{"1": {"fulltext": "T^K\\nCONTESTED ELECTION CASE\u00e2\u0080\u0094PATTERSON vs. CARMACK.\\nSPEECH\\nHON. WILLIAM Sf KIRKPATRICK,\\nr\\n\u00e2\u0096\u00a0A\\nHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,\\nThursday, April 21 1898\\n1898\\n.S,", "height": "4755", "width": "2810", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "X\\n5\\nr", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "i\\nSPEECH\\nOF\\nHON. WILLIAM S. KIRKPATRICK.\\nTlie House haviug under consideration the following resolutions;\\n\u00e2\u0080\u009c1. Resolved, That E. W. Carmack was not elected a member of the Fifty-\\nfifth Congress from the Tenth Congressional district of the State of Tennes\u00c2\u00ac\\nsee, and is not entitled to the seat now held by him.\\n\u00e2\u0080\u009c3. Resolved, That Josiah Patterson was elected a member of the Fifty-\\nfifth Congress from the Tenth Congressional district of the State of Tennes\u00c2\u00ac\\nsee, and should be awarded the seat now held by contestee\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK said:\\nMr. Speaker; The case that we are about to discuss is one which\\nseems to have attracted considerable attention throughout the\\ncountry as well as aroused a great deal of interest on the floor of\\nthis House. It presents many of the ordinary features of an elec\u00c2\u00ac\\ntion contest. It has also some exceptional and extraordinary char\u00c2\u00ac\\nacteristics. Your committee, so far as I have been able to observe\\nthe temper and disposition of its members, approached the consid\u00c2\u00ac\\neration of this case without the slightest prejudice or partiality as\\nbetween the contesting parties. Although the case has not yet\\nbeen heard, and the reports from the majority and minority of\\nthe committee have been read by perhaps but few, we have already\\nhad a desperate struggle at the very threshold of its discussion.\\nPerhaps a resume of the facts and circumstances leading up to\\nthis contest may throw some light upon the apparent feeling\\n-which permeates the House on this question and has lined us up\\nalready in the matter of its consideration.\\nI need not say on behalf of the committee that this case was\\ncarefully and fully considered by every member, and a full dis\u00c2\u00ac\\ncussion of the case upon its essential and controlling features and\\nissues was had before the entire committee. I am sure that the\\nmembers of this committee representing the majority have been\\nactuated by a purely judicial temper in the discussion and deci\u00c2\u00ac\\nsion of the issues presented in the present case. I am free to say\\nthat so far as I am concerned I have not had the slightest interest,\\npersonal or political, in the fortunes of either of these contesting\\nparties. My sole desire has been to determine this case upon its\\nmerits, without regard to their political opinions or alflliations.\\nThat is a matter of very little consequence.\\nIndeed, so far as the gentleman who appears here as the sitting\\nmember is concerned, he has abundantly delivered himself both\\n-s^\u00e2\u0080\u0099ays upon the great dividing question of the day, and at one time\\nor another has expressed every variety of views, so that, judging\\nby his utterances, it is hard to say just wdiat he really does believe.\\nThis case originated practically in 1894. With the intrusion of\\nthe money question into the ranks and organization of the Demo\u00c2\u00ac\\ncratic party there arose a fierce controversy and division in that\\nparty; and the trouble apparently -was as to whether the party\\n33G6 3", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "4\\nshould remain moored to its old Jeffersonian and Bentonian prin- j\\nciples or whether it should drift away under the fantastic leader\u00c2\u00ac\\nship of the Populistic candidate to whom it intrusted its political\\nfortunes in the last contest, and who swiftly led it to signal and J\\noverwhelming defeat.\\nThis Congressional district is composed of four counties\u00e2\u0080\u0094Shelby,\\nFayette, Tipton, and Hardeman. In 1894 there was a contest in\\nthe district between two candidates representing the two phases\\nof Democratic opinion upon the money question, the candidates\\nbeing Mr. Young and Mr. Patterson; and after a struggle at the\\nprimaries, which was the method then in vogue by which a nomi\u00c2\u00ac\\nnation was determined in this district, Mr. Patterson was declared\\nthe regular nominee. At the same time there was a contest for\\nthe membership of the executive committee of the district. There\\nwere three Sound-Money Democrats selected and two Free-Silver\\nDemocrats as members of this committee, A contest was raised\\nas to a member from one of the counties. It was settled by the\\nreturning board before whom the votes at the primaries were can\u00c2\u00ac\\nvassed in favor of the sound-money committeeman, and the result\\nwas that the control of the executive committee and of the Demo-\\ncratic organization remained in the hands of the Sound-Money 3\\nDemocracy of the Tenth Congressional district.\\nThat was in 1894. In 1896 the heat of this contest had become\\nintensified. Immediately after the famous stampede at Chicago\\nthis intensity of feeling became still more strong and overwhelm\u00c2\u00ac\\ning, and a renewed effort was made for the control of this organ\u00c2\u00ac\\nization. The result was that after it had been decided by the\\nchairman of the committee that the action of the board in 1894\\nhad settled this contest the two Free-Silver Democrats on the\\ncommittee withdrew. These two seceding members recognized\\nthe claims of Dr. Albright, the contestant for the disputed iDlace\\non the committee, whose right to admission to such membership\\nhad been settled and decided against two years before. And then\\nthis self-created committee, thus evolved out of this contest, se\u00c2\u00ac\\nlected t-wo other Silver Democrats and constituted themselves a\\nrival organization, claiming to represent and be in control of the\\nDemocratic party of the Tenth Congressional district.\\nNext followed the question as to the nominee. The regular\\ncommittee, in accordance with the traditions and usages of the\\nparty in the district, announced a primary, which was the proper\\ntribunal to determine the claims of the two candidates now con\u00c2\u00ac\\ntesting in this case to regularity of nomination. To this primary\\nthey should have submitted their case. The self-constituted com\u00c2\u00ac\\nmittee, to which I have referred, ignoring the primary, called a\\nconvention, which was a radical departure from the long-estab\u00c2\u00ac\\nlished custom and practice of the district. By the primaries\\ncalled by the regular organization Mr. Patterson Tvas declared\\nthe nominee by about 5,000 votes.\\nThe pseudo committee whose genesis I have described, repre\u00c2\u00ac\\nsenting the free-silver branch of the Democratic party\u00e2\u0080\u0094that\\nbranch of the party that had gone off after false gods\u00e2\u0080\u009d and be\u00c2\u00ac\\ntrayed the ancient faith of the party\u00e2\u0080\u0094called a convention, and by\\nthis convention Mr. Carmack was nominated. His nomination\\nwas thus accomplished by revolutionary methods. The regular\\nnominee of the Democratic party was Josiah Patterson; and the\\nbolting nominee, according to the account I have given of the\\nnominations, was Mr. Carmack; and in this way in 1896 two can-\\n3306", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "5\\ndidates, each claiming to be the regular candidate of the Demo\u00c2\u00ac\\ncratic party, presented themselves for the suffrages of the people\\nof the Tenth Congressional district of the Stale of Tennessee.\\nOf course the question of regularity has no interest for us beyond\\nthe light it throws upon the present contest. With this family\\nquarrel in the Democratic party of the district we have no further\\nconcern.\\nThis history, Mr. Speaker, is only significant in view of the\\nsequel. Mr. Patterson had the preslige of regularity of nomina\u00c2\u00ac\\ntion. He represented that element of the Democratic party which,\\nin many parts of the district, was very strong. Mr. Carmack,\\nwho, but a few years before, had been a pronounced sound-money\\nman, and with all the wealth of the vocabulary with which he is\\ngifted had denounced the heresy which was infusing itself into\\nthe Democratic party\u00e2\u0080\u0094Mr. Carmack was now practically a bolter,\\nand represented that element which sought to drag the party\\naway from the traditions handed down to them from generations\\ngone by, and which was in direct and extreme antagonism to the\\ncardinal financial principle of the Republican party.\\nNow, such was the situation at the time of this election. With\\nMr. Patterson representing the sound-money element of the Dem\u00c2\u00ac\\nocratic party; with Mr. Patterson as the regular nominee of that\\nparty; with Mr. Patterson consistently and throughout all his\\npolitical life a bold and earnest defender of the great principle\\nwhich we contend lies at the very foundation of the true financial\\npolicy of this great Government, his candidacy appealed most\\nstrongly to the Republican voters of the district.\\nThere is no wonder that in the final outcome, although there was\\nsome coquetting on the part of Mr. Carmack and his supporters\\nwith the Republican organization, some seductive wooing of its\\nleaders, it transpired that the Republicans of the Tenth Congres\u00c2\u00ac\\nsional district, having so often in the past engaged in hopeless con\u00c2\u00ac\\ntests, with their bitter experience of being regularly counted out,\\nas the record discloses in this case, from 1874 down, felt that there\\nwas no hope of success in nominating their own candidate, but\\nthat in a coalition with a representative of the principles that\\nwere then regarded as vital in the great contest on which the\\ncountry was about to enter they would be consistent with them\u00c2\u00ac\\nselves and with the purposes and doctrines of their party through\u00c2\u00ac\\nout the country in casting their votes for Mr. Patterson and that\\ntheir duty was to join hands with that nominee of the Democratic\\nparty who best represented the same sound-money principle\u00e2\u0080\u0094that\\ngreat and dominating issue of the hour.