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2 THIRTY TWO CONTESTS AIVi) REPUBLIC %.*« fSKTTIrfG READY TO UNSEAT THE DEMOCRATS. VUOODARO-CHEATHAM CONTEST The Evidence i« all iu Woodard’s Fa vor and Nothing but Reckless Parti san Prejudice Can be Relied on to Accomplish Chealham’s Purpose to Unseat Him- -Elections Committee Divided Into Three Parts and lor the Purpose of Unseating Democrats. WASHINGTON, Dec. 13.—(Special)— As foreshadowed in a previous letter, the amendment to the * rules was yesterday adopted provid ing- for three eleceions com mittees of 9 each. Cannon, of Illinois, led the debate, starting off with a state ment. of the necessity of having three committees, instead of one us hereto fore, to handle the 32 contested cases to come up before the House. Cannon was replied to at. length by Crisp and sharply interrupted at one time by Mc- Millan, of Tennessee. After the day had been nearly consumed by the de bate on the amendment. H was finally passed, not, however, before amend ments had been offered, nml lost, res pectively by Bailey, of Texas, to re quire a special oath from the appoint ees on the ground that, they were judi cial officers, and by Terry, of Arkansas, providing that there should be allow ed six hours debate, if desired on each case. It was evident almost from the beginning from the tone and temper of Cannon’s harangue that the Repub licans had resolved to have done with the Democratic eontestees as soon as possible. The debate was followed by the reading of the President’s message on the Venezuelan boundary question. This elicited much enthusiasm from ev ery member. The message is generally regarded as eminently satisfying, altOf.f ther free from jingo, even deprecating the answer of spirited firmness which, per force, was the only one left the Presi dent to give, consistently with the honor of the country. There was hardly anything else talked of yesterday afternoon, and while a few say it is a bid from Cleveland for re-nomination, yet the greater number say he has done well in every way In the utterance. It is yet thought that Great Britain will get out of the dilemma by some diplomatic dodge. Certainly, it is as serted on all sides, America can take no back-step after such an utterance by Cleveland. CHEATHAM-WOODA RI) CONTEST. The partisans of ex-Congresman 11. P. Cheatham, who is contesting Mr. Woodard’s seat, have been actively en deavoring to create the impression that Cheatham has a good case and will be seated by the present House. The evidence in the case and the briefs of both parties have been published, and a careful perusal of the same w ill sat isfy any unprejudiced mind that the claims of the contestant are not war ranted by the facts. Hon. H. P. Cheatham starts out in his contest by claiming that the sec ond Congressional District contains 5,000 more colored than white voters, and that the colored vote may be re lied on as Republican solid. It. is upon these allegations that he bases his con test. If true, then there can lie no doubt he was elected and is entitled to the seat. But the truth is, there is no ground for such claims and they are but barest assertions with no evidence to sustain them. He claims that he received a plural ity of 1,498 votes. As to these allegations, what are the facts? The registration books of each county were put in evidence and they show a white registered majority of 1,539 voters. This is the official re cord and cannot lie disputed. Igno rance would he inexcusable, and evi dently the object is to forestall public sentiment and create a fictitious im pression that he ought to be seated, because his color being in a larger ma jority in the district should have a rep resentative of their own. This district was formerly compos ed of a majority of negroes and was therefore known as the “black dis trict.*’ The Legeislature of 1890 changed the district and detached Cra ven and Vance counties, which con tained 1.118 colored majority and ad ded Wayne county,* which contained 1,500 white majority. This act of the Legislature, coupled with very large emigration of negroes from this sec tion of the State within the last few years, has changed the complexion of Die district and given the w hites a reg istered majority of 1,579 votes, as shown by the registration liook.s. It will thus be seen that the claim that the. negroes are now in a majority in the district is absurd. As to the second alegation, that the negro vote was solidly Republican, there is as little truth as that in regard to the claim that the negroes are in a majority in the district. It is proved that there was great op position among the colored voters all over the district to the contestant. This opposition it is shown by many witnesses, 'arose principally from the fact, that there had been a bitter eon test for the Republican nomination for Congress between the contestant and (■. 