinity, requesting a reasonable share of the public paironage. Bloomsburg,July 18, 187. onice In Brower's Block. Julyn J. H, MAIZE'S MAM1YIOTH GROCERY contains the largest stock of TEAS. QBOCEBIES Qaeensware, Glassware, Woitaare, Canned rruits. Dried rrnits, CONFECTIONERIES, Ac. to be found In Columbia county. A Complete AHsorlnicut always on hand. Call and examine. Jan 1.1H7. "YAINWRIQHT & CO., VVUULJU3A1.1S UKUCittlS, N. B. Corner Sccendand Arch Btreejs, PuiLACiLrniA Dealers tn TEAS, SYHUrS, COFFEE, SUOAH, MOLASSES 1ICI, IrlCXS, 1ICAX1 BOOA, CO., to. tv-ordcrs will roceive prompt attention. It. PATENTS. FEE REDUCED ENTIRE COST 55, Patent onice fee t3ft In advance, balance $) within s months after patent allowed. Adilco and examina tion tree, ratenis sold. J, VANCI! LEWIS k CO., May 4, 'H7-3m ) w co Washington, D. C, Al'U, L.KAUB. JNO. K.CVUIER. C1US, B. KDWABOS, WM. It. IIAOEN11UCH, WITH Kituli, Fryuilrr EdwurdN, (Successors to Benedict Doney Sons, m Market Importers and dealers in CIIINA, OLATS AND QUEENSWARE, ta Market Street, J'lmadelphla. ConBtanUy on band Oilglnaland ASMirtKlJUcJcagea junew, Tl-iy THE ELECTORAL FRAUD. JUDar. J. B. BLACK, EXCOBIATCS Tim IN FAMOUS COMMISSION. In tho Korlh American Itcvkw for July, Judge Jeremlnh S. Black appears a tho con tributor of an articlo entitled "Tho Elector al Conspiracy,'' which is by nil odds tho most complete, eloquent, nnd xcathlng ox nostiro that has yet been mado of tho fraud by which Rutherford II. Hnyei wat foisted into the Presidential chair. Wo regret that our spaco will not permit m to reprint it In lull, anil that wo mint confine ourselves- to the most striking passages. After briefly adverting to the indignation felt by honest men throughout the country at tho great outrage, upon the righU of tho people, Judgo Black proceeds to depict the condition of affairs in tho State of Lou isiana previom to tho Presidential election. First, he describes the carpet-bagger : what Tiin c'AF.prrr-BAnnr.r. u. The peoplo would not havo been wholly crushed, either by tho soldier or the negro, if.both had not been used to fasten upon them tho domination of another class of persons whoso rule was altogether unendura ble. These wo call carpet-baggers, not be- causo the word is descriptive or euphonious, but becauso they have no other name where by they aro known among tho children of men, They wero unprincipled adventurers, who sought their fortunes iu tho South by hindering tho disarmed and defenceless people ; somo of them wero tho dregs of tho Federal army tho meanest of tho camp followers; many wero fugitives from Northern justice ; the best of them wero those who went down after tho peace, ready for any deed of shamo that was safe and profitable. These, combining with n few treacherous ! 'hcalawags" and somo leading negroes to serve as decoys for tho rest, and backed by ho power of the general Government, be came the strongest body of thieves that ever pillaged a people. Their moral grado was far lower, and yet they were much more powerful, than the robber bands that infest ed Germany after tho close of tho Thirty dears' war. They swarmed over all the States from the Potomac to the Gulf, and ettlcd 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, in truded themselves into all private corpora- lions, assumed the functions of all ofliccs, ncludiug the courts ofjustice, and in many places they even "run tho churches." By force and fraud they cither controlled all elections or else prevented elections from be ing held. They returned sixty of themselves to one Congress, and ten or twelve of the most ignorant and 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 residence among them was tho bitterest of all mockeries. Thero was no show of truth or honor about it. Tho pre tended representative was always ready to vote for any measure that would oppress and enslavo bis so-called constituents ; his hos tility was unconcealed, and ho last no oppor tunity to do them inqury. U18 HLhCENT UPON LOUISIANA. The agricultural and commercial wealth of Louisiana made her a strong temptation to tho carpet-baggers. Those vultures snuffed the prey from afar ; and, as soon as tho war was over, they swooped down upon her in flocks that darkened the air. The State was delivered into their hands by the military authorities; but the officers imposed snmo re straints upon their lawless cupidity. They hniled with delight the advent of negro suf frage, because to them it was merely a le galized- method of stufllue the ballot-box, and they stuffed it. Thenceforth, nnd down to a very recent period, they gorged them selves , Ithout let or hindrance. The depredations they committed wero frightful. They appropriated, on one pre tence and another, whatever they could lay their hands on, and then pledged to them selves tho credit of tho State for uncounted millions more. Tho public securities ran down to half price, and still they put their fraudulent bonds on the market anil sold them for what they would fetch. The own ers of the best real estate in town or country were utterly impoverished, because the bur dens upon it were heavier than the rents would