\\nMr. BURKE. Will the gentleman allow a question?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. Certainly.\\nMr. BURKE. The gentleman has been referring to the con\u00c2\u00ac\\ntestant as one of the sheet anchors of the gold-standard policy.\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. Well, I did not use that language.\\nMr. BURKE. Very well. I wish to ask the gentleman if the\\ntruth does not disclose the fact that the contestant cast his vote\\nin the last election for William J. Bryan? [Laughter.]\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I care nothing whatever about that.\\nWhatever consideration of party fealty may have influenced him\\nif he did so, his attitude upon the money question was open, bold,\\nand uncompromising, and he incurred the denunciations and po\u00c2\u00ac\\nlitical enmity of Bryan himself. I am not defending Mr. Patterson\\nfor his political action in the past. He can do that better for him-\\n3366", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "6\\nself. He has been too long in public life and too consistent in his\\nadvocacy of the great principle to which I have called attention\\nnot to make me feel entirely safe to leave the defense of his politi\u00c2\u00ac\\ncal course to himself, even if that were the matter directly involved\\nin this issue.\\nMr. BURKE. I did not ask the gentleman to defend him, but\\nsimply to state the facts.\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. It is not necessary to defend him. He\\nhas been, in season and out of season, pronounced on this great\\nquestion, and many of you gentlemen here are lined up against\\nhim without having read the case or caring to know anything\\nabout it, only because you recognize and fear him as a determined\\nenemy of that great folly of 16 to 1 \u00e2\u0080\u0099\u00e2\u0080\u0099\u00e2\u0080\u0094that vague and meaning\u00c2\u00ac\\nless formula which has so strangely captured your imaginations\\nand enticed you away from the old Democratic faith.\\nMr. WHEELER of Kentucky. Does the gentleman mean to\\nsay that the contestant has been a consistent advocate of the gold\\nstandard?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I do.\\nMr. WHEELER of Kentucky. Does the gentleman not know\\nthe fact that in 1896 the contestant voted for the free and unlim\u00c2\u00ac\\nited coinage of silver at a ratio of 16 to 1? [Laughter and ap\u00c2\u00ac\\nplause. 1\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I know-\\nMr. RICHARDSON. Does the gentleman know that he can\u00c2\u00ac\\nvassed Tennessee a short time ago as the Democratic candidate\\nfor governor on a free-silver platform?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I will not yield any further. I shall be\\nglad to answer any questions propounded in the proper spirit. A\\ncontroversy such as these gentlemen seek can serve no useful\\npurpose, and I do not desire to be drawn off now from the consid\u00c2\u00ac\\neration of the main question at issue. It is enough that Mr. Pat\u00c2\u00ac\\nterson was recognized by the Republicans as an advocate of sound\\nmoney, and for that reason, having no hope of electing a candi\u00c2\u00ac\\ndate of their own, they indorsed his candidacy and cordially gave\\nhim their votes as being in harmony with them on the ruling\\nquestion of the hour.\\nMr. WHEELER of Kentucky. Then what are you talking\\nabout it for? [Laughter.]\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I am talking about it because I want to\\nshow why the Republicans of that district rallied around him\\nalmost to a man in the hope of a fair count and in the hope of\\nelecting to Congress a man who would represent Republican\\nprinciples.\\nI want to demonstrate that although for obvious reasons he\\nmust have received, and did receive, the full Republican vote in\\nthe contested jirecincts, it was counted by a most unscrupulous\\nand audacious manipulation of the returns for the contestee.\\nNow, I decline to yield to further interruption.\\nMr. WHEELER of Kentucky. I insist that the gentleman con\u00c2\u00ac\\nfine himself to the case.\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I must decline to yield any further, be\u00c2\u00ac\\ncause it simply results in getting off upon irrelevant points. I\\nam discussing the reasons why Mr. Patterson was elected to Con\u00c2\u00ac\\ngress in the Tenth Congressional district of Tennessee.* It was\\nbecause he had the enthusiastic and cordial support of the Repub\u00c2\u00ac\\nlicans of the Tenth district, and he had it because he was a bold,\\n3366", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "7\\nbrave, and able defender of sound money and a sound financial\\npolicy.\\nMr. HENRY of Mississippi. Was lie a Republican?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I do not care to answer any further\\nquestions in that direction, because my time is limited and I de\u00c2\u00ac\\nsire to address myself to the merits of this case. I propose to\\nshow you that Mr. Patterson was elected, and what I have said\\nto you is an element in the chain of proof to establish the fact\\nthat he was fairly elected, but was counted out by a most diabol\u00c2\u00ac\\nical device. In the course of this campaign the Presidential can\u00c2\u00ac\\ndidate of the Democratic party himself appeared on the scene.\\nThe demoralized hosts of the Free-Silver Democracy in that old\\nTenth Congressional district were rallied, and notwithstanding\\nthe fact tliat Mr. Patterson was the regular nominee of the party,\\nthe necessity of keeping him out of Congress was earnestly urged,\\nand the plan was concocted in the course of the campaign by\\nthose who had control of the election machinery, particularly in\\nthe heavy colored county of that district, by which be was to be\\ncounted out.\\nNow, the record is full of testimony from witnesses on both\\nsides. Democrats and Republicans alike, that the course of those\\nwho manipulated and controlled the electoral machinery in the\\ncounty of Fayette from time to time., in national. State, and local\\nelections, had made that county a byword and notorious through\u00c2\u00ac\\nout the whole State of Tennessee, and perhaps throughout Rie\\nentire Union, as a county that was given over to a bold, barefaced\\ndetermination, year in and year out, to carry that county always\\nfor the Democratic party.\\nMr. VINCENT. Was Mr. Patterson elected in that way when\\nhe came to Congress?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I do not care to be interrupted except\\nfor a proper question. I am perfectly willing to submit to a\\nproper interruption. Now, the population of Fayette County un\u00c2\u00ac\\nder the last census was 8,386 whites and 20,492 blacks. The other\\ncounties, Tipton and Hardeman, w^ere white counties, the major\u00c2\u00ac\\nity of the people being white. The county of Shelby, of which\\nthe principal portion of the population resided in the city of\\nMemphis, were pretty nearly equally divided. So the place where\\nthe best opportunity was presented for the construction and plac\u00c2\u00ac\\ning in operation of this machinery was Fayette County, where\\nthe colored population was so heavy that the w\u00e2\u0080\u0099hites numbered\\nbut about one-third or a little more of the entire population.\\nMr. CARMACK. What do I understand the gentleman to say\\nwas the proportion of white and colored population in Fayette\\nCounty?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. Eight thousand three hundred and\\neighty-six whites and 20,492 colored.\\nMr. CARMACK. What page of the record does the gentleman\\nfind that statement upon?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I can not now stop to refer to the page\\nof the record. You can find it very easily. It is in the record, and\\nI got it from the record. Those are the figures according to the\\nlast census.\\nYou will find that after these nominations were made attempts\\nwere made by the representatives of Mr. Carmack to obtain Re\u00c2\u00ac\\npublican indorsement, and in the record it appears that as an in\u00c2\u00ac\\nducement and basis for the proposed treaty it was suggested that\\n336G", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "8\\nthere should be a fair count allowed in Fayette County, and that\\nthe Republicans would get a fair count for the Republican candi\u00c2\u00ac\\ndates on the ticket if Mr. Carmack was accepted.\\nThere was the frank and unblushing virtual admission that the\\nRepublicans had been systematically counted out and would be\\nagain unless the proposed arrangement for an indorsement was\\nagreed to.\\nThere was an attempt thus to arrange with the chairman of the\\nRepublican executive committee of Fayette County, Mr. Latta-\\nMr. CARMACK. Mr. Speaker-\\nThe SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from Penn\u00c2\u00ac\\nsylvania yield?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. Does the gentleman wish to ask me a\\nquestion?\\nMr. CARMACK. That is all. I wish to ask you to what page\\nof the record do you refer to sustain that statement?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I will answer your question now, and I\\nwill beg you not to interrupt me again to ask the page of the\\nrecord, because it simply consumes time, and I am not going to\\nmake any statements here that are not sustained by the record. _\\nMr. CARMACK. I will not interrupt the gentleman at all, if\\nhe objects to it.\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I do not object to this question. On\\npage 12 you will find a description and account of the attempted\\ntreaty between the chairman of the Republican committee, Mr.\\nLatta, and the friends of Mr. Carmack.\\nMr. CARMACK. On page 12 of the record?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. Yes.