11. White, a prominent and popular leader of iiis rae< . who had been elect ed Solicitor of the Judicial District composed of five of the same counties which are in the Second Congressional district. '1 he comeution was a very inharmonious and turbulent body, and broke up in great disorder, both Cheat ham and White claiming to be nomi nated. While issued an address to the voters in which he denounced the con testant and made a strong appeal in his ow n behalf as the regular nominee of the Republican party. This con test was kept up for months and a very bitter feeling was excited lietween the partisans of the two aspirants. The National Republican Committee took C i atter in hand and a committee v appointed to settle the difficulty. '1 n.s committee decided in favor of Cheatham, and the followers of White to a large extent refused to acquiesce in that decision and fought the conies tant throughout, the campaign, White himself refusing to vote for the con testant. This is proved by Republi can witnesses of prominence, and in all the counties where testimony was ta ken the serious opposition to the con testant among his own race was clearly proven. In Edgecombe, one of the largest negro counties in the district, the op position among the negroes to Cheat ham was very decided as shown in many witnesses as well as by the re sult, of the election. Bred Wimberly, an intelligent and influential colored man. who had rep resented the county in the Legislature, both in the Senate and House, testified that, “the opposition to Mr. Cheatham was general among the leaders and vo ters of the colored people throughout the county.” lie deelured on oath: “The colored voters of the county did not support Cheatham.’ Samuel Lawrence, another lending Republican of Edgecombe, testifies that after the Republican committee decided in favor of Cheatham .there was a great many Republicans who openly expressed their determination to oppose him. In answer to a puestion. he testified as follows: “I am intimate with pretty near al! of them, and nearly every leader vvill fight Cheatham on account of \\ bite. Moses Chase, chairman of the Republi can committee. J. W. Loyd, secretary. \Y. TV. Watson, member of the commit tee, Ex-Senator Wimberly and Ex- Senator Prank Dancey- all three, and a good many others, opposed Cheat ham.” Evidence of this kind as to Edge combe could be multiplied, if neces sary. and with none but Republican witnesses, to show the great opposi tion to Cheatham among the colored voters of this county, but the above is a fair sample of the evidence on this point, as found in the record of testi mony taken in this contest. Another conclusive fact to show that this county, with its large negro ma jority. did not give contestant any majority, is that the Republican candi dates for the Legislature, who were avowed Cheatham men. were defeated. They made a contest before the Leg islature. which was composed of a two thirds majority against the Demo crats. A committee was appointed, headed by Hon. H. G. Ewart, an Ex- Repuhlican Congressman, and who was elected by the Legislature Judge of the Western Judicial District, which visited Edgecombe county, and after a full investigation of the conduct of the election in that county, reported unanimously that the sitting members were entitled to their seats, and that ♦ lie election was conducted fairly and honestly in every respect. We have here the report of this committee, with only one Democrat on it, testi fying that the election in Edgecombe county was fairly conducted, but the contestant claims, on the other hand, without any proof, in order to make out his ease, that the election was fraudulent and corrupt;and in his brief proposes to Congress to give him a plurality in the county where he was 852 votes behind the eontestee accord ing to the official returns made by the sworn election officers, composed of both parties, and show n by the highest character of testimony ,besides the evi dence so the legislative, committee, that they were men of good character and had conducted the election fairly and honestly in every respect. There is still another conclusive fact that the opposition to the contestant, in this county was very extensive, as it is show n on the official returns from two precincts, where there were 103 colored votes, that Cheatham did not get a single vote, and he has not in his notice even contested either one of these two precincts, and does not offer any evidence at all to show that the election was not fairly conducted Yet lie claims that, the colored vote was