discharge. During tho last ten years the city of New Orleans paid in the form of Jirect taxes more than the estimated value of all the property within her limits, and still has n debt of equal amount unpaid, It is not likely that other parts of the State suffered less. The extent of their Fpoliations can hardly bo calculated, but the testimony of the carpet-baggers themselves against one another, tho reports of committees sent by Congress to investigate the subject-, and other information from sources entirely au thentic, make it safe to say that a general conflagration, sweeping over all the State from one end to tho other, and destroying every building and every articlo of personal property, would have been a visitation of mercy In comparison to the curso of such a Government. TUB INVENTIVF.NF.fi8 OF WOUNIHinLlbM, This may seem at first blush liko gro.s ex aggeration.because it is worse than anything that misrule ever did before. The greediest of Roman proconsuls left something to the provlnees they wasted ; the Norman did not strip the Saxon nulte to (ho skin ; the Puri tans under Cromwell did not utterly desolate Ireland. I heir rapacity was confined to tho visible things which they could presently handle and use. They could not take what did not exist. Hut the American carpet bagger has an invention unknown to those old-fashioned robbers, which Increases his stealing power .as much as the steam engine adds to the mechanical forco of mere natural muscles. Ho makes negotiable bonds of tho State, signs and seals them "according to tho fnrms of law," sells them, converts tho proceeds to his own use, nnd then defies justice "to go behind the returns." By this device his felonious fingers are made long enough to reach Into the pockets of posterity; ho lays his Hen on property yet uncreated ; he anticipates tho labor of coming ages and appropriates the fruits of It In advance; he coins tho Industry of future generations Into cash, and snatches the Inheritance from children whose fathers are unborn. Pro' jectlng his cheat forward by this contrivance and operating laterally nt tho same time, he gathers au amount of plunder which no country In the world would have yielded to the Goth or tho Vandal, BLOOMSBURGr, PA., THE BEION OF ANARCHY. Socurityof life can never bo counted on whero property Is not protected. When tho public authorities wink upon theft the peo plo aro driven by stress of sheer necessity to defend themselves tho best way they can,and that defence is apt to bo aggressively violent. Justice, Infuriated by popular passion, often comes to Its victims in n fearful shape. Dis orders, therefore, there must havo been, and bloodshed and violence, and loss of life, though they are not enumerated, or clearly described in tbo reports. It is known that bands of "regulators" traversed many parts of the State, and the fact Is established that seven of tho storehouses used as places of re ceiving stolon goods wero burnt to tho ground in one night. The officers of tho carpet bag government "cared for nono of theso things." They saw the struggle between larceny and Lynch law with as much Indlf ferenceas Galllo looked upon tho controversy between the Jewish synagogue and the Christian church at Epbesus. This horriblo condition of society wns caused solely by the want of an honest government. But this is not nearly tho worst of it, if carpet-taggers themselves and their special friends are worthy of nny credence nt nil, They testify to numerous other murders, wanton, unprovoked, and ntrocious, com mitted with impunity under the very eyes of their Government. Gen. Sheridan says ho collected a list of 4,000 assassinations per petrated within three years. Senator Slier man and his associates of the visiting com mittee swell this number greatly, and add that "half tho Stato was overrun with vio lence." No effort was mado to repress theso disorders or punish the criminals. Nobody wns hung, nobody arrested. The murderers ran at largo ; tho victims fell at the awful average of about four every day, ami tho public officers. quietly assented to let "tho rifle, the knife, the pistol, and tho ropn do their horrid work" without interruption. ,Vre such men fit to govern a free State ? 'Fit to govern 1 No, not to live." Tin: nr.NF.iis or Tiin uktornino iioahd. The wretched system of enrpet-bag gov ernment could not possibly last. From the first it had no.real support, The native peo ple and the lionet immigrants, who went there for purposes of legitimate business, held it in abhorrence, and the negroes wero not long in finding out that it was n sham and a snare. As early as 1S70, and before that, the handwritirg was seen on tho wall which announced that n large and decisive majority of all the' votes, black and white, had determined to break up this den of thieves. They niust therefore prepare for Might or punishment, unless they could con1 trive n wny of defeatiug the popular will whenever and however it should be expressed. Then tho Returning Board was invented. This was n machine entirely new, with powers never before given to any tribunnal in any State. Its object was not to return, but to suppress, tho