\\nMr. CARMACK. I suppose the gentleman refers to the sup\u00c2\u00ac\\nplemental record.\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. That is right. I do not care to yield\\nany further, because it simply consumes time to no purpose, and\\nyou have ample time on your side to answer anything I may say.\\nNow, I have called your attention to the condition of things\\nthat existed after these nominations were made, and the Repub\u00c2\u00ac\\nlican convention had indorsed Mr. Patterson for very good and\\nsufficient reasons, having set their face against the seductions of\\nthe Carmack people, who made no secret of their anxiety to se\u00c2\u00ac\\ncure the colored vote and who were eager and ready to bargain\\nfor it.\\nThe testimony is that Mr. Patterson was favored by 90 per cent\\nof the Republicans of the district. This fact was elicited in an\\nexamination of Mr. Dutro, a witness called by the friends of Mr.\\nCarmack, in this record. There is no question at all but that the\\ncolored voters on national questions vote almost to a man for the\\nRepublican party and its nominees. The attempt has been made\\nin this record, as well as in the minority report and in the argu\u00c2\u00ac\\nment of counsel, to discriminate between the voter voting for Mr.\\nPatterson and the colored voter voting the Presidential or na\u00c2\u00ac\\ntional ticket. By a reference to tables which are collated in the\\nrecord and in the briefs of counsel you will find that in aU the 10\\ncontested voting precincts in Fayette County the vote for McKin\u00c2\u00ac\\nley and Patterson was almost the same, the vote for the McKinley\\nelectors being 1,316 and for Josiah Patterson being 1,386.\\nAnother circumstance which throws light upon the present\\ncontroversy is the fact that there was a very warm support of Mr.\\nPattevson by some of the leading Republicans who voted for the", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "9\\nMcKinley electors, and who had been originally opposed to his\\nindorsement and had been in favor of nominating a straight-out\\nRepublican candidate for Congress. You know just as well as I,\\nfrom more or less experience in politics, that the regular nomi\u00c2\u00ac\\nnees, because of the influence of the organization of the party an\u00e2\u0082\u00ac\\nthe sympathy produced by the advocacy of the same principles by\\nthe candidate and by those who make up the following of the\\nparty, gradually overcome such opposition as may exist at first,\\nand by the time the election comes around there are but few who\\nremain disposed to wander away from the organization and an\u00c2\u00ac\\ntagonize the nomination. It appears that there w^as an extraor\u00c2\u00ac\\ndinary effort to be made in this district to insure the election of\\nthe contestee.\\nIt was deemed to be of the utmost importance to defeat Patter\u00c2\u00ac\\nson. The friends of Carmack were rallied by the Presidential\\ncandidate himself. He appeared at a public meeting in Memphis\\nduring the canvass and openly denounced all who did not stand\\nby the silver nominee for Congress in the district. What was the\\nresult? With the machinery of Fayette County in their hands,\\nwith the sheriff of that county in control of the appointments on\\nthe election boards, the only county in the district in which the\\nelection officers had not been appointed prior to election and ad\u00c2\u00ac\\nvertisement thereof made, they confidently devised and executed\\ntheir nefarious plan. In Tipton, Hardeman, and Shelby counties\\nappointments had been made by the county court, as required by\\nthe law of Tennessee, and the names of the officials who had been\\ndesignated to constitute the election boards were published in the\\nvarious newspapers of the count 3\\nBut in Fayette County the court failed to act. The sheriff,\\nJ. E. Boswell, was a Carmack supporter. Before election day he\\nhad been applied to by the friends of Patterson to give them repre\u00c2\u00ac\\nsentation upon these various election boards. He promised to\\ncomply with this request. He promised to recognize the law of\\nhis State, binding upon him and upon his conscience under his\\noath of office; and yet election day came and no appointments had\\nbeen made. But as the testimony abundantly shows, they were\\nmade up the night before or on the morning of the election and\\nsprung upon the people in these various districts without consult\u00c2\u00ac\\ning their wishes and even against their earnest protests. They\\nwere made up in all the contested election precincts, as well as in\\nsome not contested, of the friends of Mr. Carmack.\\nIn some cases all of them were free-silver Democrats, and in\\nothers, an ignorant, half-idiotic negro, who could not read or\\nwrite, was foisted upon the voters of those districts as the so-called\\nrepresentative of the Republican or Patterson party, put there for\\nthe pretended purpose of securing a fair count and free ballot.\\nWhy, that fact and the additional and si^ificant circumstance\\nthat though the battle in this case was mainly waged around the\\naction of the sheriff, although he was used as the facile instru\u00c2\u00ac\\nmentality through which this wrong was originated and perpe\u00c2\u00ac\\ntrated, he does not appear as a witness in his own defense; he\\ndoes not appear anywhere in the whole of this record to explain\\nhis course or to justify his action or to throw the sweet light of\\nheaven upon his conduct and reconcile it with fairness, justice,\\nand honesty.\\nIf it was not true that Boswell was in league with the friends of\\nthe contestee in this case to debauch the ballot boxes of that county\\n33G6", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "10\\nand to divert its vote from the direction in which it had been ac\u00c2\u00ac\\ntually cast, why is he not produced? Why does he not show him\u00c2\u00ac\\nself and defend or explain his action?\\nYon find further along in this case that it is virtually admitted\\nby witnesses called on both sides that it has been a time-honored\\ncustom to count out the negro vote in Fayette County.\\nNaturally and fairly the colored voters of this district, upon na\u00c2\u00ac\\ntional issues at least, are from 90 to 95 per cent in favor of the\\nRepublican ticket. This was the uncontradicted testimony and\\nseems not to be disputed. If they are not intimidated and their\\nvotes are not stolen and they defrauded of their right of suffrage,\\ntheir vote would invariably be found to have been cast almost\\nsolidly for the Republican nominee. This is a significant fact\\nand, taken in connection with what has been unveiled in the rec\u00c2\u00ac\\nord in this case, namely, that the election boards in the various\\nprecincts were organized on the same plan and wholly in the in\u00c2\u00ac\\nterest of Carmack, and although the precincts were heavily col\u00c2\u00ac\\nored, but a mere handful of the negro vote credited by these Car\u00c2\u00ac\\nmack officers in the returns to Patterson, makes up a complete\\ncase of circumstantial evidence, proving conclusively that there\\nwas an organized and consistent scheme carefully elaborated and\\ncarried through to steal the Republican vote of that county and\\nappropriate it to the contestee, for whom it was never cast.\\nMr. JOHNSON of Indiana. Will the gentleman state what was\\nthe majority returned for the sitting member?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. The majority returned was 365. I will\\nshow you in a moment how it was obtained. In two of the dis\u00c2\u00ac\\ntricts in Fayette County, No. 9 and No. 13, the colored voters\\ndeclined to vote at all, because they found the \u00e2\u0080\u0098election boards\\norganized in such a way that they were utterly powerless to have\\ntheir votes counted. They were wholly discouraged and aban\u00c2\u00ac\\ndoned all effort to thwart the fraud so obviously contemplated.\\nOf course your committee could not count those votes, they not\\nhaving even been tendered. But in districts 1, 5, 7, 12, 14, 15, or\\nin most of them, it fortunately happened, through the courage\\nand determination of a few fair-minded men who happened to be\\nat the polls at the time the attempt was made to organize them,\\nthat a measure of fairness and some kind of representation was\\nsecured for the Patterson following, approximately resulting in a\\nsufficiently honest count in these districts.\\nEvery scheme of conspiracy, every plan of wrong and injustice,\\nwhich is complicated and dependent for its consummation on a\\nnumber of persons in various localities, such as an arrangement of\\nthis kind must be, is liable to failure in some detail or in one or\\nmore of the many places involved. It so happened here. Mr. Pat\u00c2\u00ac\\nterson did secure a fair count in a number of these districts in Fay\u00c2\u00ac\\nette County. What does the record show in regard to them?\\nThey were also largely colored districts, and in every one of them\\nwhei-e there was a fair opportunity to count the ballots as they\\nwere cast\u00e2\u0080\u0094in every one of them Mr. Patterson got something more\\nthan the colored vote.\\nThat shows that where the colored Republican voters and those\\nDemocrats who stood by Mr. Patterson were fairly credited the\\nnatural law that governs the ballot of the colored man in the\\nSouth prevailed, and the result was that Mr. Patterson got in\\nthese districts, as our tables will show in the report submitted to\\ntne House, about or somewhat more than the colored vote of\\n3366", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "11\\nthose districts. I call your attention particularly to district No. 1\\nand district No. 5, on page 7 of the majority report, where by a\\ntabulation of the white and colored vote you will so discover it.