solid for him. Again, in Northampton county, w here he makes t he same absurd claim as in Edgecombe, without any reason or proof, we find the very same condi tion. Let us take, for example, Oconeeehee township, which lias a large negro ma jority. In this township there are 400 negro voters and Cheatham received only 22 votes. He claims he ought to have 160, as one of his partisans tes fied that he had given out to different voters that, number of tickets. Suppose this absurd claim is admit ted and he is allowed the 160 votes, we will have 240 of Ihe 400 colored voters refusing to vote for him. In this township, E. I). Jones, col ored, and one of the judges of elec tion, testifies: “ If. P. Cheatham was very unpopu lar and most of the colored Republi cans and Populists electioneered and voted for Dr. Freeman.” Another leading Republican, IV. M. Person, testified: “11. P. C heatham was n njxipular in Oconeeehee township with the Repub licans. They wanted White, and most of them voted for Dr. Freeman, the Populist candidate.” Witness after witness testified to the same state so affairs, and none but Republican witnesses are necessary to prove the serious opposition to the eontestee, and especially in the large negro counties. The testimony of Democratic judges of election of the highest character corroborates this unbroken and uniform evidence of Republicsn witnesses. In the county of Wilson there are four precincts containing about 400 colored voters, and in these four pre cincts the eontestee got only 35 votes, iu two of the precincts only one vote in each* the negroes voting almost sol idly for Dr. Freeman, w ho resides in this county. With this record be fore him, and claiming the solid negro vote of the district, the contestant does not dare to dispute the fairness of t he elect ion in these four precincts, and does not introduce a single parti cle of testimony in regard to them. In this county, Hilliard Ellis, poll holder, a leading and responsible col ored citizen of Taylor's township, tes tifies as follows: “I am a Republican. Have been since 1 have been a volt r. I voted for Dr. Freeman. Every other colored man in the district voted for Freeman ex cept Amos Daniel, who voted for Cheatham.” This is the kind of evidence we find all over the district, and yet contestant has the cheek so claim tin 1 colored vote solid. I will not give any other evidence The News and Observer, Thursday, Dec. 19 ’95, r on t his-seore. This letter would be too long. The above is only a small part of the evidence, all going to show the absurdity of Cheatham's claim about tlie solid negro vote. With the official record of registration, and the over whelming evidence of a divided negro vote, there is no ground for the allega tions made by contestant, and upon which he is asking for a seat in Con gress. The fallacy of the main ground upon which Cheatham began Ids contest being exposed, he then places bis re liance to work up a case by a general allegation of fraud on the part of the election officers of the district-. In his attempt to establish fids allegation, he encounters the same signal failure as in the other claims which the evi dence proves to be entirely unfounded. Instead of fraudulent conduct at the elections, it is shown that they were conducted fairly and honestly not only by the testimony of the w itnesses, but but by a report made to the Legislature by a committee composed of a majori ty of contestant’s friends. in the county of Edgecombe, where it is pro posed to change the official vote so as to make out a plurality for contestant, all the evidence shows that the charges of fraud are entirely frivolous. The charge that ignorant and corrupt ne gro Republicans were appointed poll holders is utterly gratuitous on the face of the report of the Legislative committee and the fact that these poll holders were appointed on the recom mendation of the Republican Executive Committee, and their character for in telligence and honesty is abundantly proved by all the witnesses examined. In many of the townships where con testant received very few and in some instances no vote at all the fairness of the election is not questioned in his notice of contest, and no testimony offered to establish such charge. As a specimen of the ground upon what it is claimed to reverse the re turns of the sworn officers of election, I can only mention a few as a sample of the absurdity of these charges. In the county of Warren two w it nesses are examined who give their opinion that contestant is entitled to more votes in two precincts in that county than were returned for by the poll-holders. These two witnesses ac knowledge they did not live in the two precincts referred to, and were not even present