votes of the qualified electors.or change them to suit the occasion. By'the terms of the law it can exclude, sup press, annihilate all the votes of n parish for violence, intimidation, or fraud, which it finds to havo been committed nnd adjudges to havo materially influenced tho result of tho poll. This is judicial authoiltyso broad that no count would consent to exercise it inflicting tho fearful penalty of disfranchise ment upon thousands nt once, without n hearing and without legal evidence, not for nny offence of their own, but for the suppos ed sin of others over whom they confessedly have no control. Of courso it is in direct conflict with the State Constitution, which declares that all judicial power shall he vest ed in certain ordained and established courts and forbids it to be used even by them, ex cept upon trial before a jury, and convic tion nn thn testimony of credible witnesses confronted by the accused and cross-examined by counsel. It is, besides, a most insol ent affront to tbo fundamental principles of all elective government, for it makes the poll of the people n mero mockery, which lecides nothing except what the Reluming Board is pleased to approve, and elects nobody whom tho Returning Board does not graciously favor. Its pow er to veto a popular vote extends to all elec tions, for every clas of officers, judicial, legislative, ministerial, and executive, in eluding electors of President and Vice-President. HOW IT DID ITS WOltK. Tho board consisted of five persons. They were originally appointed by a carpet-bag Senate, without end of their tenure and with power to fill vacancies, which made them n close corporation and gave them perpetual succession. To put on pome show of fairness, the law required that all parties should be represented. This was nt first thought to be met by the appointment of one Democrat, but when a deed of more than common base ness was to be done, tho Democrat was got rid of, nnd theotber four.desiring to work In secret, refused to fill his place. This suppressing board did its work thor oughly from the start. It was never known to falter. Since its first organization in 1S70 the majority of the whole people has been decidedly against the carpet-baggers nt every election. But tho board always intercepted the returns, and fo nltered them as to make a majority tho other way. Kellogg was a candidate for Governor ; he was largely de feated, but tho board certified him elected. The certificate was bo glaringly false that carpet-baggers themselves would not help to install him, and Democrats deter mined to assert their rights. It was then that Gen, Grant, to tho unspeakable shame of tho nation, lifted him into office on the bayonets of the army. Afterward the outrag ed peopleroso in revolutionary wrath, drove him to shelter in the Custom House, and in augurated the man tboyhad lawfully elect ed. Again the President made war on the State, and restored the usurper tn the place which did not belong to him. The Demo crats regularly elected a majority of the Leg islature; as regularly the Returning Board certified a majority of their seats to carpet baggers or scalawags or negroes not chosen; and when the true members met tn organize for business the army was punctually on hand to tumble them out of their hall. AVPI.IKII TO TIIK PRESIDENTIAL EI.r.fTION. Tho election camo off on tho proper day, supervised and controlled at ever' polling place by officers of tho carpet-bag interest. According to their own count, tho result was a majority of 7,039 for the Tilden electors, It has never yet licen denied that this majori ty was mado up of ballots cast by citizens le gully qualified, Tho voto was regularly taken and lironcrlv counted, and a true record if it made in ixryttuun rti manuriam. These 111 1 11111 1 1 1 '1 11 P lit f IIP MIL FRIDAY, JULY 13. fncts being undisputed, it follows that tho Tilden electors wero duly appointed, if tho people of tho Stato havo tho appointing pow er, which they certainly Iiavo,utilcss tho Con stitution and tho statuto book aro not to Ijo relied on. But tho opponents of Tilden and Hen dricks determined that the record of tho ap pointment mado by tho pcoplo should bo mu tilated and changed so as to make it appear ns if electors for Hayes and Wheeler had been chosen. They pretended to believe that violence and intimidation had frightened tho African Hayes men from tho polls, and that their cownrdieo ought to bo visited, in tho form of disfranchisement, on tho heads of others who had intrepidity enough to perform their political duty, Tho allegation was ut terly false. It was not only without evidence to sustain it, but in tho face of overwhelming proof to tho contrary. All tho places of reg istration and voting wero guarded by the creatures of the Federal and State administra tions, superintendent!!, commissioners, deputy marshals, and .soldiers-, and all of thes said that the elections wero pcaccablo and free. Indeed, it is literally impossible that any in timidation or violence could havo liecn prac tised. No sensible person ever gave credit to it for a moment. Notwithstanding much mental anxiety about the result, various