Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1864-12-07
The Elections I'm Pennsylyan,,
An Authoritative Statement =,
Results. VI
TO the Editor Of tie World :.

have number of letters Of ipop,,.
from various quarters, in regard TO n.
late elections IN our State; and am :,
duced mainly by considerations of con.
venience, TO beg your indulgence in giv;n,
general answer through your widely Dis,
seminated columns
l undertake this the more freely ~,
haps, from having seen the strangely a..
surd telegram of General Simon Cam-ro,
to the New York Evening Post. cla;m;n,
& from fifteen TO twenty thousand mo
Jority in the home vote of the State" g.,
the Abolition candidate for the presid,pcv
Allow me 10 premise:
A recent amendment to our STATE oor-
stitution, gives 20 the volunteers in nm,
army the right of suffrage, while Tim.
employed. The legislative enactment in
pursuance Of this amendment provide.
| that where " ten or more" of these vol.
unteers are together at any point, they
may open poll on the same day of the
election in the State, under given reguls.
/ ton, and subsequently make returns Q;
the votes 20 the Secretary of the Com.
mOnwealth, and to the Prothonatary o.
{ me respective cOuntleS.
In cases where Z" less than ten of tbes.
roldiers are separated from their respec.
tive commands" they are authorized TO
place their ballots in sealed envelopes 70
be sent home by mail The provisions
are very similar to your New York ab-
surdity on the same subject Thess
proxy votes are required 10 be offered a,
the proper polls on the days Of election,
and are entered precisely in the same way
on the poll books as the home votes OF
the same town or precinct.
1t will be perceived that it is almost
impossible to ascertain. in any subsequent
inquiry, exactly which are home votes,
and which calne through proxies from .ha
army.
In my position, however,, II became
important TO ascertain. as nearly as posi-
BILE, how many there were 0: these d.
tached voters, where located, and their
political preferences. l have notes Of
some six thousand, and, assume, IL least
that number OF these proxy votes wers
cast at each OF the recent elect Ons. OF
these, not less than five thousand vera
gwen TO the Abolitionists They were
chiefly from the hospitals, which ara
governed i'll - majority Of cases, by Cd
women Of both sexes, Of the abolition
school, who could stop the grog OF Cruel
OF any recusant or even send him 10 the
front. Ia this way, at least five thous-
and Of these proxy votes were given to
the Abolition candidates at both the late
elections and have been persistently count
ed with the home vote, in the statement Of
Abolition press
But IN the October election, couzhs-c
elsI. these army ro;es grrsn by I,roxy lc.td II.
home votes, there was an Acknowledged
Democratic majority of some five hun
drcd and fourteen So that all those W.
gers which predicted that the Democrais
would carry, or had a majority of thu
home vote in the last OcluGer election in
Pennsylvania hare been ,coa. In cur
State, as far as | know. such wagcrs has5
all been paid. There really and honestly
was a Democratic majority Of some four
or five thousand in the home rote al that
,lcciion.
IN the vote given for Presidential CAL
dldatcs, in November, so far from thlra
being - fifteen or twenty thousand Aboli-
ton majority" OF the home votes" iu
Pennsylvania, az stated by General Cam
eron, there will not be two hundrlL,
counting crera the PROXY rote as beJore Re
Jecting these proxy votes in the estimate,
| assert there would again be found clear
Democratic majority of four or five
thousand of the home votes ; and my be-
lief is that the majority against General
Mcclellan, taking ere1yttiRg into account,
will be found to be less than that so
counted of the Abolitionists in Pennsyl-
vania in October. Mark the prediction.
l had written thus far, when l met
with the statement of the Hon. +. Slifer.
published in the New York Tribune l
see no reason to doubt his estimate of the
,choIe October vote of the State, showing
a majority of some thirteen thousand in
favor of the Abolition candidates for Con-
gress. l note the difficulty he presents in
reference TO his ascertaining officially the
home votes, as distinguished from the
army votes. Practically, however, tho
proxy votes given at the home polls can
be ascertained, and have been accurately
given in what / have stated above.
G. L. WARD,
Chairman Of the Democratic State Con-
trail Committee of Pennsylvania.
TowANDA, November p.