\\nNow, district No. 1 and district No. 5 join on the southwest and\\nwest the district known as Yumyum, No. 4, and in this latter\\ndistrict, as an illustration, with abundant material in that dis\u00c2\u00ac\\ntrict from which to select an intelligent and educated representa\u00c2\u00ac\\ntive of Mr. Patterson and of the Kepublicans, they were repre\u00c2\u00ac\\nsented by a man who signed the election returns with his mark,\\nas appears on page 41G of the record, thus disclosing conclusively\\n\u00c2\u00bbhis illiteracy and utter unfitness to represent the Republicans in\\nthat district so notorious in times past and by its disgraceful his\u00c2\u00ac\\ntory justifying the suspicion that was cast upon it by the efforts\\nof the voters there to protect themselves against the anticipated\\nfraud. And yet, in a district that contained 241 colored voters\\nwho actually voted, there being some 400 or 500 colored voters\\naltogether, including the 241 who cast their votes that day, besides\\na number of white voters who were proven to have cast their votes\\nfor the contestant, when the poll was counted and the returns\\npublished, Mr. Patterson received but 10 votes in that precinct,\\nand 305 votes were returned for Mr. Carmack.\\nExtraordinary result! With a homogeneous colored population,\\nwith the colored voter naturally voting upon State, Presidential,\\nand national issues with the Republican party, with the colored\\nvote in districts No. 5 and No. 1 all cast for the Republican can\u00c2\u00ac\\ndidate or the candidate indorsed by the Republican organization\\njust over the boundary line, with identically the same kind of peo-\\nl)le having the same sympathies, the same feelings, with no ele\u00c2\u00ac\\nment disclosed differentiating them in their choice or prejudices\\nin this election, we find that recklessly and in the broad light of\\nday, probably in the expectation that Bryan would sweep the\\ncountry and therefore Carmack\u00e2\u0080\u0099s seat would be safe, 305 votes are\\ncounted for Carmack and but 10 paltry votes allowed Patterson.\\nMethinks they overdid it, and \u00e2\u0080\u009cvaulting ambition,\u00e2\u0080\u009d or rather the\\ndesperate purpose to count this district and to get this seat at all\\nhazards, \u00e2\u0080\u009coverleaped itself and fell on the other.\u00e2\u0080\u009d\\ndt is true that in this district the flimsy defense is attempted to\\nbe made that the candidate indorsed by the Republicans was un\u00c2\u00ac\\npopular with the Republican element in that county. Gentlemen\\nof the House, it will not do to use that argument, for wherever\\nthere was a fair count, wherever, as in the case of the fifth dis\u00c2\u00ac\\ntrict, some bold and determined man stood up and saw that\\nthere was fair representation on the board\u00e2\u0080\u0094wherever there was a\\nproper count, Mr. Patterson got virtually the entire Republican\\nvote. Wherever the election boards were packed with Carmack\\nmen, wherever the officer was a Carmack tool, wherever there\\nwere these circumstances of suspicion, such as the refusal to al\u00c2\u00ac\\nlow the friends of Mr. Patterson in a number of districts to wit\u00c2\u00ac\\nness the count, in all those cases there was the outcome of but\\nan insignificant, meager vote allowed to him, thus stamping upon\\nHie face of tlie returns themselves, in their variance with all the\\nplain probabilities, the black seal of the fraud that was so au\u00c2\u00ac\\ndaciously and wickedly perpetrated in this Congressional district.\\nMore than that: I have called attention to the proportion of the\\nwhite and colored votes and the fact that under the returns and\\naccording to the record Mr. Patterson got substantially the entire\\ncolored vote in the uncontested precincts. In all the districts that\\n\u00c2\u00a3366", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "12\\nere not contested\u00e2\u0080\u0094where the vote was comparatively fair and\\nwhere there was proper representation on the board\u00e2\u0080\u0094there was a\\npartial miscarriage of the comprehensive plan, which was intended\\nto embrace the entire county. But, as I have already^ said, the\\nscheme, of course, necessarily would prove more or less imperfect\\nand disturbed in many of its parts. No machine of human con\u00c2\u00ac\\nstruction that depends upon the personality of the agents and op\u00c2\u00ac\\neratives can work perfectly. Fortunately, the scheme was not\\nentirely perfect in its working in the present case.\\nIn these contested precincts. Nos. 2, 3,4, 6. and 8, the two num\u00c2\u00ac\\nbered 10 and 11, what was the vote? There were 830 white\\nvoters who voted and 917 colored voters who voted. There were\\na great many voters in this district who were hopeless of a fair\\ncount and did not go through the empty ceremony of casting\\ntheir votes. They abstained from taking part in what seemed to\\nthem but a solemn mockery. But take the votes that were i^re-\\nsumably cast and counted. There were 830 white and 917 black.\\nAnd yet when you come to count up the votes of Mr. Patterson,\\nwhat do you find? Remember that in all these contested pre\u00c2\u00ac\\ncincts in Fayette County, where the machinery was so well oiled\\nand so effectively operated, Mr. Patterson got altogether but 243\\nvotes and Mr. Carmack 1,492.\\nWhy, sir, I need not go a step further in this case. Let it bo\\nobserved that there was an evident attempt to handle the nomi\u00c2\u00ac\\nnation of Mr. Carmack so that he could get the indorsement of\\nthe Republican party. The record is full of the unblushing ad\u00c2\u00ac\\nmissions of the Democratic party, or those acting in its interests,\\nthat the county had been uniformly stolen from the Republicans\\nyear in and year out. You have propositions and colloquies be\u00c2\u00ac\\ntween the leaders of the Republican party and the Democratic\\nsupporters of Mr. Carmack\u00e2\u0080\u0094discussions of the question of secur\u00c2\u00ac\\ning a fair count, suggesting an indorsement of Carmack as a con\u00c2\u00ac\\nsideration for the allowance of a fair vote, thereby boldly and\\nfreely intimating that in the absence of such an arrangement, in\\nthe absence of an indorsement of Mr. Carmack, the old story\\nwould be repeated, and Fayette County would be counted as of\\nold\u00e2\u0080\u0094the legal vote suppressed and one more outrage perpetrated\\nupon the freedom and purity of the ballot.\\nSuch is the aspect of this case, taken in its entirety. Now let\\nme refer to the law of Tennessee regulating the matter of the ap\u00c2\u00ac\\npointment of these election officers and the conduct of the elec\u00c2\u00ac\\ntions. These are the statutory provisions:\\nThe sheriff, and if he is a candidate, the coroner, shall hold all elections.\\n(M. and V. Cede, section 1044.)\\nThe county court shall appoint three judges for each voting place, who\\nshall be of different political parties. If the court fail to make the appoint\u00c2\u00ac\\nment, the sheriff, with the advice of three justices of the ipeace, or, if none\\nbe present, three respectable freeholders, shall appoint said judges. (M. and\\nV. Code, sections 1047 to 1049.)\\nIf the sheriff or other officer whose duty it is to attend the particular place\\nof voting fail to attend, any justice of the peace present, or if no justice is\\npresent, any three freeholders, may perform these duties, or in case of neces\u00c2\u00ac\\nsity may act as officers or inspectors. (M. and V. Code, section 1050.)\\nWhen the election is finished, the returning officers and judges shall, in the\\npresence of such of the electors as may choose to attend, open the box and\\nread aloud the names of the persons which shall appear in each ballot. (M.\\nand V. Code, section 1088.)\\nIt is said that Mr. Patterson s demand for representation on the\\nelection boards was an illegal demand; that the law did not pro\u00c2\u00ac\\nvide that he should be represented on these boards, but that the\\n3286", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "13\\nRepublican party should be so represented. Well and good. You\\nwill find by the record that the effort was to obtain in most cases\\na representation of Republicans on the board. But after all, this\\nis a mere quibble; and in the light of what was done in Shelby,\\nTipton, and Hardeman counties, where the county court appointed\\nthe judges, and Mr. Patterson in most instances was represented on\\nthese election boards, we need have no difficulty in disposing of\\nthis suggestion. The true spirit and intent of the law was thus\\ncarried out without regard to whether such representative was a\\nSound Money Democrat or in all respects a Republican and in full\\nline with the Republican party. This action of the court and the\\nconcession and consent of the supporters of Mr. Carmack and of\\nthe Republicans alike that this was a proper administration of\\nthe law settle the question.\\nBut in this contest, at this belated hour of this story of wrong\\nand injustice, we are met with the technical objection that Mr.\\nPatterson was not entitled to representation; that the candidate\\nto be represented must have been a full-fledged, active Republican,\\nin full line and harmony with the Republican party. I do not\\nthink there is a lawyer on the floor of this House who would at\u00c2\u00ac\\ntempt to cover up and justify a wrongful count upon any such\\nnarrow technicality or any such view of the law of Tennessee.\\nThen, again, the election laws of Tennessee require that there\\nshall be a witness of the count. I have already quoted from these\\nstatutes and it is unnecessary for me to repeat the citations. We\\nmay assume that such is the positive law of Tennessee.\\nIn all of these contested districts, the colored districts, in which,\\nexcept Ho. 2, the colored voters were largely in the majority, as\\nshown by the tabulated statement accompanying the report, with\\nabout 1,000 Republican colored votes cast, with these Republicans\\nundoubtedly loyal to the national ticket, McKinley\u00e2\u0080\u0099s electors, Pat\u00c2\u00ac\\nterson received, according to the count, in the neighborhood of but\\nbetween two and three hundred votes and Carmack, in round num\u00c2\u00ac\\nbers, 1,500, So if every white vote was counted for Mr. Carmack,\\nalthough not wholly cast for him, because Mr. Patterson re\u00c2\u00ac\\nceived (and undoubtedly we are justified in the statement by\\nthe evidence) not less than 200 white votes in Fayette County\\nalone\u00e2\u0080\u0094yet if Mr. Carmack had received all of the white votes, it\\nwas necessary for him to receive, besides, three-fourths of the\\ncolored votes in order to make up the 1,500 that were accorded\\nto him.