rea sons combined to mako the election in Louis iana probably tho most quiet and undisturbed in tho Union. Till'. CHAP.ACTI'.R OF ITS MRMBRRS. The personnel of the board justified tho faith of the carpet-baggers and their allies. If tho evidence concerning its members be rightly reported by tho investigating com mittee, they were marked out by the history ol their previous lives, noted and signed to do any deed of shame which might bo re quired at their hands. Wells was a Custom Houso officer at New Orleans, and ono of tho worst of that bad lot ; a delaultcr to the State of long standing, without character for integrity or veracity, and for thirty years re garded as unworthy to be trusted. Ander son's character for honesty was equally bad; ho had earned it iu part by aiding while ho was a Senator to put up a fraudulent job upon tho State, and taking tho iniquitous proceeds to himself. Of tho two mulalties, one was indicted lor larceny, and, after ad milting his guilt, was allowed to escape pun ishment, nnd promptly taken into the board. The other was too ignorant to know his duty, but his testimony showed such indif ference to the obligations of an oath that he was deemed as safe for the carpet-baggers as either of his colleagues. They comprehended tho situation, saw the difficulty of the work beforo them, and resolved to make it pay iu something better than mere promises of "recognition," how ever "generous and ample." Wells, who was their spokesman in privato as in public, wrote in strict confidence to n carpet-bag Senator then at Washington a letter which being condensed into plain English, means this: "There's millions in it. See our friends and act promptly. Buy us imme diately or we will sell out to the other side. Talk freely to the gentleman who presents this ; he knows the moves," To tbo bearer of the letter he explained that it was very inrd work to count in tho Republican can didate the Democratic majority was too arge to handle he wanted to servo his par ty, but he would not tako this job without compensation ; he must havo "200,000 apiece for himself and Anderson, and a smaller sum for tho niggers." On this basis le authorized his ambassador at Washing ton to negotiate with the Republican man agers. At the same timo he was offering himself at New Orleans to' the Democrats, at first for half a million, hut afterward pro posed that he would leave in enough votes to elect Mr. Nicholls (Democratic candi date for Governor) if $200,000 cash were first placed in his hands. TIIKIII VIOLATIONS OP TIIF. STATUTi:. The action of tho returning officers in this whole business was unsupported by le gal authority. The Legislature of the State did not, because it could not, give them power to disfranchise qualified electors. They lacked, therefore, the general jurisdic tion which they assumed. But that is not all ; they proceeded in tho very teeth even of tlie void statuto which they professed to follow. That statute pretends to give them no such authority as they exercised, over any return to which a protest or statement or charge of intimidation is not attached when It is sent in by tho Supervisor of Reg istration or the Commissioner of Election, and the chargo so attached to tho return must be supported by the affidavits of three citizens of the proper parish. Wanting this, tho board was absolutely without the pretence of power to touch the return from any parish or polling place, ex cept for the purpose of compiling it and aM ding it as true to the others. By tho elec tion law of Louisiana the board has no more authority to examine or decide a question of intimidation which is not raised by the election officers than a privato individual would have to steal it from the records and burn it. So stands tho law. Tho fact is established by conclusive evidence that from every one of tlie Democratic parishes the turns came up without any charge.statcment or protest, In all those cases they were therefore without color of jurisdiction. I'OIKlINll AFFIDAVITS AND RETURNS. But the conspirators could not afford to be balked of their game by the failure of the local officers to make a false charge of ntlmldatlon. These votes must be exclu ded per fan aut nffas, and tho Returning Board must do it ; that was what the board was mado for. The returning officers went upon the principal aut iwtniam aut faciam. They made the protests which they could not find; affidavits which no creature In tho parishes was base enough to back -with his oath were fabricates) in the Custom House, and used by tho board witli a full knowl edge that they were mere counterfeits. Tho exclusion of returns on the ground of intiin Idation was in every case dishonest, for In none was there n particle of evidence to jus tify It. When nothing else would serve the purpose, they did not scruple a resort to plain forgery. Of the return from Vernon parish every figure on tho whole broad sheet was altered with elaborate pains under the special direction of Wells. Perjury and subornation of perjury entered largely into the business, There Is hardly any species of the crimen faki for which the law has a punishment that did not become an elemen tary part of the great fraud which was com roitted when the defeated electors and State officers of Ioulslana were falsely certified as chosea by the ieople. 