The weekly Minnesotian., 1857-11-28

|
much-we had au entering wedge for still
further Developments by that paper or its
friends in regard to the forged returns "pre-
pared" by the agent" of the Sunday caucus.
| Our expectations have been realized, as will
be seen by the following paragraph from the
Pioneer of yesterday which acknowledges the
fact Of such forgery by Democratic hands, and
attempts to crawl out of the responsibilities
of it by claiming it was all 'joke." Its ar
ticle is as follows -
THE MRnesotidn will find ont in due of time,
that the burglar in the employ of the Republican Central
Committee, who entered room at Swan River, and
stole therefrom package V papers puFpo'ttn0 10
contain election returns, did not benefit RAMSEY in the
least by his thevery The stolen prepared
up country, by gentleman Tond 0rhts JOKE as trap
10 catch Republican gu it being well known that sew
era had been dispatched northward buy if possible
and If steal. The trick succeeded beautifully,
for while the thief at his work, the 0snuine re-
turns their way ST. Paul, in the hands Of
messenger dispatched from Fort Ripley"
Now we call the attention of the people at
large of every party, to the admission in the
foregon3 paragraph from the Democratic Or
gan,
THAT a package of papers purporting
to contain election returns" were concealed
River" in Morrison Co
That these "returns" were 'prepared-
in other words FORGED-''up country"
That they were prepared" or forged
"by gentleman fond Of his joke!"
That they were prepared; or forged, as
"a trap to catch Republican gulls p
That of course, 'this gentleman fond of
his joke" must be Democrat for Repub-
lican would not be likely to set trap for Re-
publicans!
We submit it to all candid men, wheth-
er in the article we have just quoted, the
leaders of the Democratic party through
their organ here in St. Paul, have not already
admitted the truth of our charge of election
returns having been forged by Democratic
hands, from precincts in the upper country
The miserable subterfuge that any one
man, merely for the sake of his joke should
have gone to the trouble of getting printed
poll books from the Pioneer office--of filling
in hundreds of names thereto,-- of fixing up
the Oaths Of judges and clerks-of making
out long returns of votes cast for different
canddates-is one that no reasonable man
would put the least faith in for one minute
And still less can any man believe that af-
ter having taken all this trouble, this "gen-
tleman fond of his joke" should have set his
trap to catch Republicans in private room,
safe under lock and key!
Is there not bold absurdity upon the very
face OF such apretence?
We take it that it would he the judgment
of all honest and calm minded people, that
these returns so prepared, as the Pioneer gin
gerly terms it-so foryed as others would
more truly call it.-were so prepared and so
forged for the sake of being nsed-filed in
the Sccrctary's office.-and counted in the
canvass in order to elect Mr. Sibley.
'Tis in vain for any newspaper, or any body
of men whatever, by the Aimsy excuse that
it was done for joke or trick, to escape
from the withering condemnation which such
rascality deserves to receive, and will receive,
from right thinking men of every partisan
creed.
have broached the subject of this 'burglary,'
which was not mentioned from our side of
the house, and why this fimsy pretext of
'joke' was thrown out to account how such
forged returns came to be there at all, in the
posso ssion of Democrats
Was it that the guilty men feared that
those returns which they had lost, might yet
appear in Judgment against them ?-might
have been fonnd by some one who would
confront them before the board of canvass
ers and they therefore thought it advisable,
in advance, to throw out the idea thatit was
done as joke, and so hide their confusion of
face behind the mask of a broad grin 1t
puts us in mind of the Frenchman's excuse
for killing his wife. He did it innocently, he
said, in "petUe n omeW de uicacitie!
1t appea:s from the Pioneer that while
these forged returns were being stolen, the
genuine returns were on their way to st.
Paul in the hands of a messenger dispatched
from Fort Ripley
We ask if this messenger who brought
down these 'geauine returns" as the Pioneer
calls them, was not the same "gentleman fond of
his joke" who prepared, and from whose
carefully barred and locked room the forged |
returns were taken?
And was not this same messenger also the |
very agent of the Sunday caucus, who was
dispatched to 'prepare' and bring down the
returns, and were not these "genuine re-
turns" spoken of. new batch Of .foryeries to
replace those which were lost and amongst |
them the fraudulent returns from ST. Vincent
precinct, now filed in the Secretary's Office
the same the Pioneer clingS to as tenaciously |
as a highway robber to his ill-gotten plunder.
The paper that knows SO much about
the 'burglary !"-about the "electioa re-
turns purporting to be from certain precincts |
up the country !'-about the gentleman
fond of his iokc"-why he thus joked -
about the strap he set for Republican gulls -
and the queer place he set it in !-render
ing 'burglary' necessary to get into it
might afford to know little more, and peo-
pie will think it does know more about the
preparation of those canine returns which
it so facetiously speaks of!
Now, fellow citizens, without regard to
party, we address few words for your calm
deliberation.
You see by the foregoing, that out of their
own mouths, and without drawing at all up
<Lo of L., how