\\nWhy, Mr. Speaker, I need not go any further in my argument\\nto justify my vote to seat Mr. Patterson in this contest. But, gen\u00c2\u00ac\\ntlemen of the House, whatever may be your feelings or prejudices\\nin this matter, I have a right to believe that you are conscious of\\nthe fact that you sit here in a purely judicial capacity. I assume\\nyou will be honestly and intelligently guided and controlled by\\nthe testimony in the case. I assume that you will decide the\\nquestion on judicial grounds solely, however you may regard Mr.\\nPatterson personally or politically. So that, whatever your feel\u00c2\u00ac\\nings may be toward him, you will not fail to realize that you are\\ncalled upon to act as judges of this contest, guided and influenced\\nby the testimony alone. Your judgment will be dictated, I am\\nanxious to think, by a full, fair, and just consideration of the law\\nand the proofs submitted. Whether Mr. Patterson is a dangerous\\nantagonist or a useful ally, whether his presence in this House\\nmay or may not be a standing rebuke to the madness and folly\\n3360", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "14\\nthat seized his party and, like a wild mountain torrent, carried it\\nfar away from those distinctive principles which were so long its\\nboast and glory in the past, I dare to hope that the decision of this\\ncontroversy will depend alone upon the evidence as to the honesty\\nof the vote cast, and for whom the honest voters of the Tenth\\nCongressional district of Tennessee gave their votes in the last\\nCongressional election.\\nNow let me, for a little while, call your attention to some of the\\ndetails of this conspiracy. I have already quoted the law of Ten\u00c2\u00ac\\nnessee. I have shown you that the law was deliberately violated\\nin a number of instances in the construction and composition of\\nthese election boards. Now I will call your attention to some of\\nthe particulars. You will find that in district No. 2, Eola, the\\nso-called Republican representative on the election board was an\\nignorant negro who could not read nor vn*ite. He signed his mark\\nto the return.\\nIn No. 3, Fayette Corners, Billy Marbury, an ignorant negro,\\ncould not read nor write, and made his mark on the returns. At\\nNo. 4, Yumyum, Harry Thompson, can not write; signed the re\u00c2\u00ac\\nturns by making his mark. No. 6, Braden, Austin Rogers, could\\nnot read or write; made his mark to the returns. No. 6, Galloway,\\nall the .iudges were white\u00e2\u0080\u0094Carmack men. At No. 8, Oakland,\\nLouis Wilson, an ignorant negro, unable to read or write, was\\nappointed as the Republican representative. At Canadaville, No.\\n9, Mack Harris, an ignorant negro, unable to read or write, and\\nmade his mark. At No. 10, Piperton, William Wright, a negro,\\nunable to read or write, likewise made his mark. At No. 11, Mason,\\nAbe Hazelett, an illiterate negro, made his rnark on the returns.\\nI might also remind you of the fact that in No. 3 there was a\\nrefusal to allow any of the electors to witness the count, although\\nthe request was expressly made of the election officers. This was\\nalso true of precinct Braden, No. 6, as well as of Mason, No. 11,\\nin Tipton County.\\nMr. HENRY of Mississippi. Whom were they representing,\\nthose fellows who could not read or write and who made their\\nmark?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. The man who could not read or write\\nwas appointed by the officer who represented Mr. Carmack, or\\nthrough his influence, and he was appointed, I say, because he\\ncould not read or write, and because he would not be able to de\u00c2\u00ac\\ntect the perpetration of the meditated fraud.\\nMr. HENRY of Mississippi. Whom -was he representing?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. I do not know whom he represented.\\nHe was really intended to represent the friends of Mr. Carmack.\\nHe was nominally supposed to represent the Republican voters.\\nHe was put on the board against the protest of Republican voters,\\nwho were calling for a respectable, educated, and competent man\\nwho could check the apprehended fraud and protect their inter\u00c2\u00ac\\nests. He did in reality represent the Democratic party and was a\\nmere tool in their hands.\\nMr. GAINES. He was a Republican, was he not?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. No; apparently not, in many instances.\\nMr. HENRY of Mississippi. I thought you said he was a col\u00c2\u00ac\\nored man; and the colored men are all Republicans, according to\\nyour claim.\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. In the argument, in the briefs, and in\\nthe minority report the preposterous claim is made that Carmack\\n3CC6", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "15\\nwas the choice of the colored voters of these disputed districts, in\\nspite of the fact that in the undisputed districts the colored voters,\\nalmost to a man, cast their ballots for Patterson,\\nMr. HENRY of Mississippi. Did you not say-\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK, I will not be interrupted any further.\\nAlthough the party represented by Mr. Carmack are arrayed\\nagainst the right of the colored voter to vote and have his vote\\ncounted, although the colored voter is systematically defrauded of\\nhis vote, although under the pretense of defending and protecting\\nthemselves against the bugbear of black supremacy, he is hated\\nand intimidated and cheated election after election, yet they\\nhave the audacity in this contest to claim that Mr. Carmarh had\\nthree-fourths of the colored votes and all the white votes of these\\ncontested districts.\\nI have called your attention to these other two districts in a very\\ncursory way. I leave the report of the majority of the committee\\nto justify itself. In the statement of the case there is a sufficient\\nargument and justification for the treatment which the committee\\ngives to those precincts.\\nNow, district No. 4 is contiguous to No. 5. I have already al\u00c2\u00ac\\nluded to that fact. In district No. 5 the normal Republican\\ncolored vote was 241, as cast, and. all of it was cast for Mr. Pat\u00c2\u00ac\\nterson and so returned. In district No. 4, with the same kind of\\npeople and about the same proportion of white and black voters,\\nbut 10 votes were cast for Mr. Patterson, according to the returns,\\nand a number of these, according to the testimony, must have\\nbeen white votes. There is another significant fact about this\\nprecinct. Anticipating that the vote would be tampered with and\\nmanipulated, as the event justified, provision was made to take a\\nlist of the vote while being cast, and the evidence on the record\\nitself showed that 61 colored citizens were listed as having actually\\nvoted for the Republican ticket, and many more besides were\\nshown to have so voted.\\nNow, I have called your attention to the Fourth district, in\\nwhich but 10 votes were returned for Mr. Patterson and 28 votes\\nfor the McKinley electors.\\nThirty-seven voters were called and examined as witnesses, one-\\nhalf of the entire 74 subpoenaed; but through the tactics of the\\ncounsel representing the contestee and their prolonged and ut\u00c2\u00ac\\nterly irrelevant cross-examination, it was impossible, practically,\\nto examine them all. True, there were some days left, but the\\nthreatened consumption of the narrow limit of time still remain\u00c2\u00ac\\ning compelled abandonment of the examination of the rest. But\\nthere were 37 of them examined, and they all testified, in addition\\nto the colored man who was put there to represent the Republican\\nparty on the board, who voted, according to his own testimony,\\nthe straight Republican ticket.\\nIlliterate as he was, he was able to say that he voted the straight\\nRepublican ticket, because he said that the straight Republican\\nticket was put in his hands to vote, and he was told to vote it;\\nand there was no denial by anybody on the stand that he voted\\nthe ticket that contained the names of the candidates for the leg\u00c2\u00ac\\nislature, who were also before the people for their suffrages. The\\n37 voters who were called upon the stand, one after another, testi\u00c2\u00ac\\nfied that they voted the ticket that had the names of J. T. Leake\\nand J. O. Randall upon it, as well as Josiah Patterson; and yet,\\nin the count which we have in this case, the ofiicial count, there\\n3338", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "IG\\nwas not a single vote returned for Mr. Leake and not a single vote\\nreturned for Mr. Randall.\\nNot only do we have the suggestive fact itself that there were\\n805 votes reported for Mr. Carmack and but 10 votes for Mr. Pat\u00c2\u00ac\\nterson, but we have the fact that at least 38 votes were actually\\ncast for Mr. Patterson and cast for Mr. Leake and for Mr. Ran\u00c2\u00ac\\ndall, neither one of the two latter of whom received a single vote\\nin the returns. What more do you want? You have a heavy col\u00c2\u00ac\\nored district; you have the admitted statement that the negro voter\\nvotes the regular Republican ticket. You have the fact that he is\\ndespised, feared, and hated by those who advocate white suprem\u00c2\u00ac\\nacy in that district, and that he was fully conscious of the hostil\u00c2\u00ac\\nity of the Carmack party to his exercise of political rights. You\\nhave the fact that in the neighboring districts the colored voters\\nalmost to a man voted for Patterson.