CKni:<;iA. 



a dufmito settlement of tho question. Finally, 

 .il prominent members appealed to AIUM 

 T. . \rkiTimin, a citizen of Georgia, who had 

 itly been appointed to the position of 

 Attorney-General of the United States, for his 

 opinion regarding the duty of the Legislature 

 iu tin- matter. lie replied at considerable 

 length, under date of August 8th. "The con- 

 stitution of Georgia," he said, " had been, for all 

 IIIM. tical, legal, and political purposes, the fnn- 

 <!:imontal State law ever since July, 1868 ;" and, 

 whether the government was regarded as pro- 

 visional or not, that instrument must control 

 the affairs of the State, except when set aside 

 by the " paramount authority exercised by the 

 national Legislature." That constitution had 

 provided tho time of holding elections and 

 fixed upon the terms of office in the State. If 

 any one, elected for two years in 1868, should 

 serve after 1870, ho would not be serving " as 

 the agent of the people, but by virtue of an 

 unprecedented usurpation of his own." With 

 regard to the apprehension that the Republi- 

 can party would lose control of the State, if 

 an election were held this year, he said: 

 "We may better lose the State than keep it 

 wrongfully. If we lose the State in a fair 

 election, though it may be disagreeable, yet we 

 shall have no right to complain. It is one of 

 a freeman's privileges to vote perversely when 

 so minded, and, if the majority choose so to 

 vote, the rest of us must submit for the time, 

 and trust that reflection and experience will 

 bring them in the end to sounder politics. 

 * * * * But we shall not lose the State in a 

 fair election, if our party shall be organized 

 with tolerable efficiency, shall put forward 

 suitable men for office, and shall take a stand 

 on no false ground, that is, no ground that will 

 isolate us from the Republicans of the whole 

 country. Let the party be properly organized ; 

 let it be managed in no individual interests ; 

 let it commit itself sternly, thoroughly, and 

 boldly, to an economical administration of the 

 State government, to the cause of popular edu- 

 cation, to &Q. energetic administration of the 

 local law, to the principles of the Republican 

 party of the nation without abatement, with- 

 out exception, without any compromises with 

 local prejudice, and we shall not fail if the 

 election be fair. But will the election be fair ? 

 Here is tho serious rub. An unfair election is 

 worse than no election. I have not forgotten 

 the atrocities of November, 1868. But I trust 

 that the Democratic frenzy, which then ex- 

 pressed itself in one of the most horrible pages 

 that has ever been written in the history of 

 Georgia, has subsided. If our people have not 

 been brought to reason, moderation, and fair- 

 ness, by two years more of reflection, two years 

 of general prosperity, almost two years of lib- 

 eral and just national administration, when 

 will they come to reason? Let us try the ex- 

 periment of trusting them. At least, let us 

 prepare to try it. If the savage disposition of 

 1868 should reappear in formidable strength, 



then there will be a reason, which does not 

 now exist for postponing the election. If the 

 election should be held, and should be grossly 

 unfair, perhaps some lawful means of correct- 

 ing tho wrong may be found, cither in the State 

 or out of the State. However that may be, it 

 docs not become as to do wrong for fear that 

 onr adversaries will do worse. Hitherto the 

 excess of wrong has been immensely on their 

 side. Let us leave it there. 1 ' 



His conclusion is as follows: "For these 

 reasons, I think that an election should be 

 held this year. The Legislature has control, 

 under the constitution, of the particular time 

 of the election, provided it shall not be so 

 long deferred as to extend the terms beyond 

 the constitutional period. I s^e no grave ob- 

 jection to a postponement of the election until 

 about the 20th of December. By that time, 

 organization could be complete. Legislation, 

 if any is necessary, to secure fairness in the 

 elections, could bo perfected ; and preparation 

 could be made for enforcing it. There would 

 1)6 time, too, after the commencement of next 

 session, for that body to prohibit the election 

 if it discovered that the people of Georgia had 

 mistaken its will." 



An election law was subsequently framed 

 in accordance with this advice, and, after con- 

 siderable discussion, finally adopted on the 3d 

 of October. This provides " that an election 

 shall be held in this State, beginning on the 

 20th day of December, 1870, and ending on the 

 22d of said month of December, 1870, for 

 members of Congress to serve during the un- 

 expired term of the Forty-first Congress of 

 the United States, and for members of the 

 Forty-second Congress; for Senators in the 

 State Senate from each district numbered in 

 the constitution with an odd number; for 

 members of the House of Representatives of 

 the General Assembly ; for Sheriffs, Clerks of 

 the Superior Court, Tax Receivers and Tax 

 Collectors, County Treasurers, Coroners, and 

 County Surveyors, of the several counties of 

 this State." 



This was to be managed and superintended 

 at the several county court-houses, or in the 

 city election precincts, by five managers for 

 each precinct, three of whom were to be ap- 

 pointed by the Governor, and two by the or- 

 dinary of the county. These managers are 

 authorized to perform the duties ordinarily 

 required in holding elections, and to preserve 

 order at and near the polls, but they have 

 " no power to refuse ballots of any male person 

 of apparent full age, a resident of the county, 

 who has not previously voted at the said elec- 

 tion." It is further provided that " they shall 

 not permit any person to challenge any vote, 

 or hinder, or delay, or interfere with any 

 other person in the free and speedy casting 

 of his ballot." Another section declares: 



SEC. 19. Nothing in this act prohibiting challenges 

 at the polls shall be construed to authorize any one to 

 vote who is not under the constitution a qualified 



