New-York daily tribune., 1859-01-31


know tba. the .'Americsn' msjorities In Bala-
ore have been .~eled by fraud for several years
mast So il has been elsewhere; 90 it must be
q bile apy one wearing cost and psntsloons and
10. looking too decidedly juvetie msy present
himself at any poI, give some sort OF o'me' ouer
,xo.e and have Il received a. msttar oil course.
He is subject to 9 challenge. we know; but no one
Lies to caa lepge unless be kHors the offered vote
iee.: and if be supposes it to be cast for his own
side. be will hardly cbsenge at all. The illegal
voter has only to provide himself with ballot
uhcs one challenger Will suppose to be tbst OF bis
Marty. while The other knor, it TO be otherwise,
ard be can 90 through without question. To vote
six or eight times as an electioa is no trick at all
in our City; hundreds exceed that number, and
claim consideration and recoUpense accord
ircly But, of course, the party which has
most of the raw mate aterial-unnaturalized imml-
grants especially will n axe the most BY illegal
voting, saying nothing of comparative honesty.
We believe the Republicans were damaged at least
Ten thousand votes BY tie preponderance Of He
gal Voting on the other side last Fall, and that,
should the rext Pesid initial Election occur in the
absence Of Regi.try, our loss BY this abuse will
not fail below Twenty Thousand. This is one Of
our reasons for earnestly desiring Registry Law.
But, if We supposed our side fully able to hold its
own 10 polling Illegal votes, We should still urge
the passage of Registry Law 10 the interest OF
public morals and personal rights. Ifttere be any
strong opposition 10 such law, it is founded on
consciousness that illegal voting is profitable to
those who raise that opposition, and hence is an
argument for the law rather than agaiost it.
We deeply regret therefore, to find in the bill
reported TO the Assembly from its Judiciary Com
nittee, aid printed in our last, sundry provisions
ard OH issions which seem to us calculated to i'm
pair The efficiency Of the act if passed, and to ena-
bic its adyeraries 10 expose the policy Of Rssis'
traiion to clamor AID public odium Let US be
specific.
The Registration, il enacted, is, very properly,
to be executed BY existing officers, Of whom
large portion belong 10 the party predetermined to
oppose ard decry this measure. Especially in our
Cities, where Registration is at most difficult
and most necessary, the work is mainly to be
done by the foreordaned enemies Of the las.
Wherever, thep they can swell the cost of Regis
tratioD, they will at once give force to the pre-
determined clanor against the law and oil their
own aid their cronies' pockets. 1t need not aud
should not cost more than Fifty Thousand Dollars,
in all, to register completely the Legal Voters OF
our State, and not more than Ten Thousand
Dollars to revise the Reeisty at apy time there
after. But let the bill reported by Me Spencer be
passed as it stands, and we are cootdent that the
charges actually scored up for ths first Regstra.
tion of the Legal Voters OF our state will amount
10 Three Hundred Thousand Dollars, or about half
dollar per voter.
The smount of printing and publication required
BY this bill seems TO US excessive. For instance:
the assessors for each rural township must post
up in eight places notice of the time aud place Of
their meeting TO perfect their registry, and must
publish their let of voters thrice in a newspaper,
if one be printed In the township. Having made
or corrected their list, they must cause one hun
dred copies thereof to be printed (Which will often
be more than ore each for the legal voters in the
TOW ny and post the same in at lea,t ticeny frs pub
lie places. For all the tiue they may see fit to
exptnd in this work. ,luding the posting aud re-
posting required, they and "their clerks" are to
be paid ~ each per day. We believe there are
election districts in our State in which q bill Of
more than 81 per legs voter viii be run up under
these requsitions. Their, is, there can be, no ne.
ce.sity for this Let the act itself iii the day of
meeting to for n the original list Of legal voters
in each township, and prescribe the place of
meetipe-say at the town clerks ofice-and
thence let an adjournment be had by majority vote
of all present one hour after the prescribed time for
meeting, TO some more convenient place. Here
let the names of those known to be legal voters BE-
taken down, and arranged in their several election
districts; and, in every township having less than
three hundred voters, they can all be put down on
that day Of meeting so that tue list will scarcely
need revision thereafter. For each political party
will t.ie care to be represented before the Board
by its wide.awake members, who will have lists Of
their legal voters prepared befcrehi aud and ready to
present 80 soon a. the Boad ready 10 receive them
We repeat that in s the less populou, townstp,the
whole business msy be efectaAlly dope up between
10 a. III. and { p III. of the day which the act shall
61 for tie first meeting Of tee Board of Registra-
ton; and that simple notice of the time and place
Of such meeting posted for a week previous on the
doors of the several churches and school houses in
said township is all that is NEEDED. Thus, TIE
Registry VIII be made up in the smaller
towns at q cost Of legs than $40;
srd the subsequent meeting, on adsy which the
law should fix, 10 review and revie the list, would
be foImaliiy merely. There is not one in ten Of
the email towns in which there need be half q