\\nYou have the fact that 37 respectable and intelligent men who\\nwere able to write and read their ballot swore that they did cast\\ntheir votes for Josiah Patterson, andfor Mr. Leake, and for Mr. Ran\u00c2\u00ac\\ndall; and yet under the manipulation of the two Carmack sup\u00c2\u00ac\\nporters on this board, notwithstanding the presence of this autom\u00c2\u00ac\\naton, the judge, who was put there ostensibly to represent the\\nRepublican voters and yet could not read the ballots that were\\ncounted, you have the fact that out of this mill of fraud and\\nchicanery there was ground this return of 305 for Mr. Carmack\\nand but 10 votes for Mr. Patterson, and none for Mr. Leake, and\\nnone for Mr. Randall.\\nDo you want the eye of a person who saw the transaction? Do\\nyou want a living witness? Circumstantial evidence will hang\\na man, and the circumstantial proof in this case is utterly in\u00c2\u00ac\\nconsistent with any other theory than that the election board\\nopenly, boldly, and infamously, without the fear of God or man\\nbefore their eyes, cheated these Republican voters out of their\\nballots, which the law of the State of Tennessee had put in their\\nhands as their weapon and shield. In considering this district\\nwe discard the official return, and then we take the votes shown\\nto have been cast by persons there. Undoubtedly more votes\\nwere cast for Mr. Patterson, but the limitations of the evidence\\nonly enable us to count 38, and we have given Mr. Carmack the\\nentire vote his testimony tended to prove. Undoubtedly he had\\nmore, and Mr. Patterson had more, but the votes, to some extent,\\nby the very fraud itself and the stress of the proof, are shut out.\\nAccordingly we have counted 38 votes for the one and 11 for the\\nother.\\nNow, let us come to the next precinct, and that is Galloway,\\nNo. 6. In Braden, No. 6, the fraud was so transparent that coun\u00c2\u00ac\\nsel on the argument admitted that Patterson was entitled to 13 of\\nthe votes counted for Carmack, being that many more than the 4\\ncounted and allowed him. It was admitted that he had received\\nthese additional votes, which made a difference of 26. Therefore\\nit is unnecessary to argue the case of district No. 6, but it operates\\nto add cogency and force to the theory that it was a part of the\\nomnibus scheme to count this county away from the voters to\\nwhom it properly belonged and for a man who had not the shadow\\nof a right to it under the laws of the State and under a fair count\\nof the vote as it was really cast.\\nNow, in this district of Galloway we have this set of circum\u00c2\u00ac\\nstances: We have a man by the name of Braden appointed as\\n3336", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "17\\nsheriff s officer, a Carmack man. What does he do? He goes to\\nthe poll before 9 o clock, that being the hour of opening the poll,\\nand appoints three judges with the aid of a number of freeholders,\\nall of the same politics with himself and carefully selected as\\nwilling tools to carry out the plan, although the proper persons to\\nmake those appointments under the law of Tennessee were the\\njustices of the peace. One of those justices had gone the night\\nbefore to interview on this very subject another justice who was\\nin the interest of Carmack, and who refused and put him off, pre\u00c2\u00ac\\ntending indifference, and yet the next morning it appears that he\\nwas in close concert with the Carmack people in organizing this\\npoll and in carrying out the general plan to which I have directed\\nyour attention in the early part of my argument.\\nNow, until 11 o\u00e2\u0080\u0099clock, Braden, finding the Republicans were\\nprepared, seeing that they had a number of representatives there\\nto count the votes and to take the names of the voters as they\\nmight deposit their tickets and make a memorandum or list of\\nthem, tried every way possible to prevent proper intelligent Re\u00c2\u00ac\\npublican representation on the election board. He went off some\\ndistance and got a poor negro, a half idiot, who could not read or\\nwrite, and who was working in a ditch, by the name of Ed Brown,\\nand sought to impose him upon the Republican voters of that dis\u00c2\u00ac\\ntrict, of whom there were 200 or 250 gathered around the polls at\\nthe time.\\nWhat did he do? He refused to appoint a number of persons\\nwho were competent and intelligent enough to have properly\\ncounted the ballots, and insisted on appointing this miserable crea\u00c2\u00ac\\nture; and when they refused to accept him and persisted in their\\nobjection, instead of appointing a competent and proper person,\\nhe, fully intent upon his purpose, determined to work out the\\nscheme in which he was the active agent, appoints another colored\\nman by the name of Peyton, who was equally objectionable and\\nequally incompetent. Then, at 11 o\u00e2\u0080\u0099clock, although the people\\nwere clamoring to have the polls opened, although the voters were\\ndenied the right to cast their votes, at 11 o\u00e2\u0080\u0099clock Squire Griffin, a\\njustice of the peace, announced that if Braden would not hold the\\nelection under the law of the State of Tennessee, he would.\\nBraden declared that he would not hold the election. He saw his\\npurpose defeated; he saw three or four Stalwart Republicans ready\\nto take down the list of the voters who expected to vote an open\\nticket; he saw his play discovered and his plan checkmated. He\\ndeclared, in spite of opposition, that he would not hold any elec\u00c2\u00ac\\ntion. Not being successful to the full extent of his purposes and\\nexpectations, he proposed to defeat the popular will altogether by\\ndenying them an election at all. Then Justice Griffin, upon tliat\\nstatement, said, as he had the right to do, if Braden would not\\nhold an election he would. Braden went out of the room where\\nthey had contemplated holding the election. The judges whom he\\nhad appointed also went out and dispersed, and then Griffin\\norganized the poll, and the voters began to cast their ballots,\\nwnen Braden, finding the people were voting at the other poll,\\nchanged his mind and announced that he would hold the election.\\nAlready the voting had commenced at the poll thus organized by\\nGriffin; already there had been cast a number of votes, and for\\nten or fifteen minutes that election was in full force. I need not\\ntake time to point out to you the evidence which incontestably\\nproves these facts.\\n3366-2", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "18\\nUpon these facts, what did the committee do? Acting upon\\nthe case of McDuffie vs. Davidson, decided by the Fiftieth Con\u00c2\u00ac\\ngress, under a similar state of facts, in a report as to this point,\\nsustained by the majority and the minority of that committee, it\\nwas decided that a poll opened under precisely the same circum\u00c2\u00ac\\nstances was a legal poll, and was counted upon a unanimous\\nrecommendation. Both political parties were represented on the\\ncommittee, and the action of Congress sustained the finding of\\nthat committee.\\nMr. BURKE. Is it not a fact that Mr. Griffin, who attempted\\nto open the polls for the second box, and the others with him ulti\u00c2\u00ac\\nmately went and cast their votes in Mr. Braden\u00e2\u0080\u0099s box?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. No, sir; I think it is stated in the mi\u00c2\u00ac\\nnority report that the judges, officers of the second poll, cast their\\nvotes in the first box. I will protect my friend on the other side\\nfrom making what may be an innocent mistake; that is not the\\nfact. The record shows that every one of these judges and clerks\\nvoted in Griffin\u00e2\u0080\u0099s box, and therefore gentlemen ought not to be\\nmisled by any such assumption as that.\\nA Member. Is the gentleman referring to Oakland?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. No; I am referring to Galloway, No. C.\\nI have not come to Oakland yet.\\nNow, if the House please, so far Mr. Patterson is elected. I\\nhave here a statement showing that Mr. Carmack on the official\\nreturn had 365 majority. If you throw out the vote of Yumyum,\\nNo. 4, and count but 38 for Patterson and 11 for Carmack (which\\nis doing a great deal better for Carmack than if we actually at\u00c2\u00ac\\ntempted to count all those votes which were cast), and deducting\\nthe change of 26 by taking 13 votes at Braden, No. 6, from Car\u00c2\u00ac\\nmack and transferring them to Patterson, which was consented\\nto by the counsel on the argument, you will find that our report\\nas to those two districts alone would leave a majority in favor of\\nMr. Carmack of but 17.\\nAnd then when you come to the Galloway case, which I have\\nexplained, where it can not be doubted that the poll organized at\\nthis precinct. No. 6\u00e2\u0080\u0094the box I have described to you as having\\nbeen organized by Justice Griffin, was the legal and proper box\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nand if you cast out the other box which Braden attempted to set\\nup after the people had already decided to vote at the other place\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nrejecting the 62 votes cast at the Braden box as they should be,\\nbecause not a legal poll, and counting for Mr. Patterson the 247\\nvotes cast at the legal bbx, there is left a majority in favor of Mr.\\nPaterson of 292.\\nGentlemen, I could rest my case here. Although the record\\nbristles with wrong and injustice such as I have already depicted;\\nalthough the evidence relating to the other contested precincts\\nis equally powerful and convincing as to the fraudulent character\\nand conduct of those who were in charge at those places, depend\u00c2\u00ac\\ning only upon these three districts about which there can not be\\nthe slightest doubt, your decision must be in favor of Mr. Patter\u00c2\u00ac\\nson, because the returns, according to the honest vote and under\\nthe laws of Tennessee, would give Mr. Patterson 292 majority, or\\nnearly the majority that was falsely and fraudulently counted for\\nMr. Carmack.