1877. rnriDEST grant's complicity. Another question arises here, which the Muse of History may answer at her leisure i Is there any justification of Gen. Grant's conduct In this business? Within two or three days nftor the election it became per fectly well known to the whole country that in Louisiana there had been a full poll, and a largo majority for the Tilden electors. No reason was suggested by anybody for falsifying this result. The npprehension that it would be falsified in tho return arose solely out of the fact that the election ma chinery of tho State was In tho hands of mero knaves who were just base enough to do it ; nnd these were Gen. Grnnt's own knaves, whom for years he had kept In their placos by lawless force. It was then that ho said that no man could afford to bo Presi dent by a fraud, and sent a commltteo to seo that n truo count was made. This was fairseeming enough, but ho did not row tho way ho was looking. Every one of his com mittee favored the fraud, and their report, which he endorsed and sent to Congress, was a defence of it from beginning to end. IIo had supported and enforced frauds of the same kind several times before, nnd now Ids troops were nt New Orleans avowedly to protect the carpet-baggers while they were repeating them on a largo scale. Besides, when Chandler promised the fraudulent Governor of Florida to send troops and money to that State after tho election troops and money to count the votes ho de clared in one of bis despatches that the President had been consulted. Still furth er, whilo his party in Congress were holding up tho fraud, ho answered the arguments In favor of Tilden's right by ordering to tho capital all thq cavalry, artillery, nnd infan try within reach. Whether these circum stances bo sufficient 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? Tho House of Repre sentatives was Democratic, and without its consent, expressed or implied in some form or another, the Senate could not give effect to a falso count. Tho first intention was to claim that tho President of tho Senate had power to determine absolutely and arbitrari ly what electoral votes should be counted and what not. This was the great rallying point until Mr. Conkling took it up, and, in a speech of surpassing ability, utterly de molished and reduced it to invisible atoms. It became settled, therefore, that the two Houses must count the votes, and this clear ly implied tho power to inquire and deter mine what wero votes. It could not be de nied that tho voice of tho Houso ot Repre sentatives was at least as potential as that of tho Senators; and it was not supposed that the House would suffer a fraud so glar ing as this to be thrust down tho throat of tho country "against the stomach of its sense." But if tho two bodies would declare inconsistent results of the count, and pro claim tho election of different Presidents a state of things might come which would subject our institutions to a straiu severe enough to endanger them greatly. It ww in theso difficult circumstances that a mixed commission of fifteen was proposed, consist ing of five Senators, five Representatives, and five Judges of the Supremo Court, The mode of appointing them made it cer tain that fourteen would be equally divided between the parties; and as tho fifth Judgo would bo named by the consent of his breth ren on both sides, he might be expected to stand between them, like a daysman, with hand as heavy on ono head as the other, he Democrats consented to this in the be lief that no seven Republicans could bo taken from the court o- from Congress who would swear to decide the truth and then uphold a known fraud; if mistaken in that opinion of their adversaries' honesty, they felt sure, at all events, that the umpire would be a fairminded man. They wero bitterly disappointed ; 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 necessary to make the sum total big enough eight to seven all the time. IT r.EFUSES TO DO ITS DUTY. We must look at the stato of the case as it went before the commission. Tilden and Hendricks had IRt 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 Honda four, ap pointed by the people, but falsely certified to Hayes and Wheeler by tho Governor. In Oregon they had one certified by the Governor, but against whom a popular ma' jority had been cat for an Ineligible candl- late. To elect Hayes it was necessary that each and every ono of these thirteen votes should be taken from Tilden and given to Hayes. As this required many distinct rulings based upon contradictory grounds, the path of the commission was not only steep but crooked. The great and important duty cast upon tho commission by a special law and by a special oath of each member was to decide In the case of csnlested votes from a State, "whether any and what votes from such Stato ate the votes provided fr by tho Con stitution of the United States, and bow 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 Louisiana and Florida