The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-10-24 00:00:00

NOT VERY PARTICVLAR.

While everything is done to inspire enthusiasm, and thus
In a fair way contribute to success. the managers of neither
party hesitate to commit frauds. A good deal of the labour
of the political committees consists in perfecting these frauds
for their own party, :old in detecting mid exposing the
villainy of their opponents. Ti. such an extent is cheating
carried on in the elections in all tau large cities that it is
doubted whether a fair vote is any longer possible. One
party Inns expert as the other at this kind of work, and the
managers of each excuse it by the assertion that their oppo-
nents cheat, and it is necessary for them to do It to hold
their own. American tlections in the cities ceased to be
fairly conducted years ago, audit is useless for any American
abroad or at home to deny that each party at every election
connives at and practises wholesale fraud. To prove it, it is
only necessary for the doubter to come hem and Watch ri
single exciting campaign. As we are in the midst of these
frauds now, as every newspaper is lined with arenillitS of
their detection, and as the proper 1111,,ine,9 of all our Courts
Is stopped inn order to consider suits arising out of them, I
propose to devote a short spice to the various speMes of
frauds now 'wing perpetrated IT both parties to influence the
aPproathing election in Philadelphia.

IT DOES NOT PAT Ti) BITE VOTE..
There are so many voters in America that the buying of
votes does not my. It is found much cheaper and nore
effective to spend the money in influencing men who can
control voters, or who can successfully carry out frauds.
The buying of individual votes, therefore, is rarely practised.
In Pennsylvania every white male citizen over twenty-one •
years of age who has resided one year in the state, and ten
days in the particular election division where he proposes
to vote, and who within two years has paid a state Or county
tax, is a lemliy qualified voter In effect, this amounts to
leaking voters of at the white men. excepting foreigners
who rave not been naturalized. The tax that will qualify a
voter is the payment of 050. in currency ,about xl., once In
two years. The residence is the fact of sleeping in a parti-
cular house for ten days before an electb ot. Foreigners who
have resided five years in America call become as good
, voters as if they were native-born, ly being natu-
ralized ; and as the political committees are anxious
: to pay the taxes or naturalization expenses of any
voter who desires it, the suffrage is almost universal.
From this statement of the qualifications of a voter it would
seem as if there ass no room fir fraud, as every nuin can so
easily get qualified; but, in fact, it is this very universality of
voting that gives the last chalice for frauds. The fact that
a person is a man and looks as if he were of age is a sort of
pronajaci, evidence that he is a voter, 81111 his claim to
deposit a ballot can scarcely be resisted if he pushes it.
There are four styles of cheating practised at our elections—
.' colonization,'' vcting when under age, voting by " re-
peaters," and the fraudulent voting of unuaturalized
foreigners. Each party probably polls 10 per cent, of its
vote ill an exciting election by these frauds.