\\nNow, I might spend time on the other precincts, but I refrain\\nfrom doing so. I shall have to allow the justification of the ac\u00c2\u00ac\\ntion of the committee to depend largely upon the report; Taking,\\n33G6", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "19\\nhowever, the question of the two boxes in the Oaldand district,\\nthe first box was opened under circumstances almost identically\\nsimilar to those that I have already described in other cases. The\\nboard packed, the election officers in the interest of Carmack, the\\nsecrecy and suddenness with which the organization was effected,\\nthe failure to count all the votes that were positively shown to\\nhave been cast at the Carmack box, the indications of preparation\\nmade to count out votes that were cast, the organization of the\\nRepublicans in order to check the fraud, the declarations that\\nPatterson would be counted out\u00e2\u0080\u0094so bold and impudent and au\u00c2\u00ac\\ndacious in many cases that there seems to have been no secret\\nmade of it and no consciousness of the moral turpitude involved\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nall reveal the desperate measures of the Carmack leaders and\\njustify the deep distrust of Patterson\u00e2\u0080\u0099s friends.\\nAlarmed by the declaration of John B. Reed, one of the free\u00c2\u00ac\\nholders who organized the board at Oakland, No. 8, that they were\\ngoing to count the \u00e2\u0080\u009cdarn nigger\u00e2\u0080\u009d out, and that Patterson would\\nnot get more than 20 votes, although the majority of the voters in\\nthat district were in fact Republicans and colored people, the sup\u00c2\u00ac\\nporters of contestant felt that their only and last resort was in\\norganizing another polling place, and under legal advice did erect\\na second box. There is some dispute as to the proper polling place.\\nI call attention to the evidence to show that the locality was not\\nfixed by law.\\nProbably the truth of the matter is that the elections were held\\nindifferently at either place, and a great deal of lib Brality and loose\u00c2\u00ac\\nness in this regard seems to have been permitted as a matter of\\npractice in these districts; so that this element need not trouble\\nus in deciding this case. Yet, gentlemen of the House, it appears\\nthat there were 159 votes cast at this second box. No doubt those\\nwho voted at this latter box thought it was the proper place, and,\\nunder the authority of the case of McDuffie vs. Turpin, reported\\nin Rowell\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Election Cases, page 290, we have counted both boxes.\\nThis is fair to the voters, as doubtless the votes were cast in both\\nboxes in the belief by those who voted there, respectively, that\\nthey were voting at the proper place. I wish to remind you that\\nin this matter of the counting of the votes, in this matter of the\\ndetermination of an election case, the members of this House sit\\nhere in cases of this kind as a court with high judicial powers and\\nprerogatives, a court erected by the Constitution of the Union\\nand clothed with exclusive and supreme power; that in passing\\nupon a State law, so far as it relates to Congressional elections,\\nthis court passes upon it as if it were to that extent a Federal law.\\nIn the absence of a Federal statute such as Congress might\\nhave passed, the State law, so far as it relates to or regulates the\\nelection of members of Congress, is to that extent to be regarded\\nas a Federal law. In the interpretation of this law the decisions\\nof a State court do not bind us unless they are in harmony with\\nthe principles which have heretofore guided this court and the\\nprecedents of the House of Representatives itself. Any other doc\u00c2\u00ac\\ntrine would reverse the fundamental principles upon which this\\nGovernment is constructed. Any other doctrine would radically\\nimpair and ultimately destroy the constitutional power placed in\\nthe hands of Congress. Just as your State decisions bind when\\nin confiict with the decisions of other States, so the decisions of\\nthis court control it whether they are in harmony or at variance\\nwith the decisions of Tennessee or any other State. Although no\\n33G6", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "20\\ndecisions have been pointed ont, and indeed I believe there are\\nnone in conflict with the precedent already cited, I wish to em\u00c2\u00ac\\nphasize this principle, for the right to judge of the elections and\\nqualifications of its own members is a high constitutional privi\u00c2\u00ac\\nlege of this House, and in exercising this power we exercise the\\njurisdiction of a court, we exercise judicial power, and our own\\ndecisions are the law of this court. It must be observed that\\nthere is a broad distinction between a positive statute and a\\nmere judicial decision. The one is a legislative act, and Con\u00c2\u00ac\\ngress by its silence or sufferance in the absence of legislation of\\nits own enactment has under the Constitution adopted and rec\u00c2\u00ac\\nognized such statute as the rule of action governing the matter\\nof a Congressional election. The other is the mere decision of a\\ncourt in a given particular litigated case. It binds the parties to\\nthe litigation and fixes their status as to the litigated matter.\\nBeyond that it is but a judicial utterance as to what the law is; it\\nis but the evidence of such law, not the exercise of legislative will,\\nnot the enactment of law. Such decisions are for the guidance of\\nsuch court or of the subordinate courts of the State. So far as\\nother States are concerned, or other and superior jurisdictions,\\nthey control only so far as, by their reasoning, the learning and\\ndignity of the tribunal, and by their intrinsic power and ability,\\nthey convince and satisfy the mind as to the particular rule or\\ninterpretation thus enunciated.\\nAnd therefore, Mr. Speaker, under the authority of its own de\u00c2\u00ac\\ncisions, under the law as laid down by Congress itself in a well-\\nconsidered case, and under the principle that a precedent is the\\nexpression and best evidence of the law for the court that delivers\\nit, the action of this committee in this matter of the counting of\\nthe boxes in the Oakland precinct is abundantly sustained and\\nwdll be found to be in entire harmony with the law as thus de\u00c2\u00ac\\nclared and ascertained.\\nNow, I wdll not go into the details with reference to the remain\u00c2\u00ac\\ning precincts. It is unnecessary to do so. I shall have to content\\nmyself ^vith the assistance of those who follow me and with your\\npatient and careful reading of the reasons set forth in the rei ort\\nwdiich have guided the majority of your committee. Already in\\nthe double elections to which I have referred, already in the few\\nprecincts to which I have invited your more particular attention\\nas typical cases, and which were only parts of a general scheme\\nand taken almost at random out of a succession of signal frauds\\nand most outspoken and unconcealed wrongs perpetrated on the\\nballot box, I find that there is enough to change the result of the\\nelection in the judgment of any fair-minded man who judicially\\nconsiders the case.\\nMr. WM, ALDEN SMITH. Are there any precincts which\\nwere not disputed?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. There are those of which I have already\\nspoken, in which I have stated the colored race was largely in\\nthe majority, and in w\u00e2\u0080\u0099hich their votes were cast almost entirely\\nfor Mr. Patterson.\\nMr. WM. ALDEN SMITH. Is it admitted that Mr, Patterson\\nw\u00e2\u0080\u0099as represented on the election boards?\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. There is no dispute whatever as to the\\nfacts. These four or five undisputed precincts seem to have been\\nfairly counted, and Mr. Patterson got there substantially the\\n3366", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "21\\nA\\nwhole colored vote and others besides. In these undisputed pre\u00c2\u00ac\\ncincts Mr. Patterson was allowed some kind of representation on.\\nthe boards. This happened through the activity and resolution\\nof a number of courageous and determined friends, who con\u00c2\u00ac\\nfounded the well-laid plans of the conspirators and forced the\\nobservance in some measure of the requirements of the law.\\nNow, Mr. Speaker, to conclude, there is the question of the poll\\ntax which has been raised on the part of the minority in their re\u00c2\u00ac\\nport, in which they refer to a limit of 75 votes cast for Mr. Pat\u00c2\u00ac\\nterson and the theory is set up that the poll-tax receipts were not\\nproper evidence of the voter s right to vote because it is alleged\\nthe tax was not paid until after the election and that these votes\\nwere illegal and should not be counted for contestant. The evi\u00c2\u00ac\\ndence on this subject is unsatisfactory and mostly inferential.\\nThe votes so cast are unidentified, and the proof fails to disclose\\nfor whom the votes of persons holding such receipts were actually\\ncast. But whether this is so or not, the poll-tax receipts were re\u00c2\u00ac\\nceived by the voters themselves in good faith, so far as the evi\u00c2\u00ac\\ndence discloses. As between the tax collector and the State the\\nquestion of actual nonpayment could not arise, and as between the\\nvoter and the election official who carried out the law of the State\\nby receiving the vote upon the presentation of the receipt the\\nmatter was adjudicated and the vote was a valid one not open\\nto collateral inquiry after the election.\\nIf he issued the receipts without getting the money until after\\nthe election, the collector would have been charged with the\\nmoney in a settlement with the State. He was concluded thereby,\\nand it was in that case a practical collection of the tax. If the\\nvoter voted on the tax receipt without a fraudulent purpose or\\nfraudulent knowledge, believing the tax had beep paid, it was no\\nfault of his if the collector did not actually receive the money, and\\nno lawyer in this House will assume that it was, or that the bona\\nfide voter should lose his vote by reason of the act of the tax re\u00c2\u00ac\\nceiver, He had a right to believe that the tax had been paid, and\\nhaving presented his receipt he complied with the only prerequi\u00c2\u00ac\\nsite in that regard, and he was entitled to his vote. Any other\\nview would deprive him of a fair opportunity to perfect his right\\nto vote, upon being advised of the real fact.