is in the people. It was then'and still is an admit ted fact that the people had exercised tho power of appointment in the prescribed and proper way ; they .did duly mako an ap polntment of electors, and their act was du ly recorded, and so made a perpetual mem ory. This thing was not "done in a corner;" it was "seen and known of all men." That each of tho two States named had duly ap pointed Tilden electors at a regular election called for that purposoon the 7th of Novem ber, in pursuance of law, was a part of thel history as much as the fact that they were States of the Union. All the members of tho commission knew it as well as they knew tho geographical position of Talla hassee or New Orleans. It needed no proof; but if specific evidence had been required thero was the record from which the truth glared upon them as clear ai tho sun. They shut their eyes upon the record, and refused to see "how many and what persons were duly appointed electors " by the people, bu listened eagerly to the evidence aliunde though it was) which showed "how many and what persons" had been designated by the returning officers. It was ultimately held (eight to seven) that the appointees of the Returning Board wero duly appointed,and the appointees of the jeoplo wero unduly THE COLUMBIAN, VOL. XI, NO. 27 COLUMBIA DEMOCRAT, VOL. XLlt, NO, 10 appointed. Did the eight suppose that the legal power to mako such an appointment was vested by law In the Returning Boards? Did they think it was not vested In the peo ple ? No, that is Impossible. But they may have conscientiously believed that tho Inter est of their faction would be well served by Hayes' election. They may have been prompted by a virtuous admiration of carpet-bag government, nnd wero sincerely anxious to save it from Tilden's reform. ITS rETTIFOfmiNO. But tills decision in favor of fraud which so shocked the common sense and common honesty of tho nation was not made without somo attempt to justify It. Tho eight gave reasons so many and so plausible that Kel logg and Wells must have chuclked with de light when they heard them. One argu ment very seriously urged wns that it would bo troublesome, nnd require a great deal of time, to ascertain who was duly appointed by the people. It was much easier to ac cept tho false voto and say no more about It. To decide bow many and what persons got certificates from the Returning Board was a short and simple process ; but to push tho inquiry behind that to inqulro wheth er tho certificate was honest, to look for the evidence which would show who were duly appointed Aio Mor hocoputcit. Tho seven reminded the eight, but reminded them in vain, that the duo appointment which no body in tho world, except tho people, had the least right to make, was tho very thing which they wero thero to find out; and they could not be excused from a duty to which they were pledged and sworn, by the mere Inconvenience of performing it. Be sides, the eight knew very well that there was no difficulty in it ; it was but looking at the record of the appointment as the peo ple made it up ; they could read it as they ran; tho truth was. plainer than tho lie; the honesty of tho caso was as easily seen as the fraud. Rut no persuasion could in fluence them to cast even a glance at the actual appointment. What did they think this commission was made for? Why was this great combination of learning and state craft set up? According to the eight its solo purpose was, not to determine any matter in dispute between the parties, but merely to declare that the Returning Board had cer tiffed for the Hayes electors; which every body knew already ,and nobody ever denied. If its object was what the law said to decide who were duly appointed then the eight succeeded in making it merely a splendid nbortion, because, among other reasons, It was too much trouble to make it anything else. HEDOISO TOU OREGON. But the commission following the lead of counsel for Mr. Hayes, insisted that the certificate of tho proper Stato officer ought to be regarded as conclusive evidence of the appointment made by the people. It is un doubtedly true that tho Sttao has a right to speak on this subject through her own or' gans, and when she does so speak, her voice should be regarded as true. But what of- fficer is her proper organ ? The Governorbe- ing her political chief, and his certificate being required by act of Congress, it would not have been unreasonable to hold that it was conclusive unless tainted with fraud. Tho Hayes electors had the Executive certificate in Louisiana and Florida, and this, in re gard to those States, gave the eight a great legal advantage. Hut they threw it away. abandoned the attestation of the Governor as worthless, claimed no faith or credit for it, and pronounced it open to contradiction, no matter how honestly it may have been given. What was the meaning of this phe nomenal ruling which apparently opened the door of investigation even wider than the Democrats asked ? It was understood by everybody. The commission was hedg ing for Oregon. Tho eight were reaohing across the Pacific for the one vote there, which was just as important