The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1857-10-24
The Frauds OF the Democratic Party ut
the Recent Election.

There Is disgrace in political defeat neither Is
there honor triumph when is secured by purchas-
ed Illegal votes OF by he votes of herds Of Ignorant
men VINO are driven to the polls like cattle to the mar
ket When man Is elevated to position OF trust ana
honor by the free will offerings of his fellow citizens b
Of their confidence in his fitness and nierity, he
has something feel proud Of but there Is no more
honor In his being elected by purchased or Illegal votes
than there would be had voting machine elevated him
to ofice.-DubuQ"e Daily Times
Whether defeated on all, or triumphant on
part of our ticket, or whether all hands
have gone by the board, we say with the edi-
itor of the Dubuque Times, "therc is no dis
grace in political defeat )" and still less is
there disgrace in such political defeat as
the Republicans Of Minnesota may have sus-
tanned, if finally defeated they are.
There is no corruption on our hands, nor
bribery nor fraud c'ings to our skirts. APP
pealing to intelligent people, in an ineligible
manner, reasoning with them on principle
and that the cherished one upon which Amer
lean freedom is based, We have fought the
fight manlully, openly, without money and
without "the votes of herds Of ignorant men
driven to the polls like cattle to the market"
But what do we see on the other side =
We see the dark, dark reverse of this pic
ture Here in St. Paul, a mass OF unrcason-
ing, unrehecting people, influenced only by
passion and by prejudice, were led up to the
polls, the ignorant dupeS" of willy dema-
gosues, and voted without a why or where
for to elevate to power the enemies Of the
country, the friends of human slavery, the
apologists for and willing instruments Of the
southern olsarchy of the slaveholdins de-
mocracy. They are led up to vote, some Of
them with legal right to suffrage, some with
out the shadow of such right, and many so
lost to manhood and 10 virtue, as to he gull
ty of double, and treble and quadruple vot-
ing, not stopping even at perjury to serve the
masters who pay them.
No man here of judgment and observation
doubts that at least five hundred illegal votes
were polled in st. Paul, on the 18th inst,
and every ore of them for the Sham Demo
cratic ticket. And it is food for reflection.
that at this important election, when the
nerves of both parties were strained to the
utmost, to get out every voter, considera
bly, less number of votes were pollcd in the
Second Ward-the Irish ward of the city
than at the June election for delegates to the
Constitutional Convention!
At St. Anthony and Minneapolis, the
game of transporting Irish voters after they
had voted at one poll, to vote them over
again at another, was the order of the day to
a considerable extent.
In the little county of Manomin, above ST.
Anthony, a Democratic majority of ninety
seven votes is reported, where every person
knows that half that number of votes is the
extent of its proper and legal poll /; and it is
susceptible of proof that this number was
made up of sojourners, travellers along the
road-voters from other polls.
Look, too, at Dakota County; and par
ticuarly look at the vote of Mend>ta. the
residence of Mr. Sibley. Two hundred and
fifty odd votes in Mendota and two hun
bred ard forty-six of those for Mr.. Sibley for
Governor! Why, it is transparent to every
body that NJ such legal vote exists in that
precilc ct. We have heard that the fe' ry be-
tween the bogus precinct at the Fort
and Mendoza, did good business that day /;
which may partly account for the heavy vote
and heavy Democratic maiorities at both
places.
The mode. also, in which the clectioneerine
was done at Menlota reminds one more OF
a Canadian Seignory: than a free Gle ton
poll in the United States. A big burly fel
low with large bundle of tickets grlsped in
one hand, and a huge whip in the other, &C
costcd the independent votcrs'' rs they came
along, and thrusting tickets into their hands,
flourshed the whip and shouted to them the
mandate to 60 AMI vote it forthwith! n
Republican ticket hoisted on pole and
pelted with stones, served to form part of
the amusements Of the highly intelligent
and in intellectual, if not very SOBER Democ.
racy Of Mr.. Sbley's manor on election day.
In the same county, at the precinct of In
vcrgrove, where fifty votes would be the ex-
treme of the honest poll, nearly ninety votes
are reported, and about eighty Democratic
majority. 1t is fact that can be proved.
that early on the morning ofelection day, i'm
mcdiately after this poll was opened some
twenty men from West St. Paul precinct
drove up, demanded to vote, swore in their
votes as not having voted before that day
(Which was probably true) and then drove
off and voted at their proper precinct Of
West st. Paul, where of course, being known
as residents, they escaped unchallenged a
shrewd game, wasn't it?
And then, in addition to all this dark rec
ord, observe the transactions at the Indian
agencies. TIE Winnebagoes vote in Blue
Earth County, without the attempt at dis
guise. The Sioux vote at the Red Wood
agency and doubtless the Chippewas have
exercised the right of suffrage on the Upper
Mississippi.
Certainly, it must be highly flattering to
Mr.. Siblcy to be so popular that even the
breecl;-clouted savagcs ofthe wilderness cast
great majorities in his favor. He must FEEL
proud at their confidence in his fitness and in.
tegrity. He must feel honored, highly honored
AS ifthe cup of ilegality and rascality was
not yet sufficiently full by these outrages, a
more wholesale, if MT more gross and pal
pablo one, is foreshadowed by the reports OF
enormous majorites, or rather "all the votes
cast for the Democratic ticket in an alleged
county called Davis, and an alleged county
styled Pearce. If these reports are merely
reports, put out as feelers, to test the ia
thence and forbearance of the commu
NIFTY and the Republican party, it vii
DC sufficient to pronounce them false and
AnD., ltD-