\\nMr. SULLIVAN. You do not mean to say that 75 votes were\\ncast in that way. You mean 175.\\nMr. KIRKPATRICK. No; 75 is the number claimed by the\\nminority of the committee. They claim that only that number\\nshould be deducted, because that many receipts were assumed to\\nhave been used where the money had not been paid, practically\\nabandoning the two or three thousand other votes which were\\nclaimed by the contestee as having been cast for the contestant\\nupon tax receipts paid by third parties. This claim was so clearly\\nuntenable, under many well-considered legal opinions, that the\\nminority ignore it in their findings. They claim, in other words,\\nthat 75 votes from this source, and only under the circumstances\\nI have detailed, should be deducted. Under the conditions of the\\nproof and the well-settled principles applicable thereto I feel justi\u00c2\u00ac\\nfied in appealing to the legal sense of every competent lawj^er on\\nthe floor of this House that the 75 votes should not be counted for\\nMr. Carmack or against Mr. Patterson. But if the voter received\\nthe certificate showing the tax wa.s paid, and believed that his tax\\n3306", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "22\\nhad been paid, his vote, which was honestly cast, should be hon\u00c2\u00ac\\nestly counted. It must be counted as it was originally cast; and\\nhaving been adjudicated a proper vote upon the exhibition of the\\nstatutory evidence, to wit, the genuine tax receipt and its accept\u00c2\u00ac\\nance by the election board, it can not now be collaterally attacked.\\nThere seems to be no way of escaping this conclusion from a\\nlegal standpoint, even if the allowance of this claim of the con-\\ntestee would otherwise materially affect the result.\\nNow, Mr. Speaker, under the state of the proofs applicable to all\\nthe contested precincts the action of the committee is amply jus\u00c2\u00ac\\ntified. Under the findings of the majority and the corrections in\\nthe returns necessitated by a fair and reasonable view of the tes\u00c2\u00ac\\ntimony furnished there can be no other conclusion than that Pat\u00c2\u00ac\\nterson received at least a majority of 1,243 votes. With regard\\nto the three districts of Yumyum, Braden, and Galloway, in\\none of which contestant\u00e2\u0080\u0099s claim was conceded on the argument, it\\nmay be said that they present an absolutely clear case for the\\ncontestant and that the most moderate calculation of the real vote\\nin those districts alone would result in a clear majority of 292\\nfor Patterson. This I think I have abundantly demonstrated.\\nAdd to this the additional vote of 159 for Patterson in the second\\npoll at Oakland, and you have a further majority for contestant\\nof 451. This result we reach without any reference to the other\\nprecincts, where the proofs are equally strong. This is conclusive\\nand presents a case abundantly sufficient to reverse the returns\\nand give the seat to the representative to whom it honestly be\u00c2\u00ac\\nlongs and send Carmack back to the people of the Tenth Congres\u00c2\u00ac\\nsional district of Tennessee to vindicate himself, if he can, by an\\nhonest appeal to the lawful voters in the next campaign. But so\\nfar as this present contention is concerned it is a closed question.\\nI have only to say that this matter the redemption of the\\nballot, of the full and final deliverance or this priceless privilege,\\nfrom the blighting influence of fraud and intimidation in a large\\nand powerful section of our Union is one that most deeply and\\nvitally concerns that people, much as it concerns and intei\u00e2\u0080\u0099ests us\\nall. The long catalogue of contested-election cases which for\\nmany Congresses have come up from the South, with their volumi\u00c2\u00ac\\nnous records of outrages and frauds upon the ballot box, have\\nafforded ground for the belief that crimes against the suffrage are\\ntoo lightly regarded and their demoralizing results too little appre\u00c2\u00ac\\nciated by an otherwise brave, generous, and magnanimous people.\\nIt is a hopeful sign that the better sentiment of the dominant\\nrace is arousing itself to a realizing sense of the enormity of these\\nwrongs and the dangers they entail to the permanency and purity\\nof our free institutions. They are beginning to realize that not only\\nare the prestige and honor of a great and heroic people involved,\\nbut the decay and extinction of public spirit and civic virtue must\\nInevitably follow from the further encouragement of these outrages\\nupon this sacred privilege. I have said that this question con\u00c2\u00ac\\ncerns not only that people among whom these abuses have been\\nunfortunately so long tolerated, but also all the free people of this\\ngreat and splendid Kepublic, which now stands guard as the in\u00c2\u00ac\\nvincible champion of the cause of humanity and the highest\\nChristian civilization in this Western world.\\nEvery Representative who occupies a seat in this House is ac\u00c2\u00ac\\ncountable not only to his conscience and to the constituency who\\n3306", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "23\\ns\\nsent him here for a proper consideration and determination of\\nthese cases, but he is answerable to the whole people of this great\\nland, whose Representative he also is, of whose liberties and most\\nprecious interests he is a chosen and trusted custodian. He is not\\nhere merely to represent and speak for the special community\\nfrom which he comes, and his duty is not bounded by the narrow\\nconfines of his own particular district, nor is he a mere instru\u00c2\u00ac\\nment to register its will alone. He is here in a larger capacity.\\nHe is here as one of the servants of the whole country and to legis\u00c2\u00ac\\nlate for the nation at large.\\nHe is here to share in the responsibilities of this great Govern\u00c2\u00ac\\nment, to determine questions of the utmost scope and magnitude,\\nquestions of peace and war, questions pertaining to eveiy part of\\nof our magnificent national domain, questions involving the future\\nhappiness and destinies of this most favored people on the face of\\nthe earth. The determination of the right to membership in this\\nbody is therefore a matter of .the highest privilege and concern.\\nThe most momentous issues before this House may turn upon\\nthe narrowest margin. It might easily happen that in the deter\u00c2\u00ac\\nmination of matters of the highest national moment, matters\\nwhose decision may change the current of human history, matters\\nfraught with the most tremendous consequences to us all, the re\u00c2\u00ac\\nsult might hang upon a single vote in this House.\\nWhether we live in the luxuriant and semitropical South or in\\nthe colder and sterner regions of the North; whether we dwell on\\nthe shores of the Atlantic or on the great central iDlains, or upon\\nthe distant slopes of the Pacific States, we are all alike concerned\\nfor the honor and good name of the Republic and above all for the\\npreservation in all its ancient vigor of the great principle of the\\nrule of the majority. We are all interested in the purity, in the\\ninviolability of the ballc% wherever or by whomsoever that ballot\\nis cast. This is a living, a burning question for us all. You who\\nmagnify the power and isolation of the States may elect your\\ngovernor, your own officials in your own way and by methods\\nhowever questionable.\\nYou may even count out by a iDerversion of the election machin\u00c2\u00ac\\nery of your State the man honestly elected to its most exalted\\noffice and seat him who is not the choice of your people. You\\nmay, perchance, be content to accept and live under the adminis\u00c2\u00ac\\ntration of an executive never elected by the honest vote of the\\nelectors of your State. That is your concern; that is your matter.\\nTo be sure, one of deepest, of most serious consequence to you,\\nbut yours must be the odium and the resulting demoralization if\\nyou permit and condone, and yours the honor and the glory if you\\ncondemn and forbid it.\\nBut when it comes to the determinations and decisions of the\\nAmerican Congress, I am as deeply interested as you; I am in\u00c2\u00ac\\nterested for the honor and dignity and glory of my country. I\\nam interested that the power and will of the people, which are as\\nthe breath of life to our republican system, shall have full and\\nfree expression in this supreme legislature of the nation.\\nI am interested as a citizen and a member on tliis floor that in\\nthe decision of those great questions which affect our dearest in\u00c2\u00ac\\nterests and shape our destinies the Representative who comes from\\nthe South or the East or the West and shares in shaping that legis\u00c2\u00ac\\nlation for you and for me shall come only by the free, uncon-\\n33 G6", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "24\\ntrolled, and nncorrupted ballot of the constituency who commis\u00c2\u00ac\\nsion him; and since the law of the land has given that ballot to the\\nhumble colored voter as well as to the proud, intellectual, and\\naggressive Anglo-Saxon, since it has placed that ballot in the hand\\nof the man whom you may despise and whose i ossible dominancy\\nof numbers you may even fear and shrink from, so long as this is\\nthe law of the land, so long as he has received that ballot as but\\nsome partial measure of compensation for the centuries of wrong\\nand oppression it has been his hard lot to endure, so long as this\\npoor, lowly brother shall carry that talisman in his bosom, I shall\\never be ready to stand up here in my place and by my act and\\nspeech and vote declare for a free, pure, untrammeled ballot as\\nthe hope and salvation of our republican liberty. [Applause on\\nthe Republican side.]\\n8366\\nO", "height": "4733", "width": "2735", "jp2-path": "contestedelectio00kirk_0024.jp2"}}