Weekly miners' express. (DuBuque, Iowa) 184?-1849, 1848-06-07
SHAMEFUL. DUpLIClTY.

SHAMEFUL DUPLIClTY.
We are not ony,surprised and n,or,i.
fled, but utterly coniounded, 10 find inlhes
last St. Louis Republican anseditorial,'
severely reprehending the conduct Of
our Governor and Secretary Of state, for
the course pursued>5y them, in canvass
Ing the late vote for Superintendent Of
Public ipstruction. When Mr.. Benton
was declared elected by the meagre ma
iority Of II votes, experience left US no
room to doubt that this small majority
would be tortured into a discovery, by
the Wing corps editorial Of the State,
ofsome transcendants plot Of the rascally
"Loco foco's,". to deprive their party CT
its rights. Everything, and even more
than we anticipated, has been fully veri-
fed, notwithstanding our greatly reduced
majority was the result Of local and COL
lateral questions, foreign 10 the subject of
general politics. Charges Of fraud and
corruption, bribery and political theft
were freely lavished upon the Governor
and Secretary. This was not unexpected.
We could account fort from natural caus-
es; s.as the twig is bent, the tree invaria-
bly, inclines.'2 But we are free to &C.
knowledge, that we were not prepared
for this gra,uitous exhibition Of SANDER
and falsehood from.-a foreign Journal,
claiming the responsibility and exercising
the influence ofHfhe Republican.
Whether the editors. Of that sheet have
been misin(ormed, or whether they are
resolved from this, till after the Presiden-
tial election, to rob Satan of his occupa-
ton, are questions which we shall not at
tempt to expound, believing that time
will enlighten us as to the former, and
public opinion provide for the latter
Four charges by inuendo are preferred
by the Republican against the Governor
and Secretary, and one against the judi
ciary ofthe State, LIST, Its editors charge
that the Secretary violated the law in
opening the returns, before the day ap-
pointed by law, to convene the Board.
end, That he sent back the returns of
many counties and attempted to corrupt
the clerks into making false returns,
where he could venture with safety to
himself and reasonable hope Of benefit
ting theaparty. Sd, That he succeeded
in corrupting the clerks, and thereby
changing the result, and this was consul
mated by torturing the name Of Harlan,
into sHartan.' sHar!in,' and EHarland,' ex-
GLIDING all except where his name was
spelled sHarlan.' 4th, That the Board
was guilty Of gross injustice in giving
Mr.. Benton the benefit Of votes returned
for Thomas Benton Thomas H. Ben
ton, > Thomas H.. Benton, Jun.,' and T..
Benton,' while they2excldded all votes re-
turned with Harlan's name spelled incor-
rectly.eu ss sfr'4G&f7as ssr.i -rg@.. = Il; a~qa
To these four charges designed to con-
vict the board Of fraud, we, reply that
they are entirely groundless, displaying
noithor sense nor reason, and indicating
nothing higher or nobler in their authors
than temporary qualification Of the low
est passions which belong to the partisan.
There is nothing in the Statutes of Iowa
forbidding the returns being opened be-
fore the day provided by law for conven-
ing the Board; neither is, there any pro-
vision requiring the Clerks TO seal them
up before transmitting themt to the secre-
tary, SO that this pretended violation Of
law vanishes into Thin air. It is true
the Secretary did examine the returns as
they came in, and from several counties,
among which were Mahaska, and Jeffer-
son, which gave q majority, for Mr.. Har-
Ian, requested corrected returns "A Gus
ON adopted as early as 1s43, and never
deviated from to thisday, sanctioned tin
the absence Of any express provision by
law, J the first act, while a failure to com.
ply with the law in making out the re-
turns, fully jus.ifies the latter. The law
provides that the County Clerks shall
make copy OF each abstract and trans
init it by mail tothe Secretary; but in
the returns which were sent back by the
Secretary for correction, the aggregate
vote for each candidate was given, and
not a copy Of each abstract from the
Trustees of the respective Townships as
provided bylaw; which must establish to
every impartial mind, q complete jnstif-
cation Of the cgndadctt 70 Of the the Secretary
|. is true, r,;et Mrs Harlan's name was
speiled Ia every fbrns which human in