Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1858-11-06
The Recent BallOt.BOx Stunning I'm FIJI.
more County.


perpetuity of our free institutions, to hear of
the successive repetition of these foul transac-
TONS
And when, moreover, the people observe
that the principal actors in these villanies, in
almost every instance, are the officers OF the
Federal GOuernment-its Indian Agents, its
Surveyor Generals, its Territorial Cover
nOrs and its Land Officers-the RADICAL COR
RUpTIoN into which our Government has fall
en- under Democratic Lecompton rule, is a
conclusion that presses with forty-horse pow
er upon every unprejudiced mind.
Who it may be asked, were the chief par
ticipators in the Oxford and other "candle-
box" frauds in Kansas, in which the names
upon the Cincinnati Directory played such
prominent part? They were U. S. Surveyor
General CALHOUN, his subordinates, and other
federal office-holders of that Territory!
Who, more recently, furnished the money
for and engineered the frauds in St. Louis to de-
feat FRANK BLAIR for Congress? The evil
dence shows that it was the office-holders of
the Federal Administration
Who was it that, yet later, colonized hordes
of men in the Navy Yard at Philadelphia, to
re-elect Thomas B. FLORENCE to Congress p
The National Administration itself, acting al
most directly and officially for that purpose
To come nearer home, what did the people
of Minnesota witness only last fall? Did they
not see a U. S. Territorial Governor U. S.
Territorial Secretary U. S. Land Agent
for Ottertail-all engaged i'll a conspiracy to
manufacture fictitious election returns from
the wilderness counties of "Pembina, Cass
and Todd" in order to elect the Democratic
State ticket, and particularly to make HENRY
H. SIBLEY Governor?
These are all well known to be facts, I'M
deniable, and which are mostly not denied.
And now, having succeeded so well in Nor
them Minnesota in this new and easy style Of
achieving " Democratic victories" we find a
band of these same federal office holders ap-
parently engineering similar gross frauds to
save their party from defeat in the State, by
stuffing the ballot-box of Land Office pre-
cinct to carry an important. county in South
ern Minnesota!
The very attempt to stuff ballot box
amidst so populous and intelligent commu-
nifty as exists in Fillmore, shows the bOldness
which impunity and success in crime always
begets: and shows as well the blindness easy
success also engenders, making the criminals
heedlessly disregard the different surround
ings, which surely denied impunity to such
tricks in a community so full of intelligent,
determined men as Fillmore, triumphantly they
might succeed in region where only forest
trees and red Indians could witness the whole
sale forgery Of majorities for the Democratic
ticket
While-as we said at the commencement
of this article,-we give the details of this
new but detected outrage upon the ballot-box
in Fillmore, with regret and sorrow, because
it furnishes another instance Of the downward
tendency of our republican institutions, we
are nevertheless rejOiced that the outrage has
not been allowed to succeed in its purpose;
and that the Republicans of Chatfeld are in
telligent enough to know their rights, and have
been courageous enoughsto maintain them in
the very teeth of the federal power of their
Land Office, backed by the insolence and
blackguardism of member of Congress
whose aspirations for the U. S. Senate would
have been so materially forwarded by the re-
turn of a full Democratic delegation from his
own county!
And we are likewise rejoiced that the Board
Of CanvasSers Of Fillmore county were-un-
like MEDARY and JOE Brown in the State
canvass last fall-disposed to examine with
fairness the evidence of gross tampering with
a ballot-box, and that, also unlike MEDARy
and Brown, they had the independence and
firmness and the honesty to reject returns
which from the evidence before them, they
(to use the classic language of a State cam
vasser) ''knew to be id forgeries."
This is probably the first time in the his
tory of Minnesota, that election frauds, how
good citizens should hail the event, as inaugu-
rating the better day when frauds upon the
balot-box will cease entirely to be perpetrated,
because they will always be made, as in this
instance, to recoil upon the heads of those
who plan and hope to benefit by the in
fanny.
Below we present two letters from intel
ligent, high-minded and responsible citizens of
Fillmore, presenting the circumstantial details
of the plot to cheat the people of that county
out of their suffragess; and to substitute
therefor the edict of federal office-holders
in the election Of men to represent them in
the legislature of Minnesota.
The first letter is from Chatfeld, written at
midnight on the 25th, after our correspondent
had returned from witnessing the canvass at
Preston, the county seat The second letter
was written at Preston, in the evening, imme-
diately after the canvass had taken place
Let honest citizens of all parties, read and
then reflect upon the necessity of the union
of all good men to repress these constantly re-
curing assaults upon the integrity of the
elective franchise;
CHATFIELD, IL Il P. ", Oct. %, 1853.
DEAR SIR Il now hasten to acquaint you with
the result of our election, in which have had
hard fight to maintain our legal rights. 1t was in
this wise By our canvassing before the election
we found that we had at least l25 Republican votes
in this town that we could reckon upon We
worked hard the election day, and polled, as we |
then believed and now know, that number or more;
but 10 and behold, when the votes were counted |
by our Democratic Judges of the election we were
allowed only "A straight, and II split tickets, 81
in all. So we thought there was foul play some
where, as we were 80 or more votes short. We |
therefore called our Republican voters together,
and took each mans atfdarit, regularly subscribed
before proper officer, and there got 80 straight |
and 1f sniff RaDuhlican :votoc e,rn.n ia loo,;,~