as the twelve on tho Gulf of Alexico. But having gone behind the Governor's certificate for the sake of correcting errors, could there be any possible justification for stopping before the truth was reached? If tho head of the Commonwealth, whose at testation is required by Federal law, wen for nothing whenever it was contradicted how could the conclusiveness be asserted o a paper made by subordinate officers un known outside of the State, and powerless even by the local law to make a certificate of more than prima facie validity ? Yet the Electoral Coramissioo (eight to seven) dec! ded that the Governor's certificate might be set aside for a mere mistake of law or fact, while that of the Returning Hoard would stand, though known to be founded on false' hood and saturated all through with corrup tion. EVIDENCE ALIUNDE. The unvarying preference of tho eight Commissioners for the false over the true be comes, very striking at this point. When they got behind the Governor's papers, they found lying aliunde two other sets of docu ments, one of which was a record of th actual appointment made by the people the other was a mere fabrication of the Re turning Board without any semblance of truth ; they embraced the latter with all th ardor of sincere affection, and rejected the former with all possible marks of their dhv like. To give the decrees of the Returning Hoards the conclusive effect claimed for thein it was necessary to hold that they were e- gaily invested with judicial powers, and that their jurisdiction, whether rightfully or er roneously exercised, was absolute over th whole subject matter. In Florida tho statute which creates the board gave it nothing ex cept ministerial powers, and the Supreme Court of that State solemnly pronounced its claim of judicial authority to be altogether unfounded. But' the ElectoraljOoinmission wouia not tie innucnceil by either tnewrit ten or the unwritten law. The commission conceded to the Louisiana board all the j diclal power it needed to sanctify its disfran chisement of the people in tho faeo of the Constitution, which expressly forbade It This general jurisdiction was not alltboy be stowed on those boards; they declared in substance that it might be well exetfcised in particular cases where It was not Invoked according to the law which gavethem being, as, for Instance, where a Louisiana parish sent up its return without a protest statement or affidavit. THEINFAMOl'S EIUHT, Tho eight Commissioners did not stop thero. They went much further. They practically justified and sustained all the Infi nite rascality of the Returning Boards. They not only refused to take voluntary notice of the atrocious frauds perpetrated by them, gates of (IwHsttm. srAci. onolncli. . . Twolnchee. . . Tbrce Inches Four Inches . usrter column. lt column, one column. IN, IV. 8N. V. 2.1 0 IJ.WI H.'tl '" j.eo 4.11 s.ti 8.00 , 4.t .to .m tsn B.00 7.09 8.M H.0I . . .( 8.00 10.011 15,t0 ..IU.011 u.oti l.i si.oti ,.J,00 J5.00 30.00 60.00 It. IS.frfl 11.00 1S.W smto a.m woo loo.to Yearly advertisements payable quarterly. Tran sient advert Isementa must be paid forlieforc Inserteq except where parties hav e accounts. lgal advertisements two dollars pertnchforthreei Insertions, ami at that rate for additional Insertions without reference to length. Executor's, Administrator's and Auditor's notice three dollars. Must be paid for when inserted. Translentor Local notices, twenty cents sllne. regular advertisements half rates. Cards tn the "Business Directory" column, oie dollar per year for each lino. but they excluded the proofs of their cor ruptlon which the Democratic counsel betd n their hands and offered to exhibit. These Commissioners choked off the evidence, and smothered it as remorselessly as Wells and Is associates suppressed Democratic returns. nd this they put on the express ground that to them it was all one whether the action of these boards was fraudulent or not. They would suffer no proof of corruption to inval idate the right claimed by a Hayes man to put in the vote of a State for his candidate. This monstrous and unendurable outrage was resisted to the utmost. AU of the sev- mplored and protested against it. Judge Clifford, the President of the commission, laid It down as a maxim of the common law that fraud vitiates whatever it touches, anil proved It undeniably. He might havo proved more. It Is not merely n maxim oi me com mon law ; it belongs to all countries and alt ages ; no couo can claim It exclusively ; 11 pervades all systems of jurisprudence; it has its home in every honest heirt ; it is the universal sentiment of all just men; it ap plies to all human dealings. Judge Field looked In the face of tbo majority, and told them plainly that their disregard of this greatpr!nciplo was as "shocking in morals as was unsound in law, and added : "It is elementary knowledge that fraud vitiates all proceedings, even the most solemn ; that no form of words, no amount of ceremony, no solemnity of proceeding, can shield it from exposure, or protect its structure from as sault and destruction." But tho eight wer as deaf as adders to the voice of reason and