New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1855-10-08
sFcaEgrIoNs AND ENQuIRIEs.

H6uUESAAVnr nns AsAs0eA@*As'
As Ne expected, our article Of last Saturday,
headed .Naturalization- the Law - has caused
q terrible gathering among the anti Americans
The silence Of their organs we regard as sig
niGcant indication that our quotations from the
laws creating and governing the six dls'ric.
courts of this city, and our arguments iounaed
upon those quotations, are, If not unansHe apie,
al least too formidable to be replcd 70, except
after deliberate consideration
In this country the privilege Of reading the
law. and Of commenting upon the law, is &C
corded every citizen. As yet there is no restric-
Alan mon Mct prerogative. And, although the
citizen may be compelled to abide by decisions
promulgated from the Judgment seat, it does
not follow that he shall consider those decisions
just and equitable, nor that another officer,
created by law Of the same commonwealth,
shall regard as honest and valid what he has
good reason to believe is dishonest and invalid !!
AS well might debtor assert the right to force
upon creditor counterfeit bank-note, in pay
ment of just obligation, and claim full ac-
quittance therefor, as for an anti American to
maintain that solemnly sworn judge Of cleo
4
is illegal and fraudulent, simply because q de-
luded, an ignorant, or q villainous individual 10
willing to take prescribed cath, regardless Of
his own soul, the laws Of the land, or the moral
effect Of such infamous transactions.
1t may be contended by those whose sole wish
seems to be to make Questionable individuals-
men who cannot, or will not, prove their claim
legal voters, that the aoords Of an act of the
last Legislature compel the judges Of election
| to receive every vote that may be sworn to
This, we argue, is opposed to the spirit and sub
stance Of all law. 1t cannot be otherwise; for,
even the Antics will admit that frauds upon the
ballot-box should not be countenanced
| Assuming, then, in all candor and sincerity,
that the nti-Americans are as much opposed to
the prostitution Of the ballot-box as we are
and We begin to fear that we are over liberal
| in our assumptions how can they ask, or any
body else ask, that a sworn judge of election
| shall permit any one to vote when he has good
grounds for believing that the person Offering
to pote has ne rightful or legal title to vote
Every honest man is always willing and able to
verify his claim to. franchise. None but the
questionable shrink from investigation
but the g dangerous and suspicious" as the Re-
corders' clerks have it, shun the light of day
\ none but constituencies scoundrels, who wish to
vote half dozen or dozen times, and get paid
for each vote-but are prepared to substan-
tiate their right in the premises.
Carry out the principle that judge Of an
election has no powers whatever-that he can
not refuse the vote Of person whom he knows
to be interdicted, Or who, he has good evidence,
intends to commit fraud-and you not only
| make him an accessory and an instrument in
the commission Of the BLACKLIST villainy, but
you peryert the ballot-box from what its crea-
tors intended it to be, the ark Of all that is
noble and patriotic, into a fostering receptacle
of corruption and perjury There is nc
escape from these propositions.
Admit the principle, and the voice of the real
people may be stifed; the legal voter may be
deprived Of his just influence in the commu-
nifty; an avalanche Of fraud may oyerwhelm
the honest suffragans; and the vile and the in
famous, by vile and infamous means, may be
enabled to defeat and crush true and lawful
citizens! That this can be done, we have album
ldant evidence in the past Of Louisiana; but
that it will not be permitted hereafter, we feel
entirely confdent-.j,tst as sure as zoe arethat
the honest people Of the parish of Plaque
raiales ,oiH prepenta renesoal of the frauds Of
1874 sat all hazards and to the East ca.
tremityp - M
| We question not there are some thousands
Of Illegal, null and void, utterly fraudulent and
worthless naturalization papers in this city.
The persons holding them, or pretending to own
them-many Of them are the certificates Of
dead men-should be compelled to prove their
claim, when the judge has serious doubts, or
reason to believe that bribery is about to be
brought to bear upon the ballot-box, No reputa-
BILE voter will object to such procedure.
| Any other course than the one we have has
| tily marked out would make the judge of an
election partner, willing or unwilling, in
frauds and perjuries! And if such an officer
is to be made an instrument Of to enable others
to perpetrate scoundrelism, We opine there are
few gentlemen in New Orleans who will consent
| to serve as Commissioners Of Election.
1 1T
To COMMISSION MERCHANTS. Under this cap
or.o 1r