in the precincts on the day of election. Without any personal knowledge of the matter, they merely give an opinion, and it is seriously claimed that 300 votes upon such testi mony as this should be added to the vote of contestant. In Northampton county at Seaboard precinct only one witness was exam ined. M. F. Stancell, for contestant, who. in answer to the question, “How many colored men at this precinct, ol your own knowledge, voted for Wood ard?” replied, “I do not know of any. 1 did not stay but an hour on the day of election. I know that they said lie fore the election that they intended to vote for Woodard. Whether they did or not I could not tell. I have heard David Doles say that he worked for him, also Nathan Calvert. With this testimony, all that was taken for this precinct, it is proposed to add to the vote of Cheatham 107 votes and in the same county, Roanoke township, with out the production of a particle of tes timony, it is proposed in the contest ant's brief to add 60 to his vote. In Greene county, John D. Grimsley testified that 270 votes returned for Cheatham were thrown out by the county canvassing board, and after wards when it was shown to him that no votes were thrown out by the board at the last election, he gave a certificate that he was mistaken, that it was at the election two years be fore that 270 votes were thrown out. The counsel for contestant, notwith standing this correction on the part of his witness, insists that the 270 votes shall still Ire counted to contestant's vote, because as he received about that number less than he did in 1892, it must lie presumed that the precinct poll liolders threw out that number of votes that were cast for Cheatham, FACIAL HUMOURS Prevented by Catioura# W A SHADED TO BE SEEN because of disftg **■ uring facial humours is the condition of thousands who live in ignorance of the fact that in Cuticuba Soap is to tie found the purest, sweetest, and inostelTectiveskin puri fier and beautifier in the world. For pimples, blackheads, red and oily skin, red, rough bauds with shapeless nails, dry, thin,and fall ing hair, it is wonderful. Bold throughout the world. British depot, F. Xrw bert A Sons, 1, King Edward-at, 1 .on,lon Potter Xihco AND Cum. Coup., Sole Props., Boston, l). S. A. I Uses it i s can M ustang Liniment Oia his horses, ora has drivers. >- '/// '"I 'V' ir* / i • , x. k j t and actually adds 270 to contestant's vote in that county w itliout the shadow of evidence. This is the Character of testimony relied on to make out a plu rality for contestant. And of such are the facts and evidence upon w hich Hon. 11. I‘. Cheatham claims that lit* w ill be seated by the Fifty-Fourth Con gress. Nothing but blind, reckless partisan prejudice could be relied on to accomplish his purpose, and it can not lie presumed that the House of Representatives, with its 140 Republi can majority, will discharge all the facts and testimony, and deprive a political opponent of his seat who was honestly elected by over 5,000 plurality. Mr. P. H. Hanes, of Winston, went North this morning and will put his little daughter at school either in New' York or at Yassar. The young lady accompanies her father, but will re turn for the holidays lie fore going reg ularly to school. , 1 learn from a reliable source that Reed will announce the committees Thursday, but that the Senate has re fused to adjourn on that day. Miss Ryder and Miss Wriston, of Charlotte, are registered at the Metro politan. W. E. CHRISTIAN. Perfect Digestion la secured by taking Hood’s Pills sftsf dinner, or If digestion Is Impeded by HOOD'S ♦he liver and bowel*. At home or abroad Hood’* Pills are a safeguard and a friend. f Railways, Water Works, sewerage FRANK A. PEIRCE 1 Improvements,” civil EKGisEtK. Surveys for Drainage a*d * ' | Irrigation, I RECNSB RN C. i Development of ■ Town Site I Prose-ties, Parks and Cemeteries. -NOW —FOR THE— Holiday Season. We have tbe best and most carefully selected lines of holiday goods to be found in the State. Our line of GIFT BOOKS is splendid. Wo invite our friends to call and examine our stock. Careful at tention given all orders. Oar stock is entirely new. Very truly yours, ALFRED WILLIAMS & DO,, BOOKSELLERS AND STATIONERS Guilford College. One of the Oldest, Best and Cheapest Educa tional Institutions in the South. Opening for a new year will be on New Year’s Day. January Ist, 1x96. Correspondence Solicited. L. L. HOBBS, Pres. Geo. W. WHITE, Treas. GUILFORD COLLEGE, N* C. Raleigh, N. 0., Feb. 8,1896. Lyon Mfg. Co., Brooklyn, N. Y. 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The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Dec. 19, 1895, edition 1
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