justice. They would not permit the fraud to be assaulted, much less to be destroyed. They stood over it to shield it, protect it, and save it, interposing the broad .Tgis of their authority to cover it against every at tack. The eight persistently denied their power - that of Congress, to do what they were commanded by the law to do that is, decide ho wero duly appointed, They wuld only decide that certain persons were named as electors by a Returning Board. They would not understand that the appointment by the people might be ono thing, nnd tho nctioa of the Returning Board another, or that the latter, even as evidence of the former was worthless if it was fraudulent. THIMBLE-RlnnlNO FLORIDA OUT. They insisted that the Returning Board certificate must bo received with all the hon ors ; to question its verity would be usurpa tion upon State rights, which they (tho eight) were most careful to preserve intact and un- mpaired. "But"' said they, "if a Returning Board behaves unfaithfully, the JState her self, by her own authorities, must see to it and correct the wrong." Thereupon camo Florida, and showed that she had made the correction. All the departments of her Gov ernment her Legislature, her courts and her Executive had at different times examined and revised the action of her Returning Board ; pronounced it false, fraudulent and oid; declared that tho Tilden electors wero duly appointed, and left the Hay es can didates without a shred of authority to vote for the State. There stood the State herself upright before the august commission, with all tho evidence In her hand, protesting gainst the fraud and demanding that no voto should be received except the voto of her own electors duly appointed by her peo ple. But tho commission answered that un der the circumstances of this case Bhe had no ight to defend herself against the fraud of a Returning Board any more than sho had ti bo defended by tho Federal authorities. Whatever she might do or decide, or resolve upon, the great 'fraud was her master, and he must submit. So it appeared, after all tho speeches about State rights, that Flori da had but one right the right to be cheat ed out of her vote by the Bame knaves who had already robbed ber of her property. The right was sacred and intangible, and the com mission promptly put her in lull possession of it. A JUDICIAL DFCI8ION DISREGARDED. In the case of Florida there was one piece of evidence offered which not only commen ded itself strongly to the consideration of just men, but, being supported by certain artificial rules of pleading and practice, it was expected to find acceptance in the nar rowest mind on the bench. This was the record of a judicial proceeding commenced in a Florida court by writ of quo warranto at the suit of the State upon tho relation of the Tilden electors against the Hayes elec tors. The parlies came into court and plead ed, and the issue made between them was, whether ono set or the other (the relators or tho defendants) were duly appointed electors of President and Vice President by and for the State of Florida, Evidence was taken,the cause was debated by counsel on both sides, ana alter consideration it was adjudged by the court, against the defendants and in fa vor of the Slate, that tho relators wero duly appointed and the defendants not. This fact, thus determined by the court, was pre cisely the samo fact afterward controverted by the same parties before the commission. When submitted to tho latter tribunal.it was rujiulhahi ; not only true, but fixed and settled beyond the reach of contradiction. Tho judgment was not Impeached for fraud or reversed fur error. It w,is In full force and virtue. It was not denied that the court which made the adjudication had entire and complete jurisdiction both of the subject matter and of the parties. By all reason and all authority the commission was baund to respect this judgment as conclusive evi dence. But to havo dono this would have made Tilden President and defeated tho'pur pose of all the frauds in Louisiana and Flor ida both. They did not do it; they allowed the judgment to have no effect at all. They but looked to seo what it was, and immedi ately swept it nut of sight. They put it far from them, and then proceeded to pronounce a different judgment, which suited tho Hayes men better. How could they break all the bars of legal authority which fenced them about ? What starting hole did they find to escape from the corner into which they were driven and penned up by tho law of the land ? We shall sec. STATE ACTION NULLIFIED. They said the judgment of the Court was too late ; it was pronounced after the Hayes electors bad met md made cut their votes, and sent them to the President of tht "Senate. Here were two sets of elcctere, each claiming the exclusive right to vote for the State, and both ot them actually sent up their bal lots. One of them was duly appointed, and had the authority claimed ; the other set was necessarily composed of mere pretenders, who were not duly appointed, and, having no authority, their vot? was a mere nullity. 4Xaeludedon 4th page.
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