, 1865-01-20

election held in October The letter sub
sequently found its way into the columns of
the National Intelligencer. The letter says:
yesterday was the State election here,
and most of our regiment went down to the
city Indianapolis and voted Some of the
boys voted twenty-five times each. You
could go and vote as many times as you
pleased, and then, after the boys had voted
in the city, some of the Indiana men want
ed them to go about thirty miles and vote
again. So they took an extra train of cars
and rode to the next township and voted
there. The Indiana men paid their fare up
and back again, and gave them all they
wanted to eat and drink. / did not know
anything about it until it was too late, and
so 1 did not go. Gov Morton the Repub-
lican candidate, was elected by large ma
jority. So the Massachusetts, men helped
elect him"
To this letter, authenticated by the sigma
ture of the writer, is added the following
published certificate of another soldier:
PITTSBURGH, October IA, 1884.
l. George Stunpf, member of the Seventh
Pennsylvania cavalry, and attached to the
music corps, do hereby certify that, although
formerly resident of Pittsburgh, was re-
quested, together with about two thousand
other soldiers, by the officers at Indianapo
lis, at which place we arrived at four o clock
on the morning of election day, to vote the
Republican State ticket A great part Of
the soldiers were Germans. At the depot
were carriages which took US to the polls,
and many of the soldiers voted twice and
three times. We handed our votes into a
window, and nobody asked us whether we
resided in the State Afterward we were
treated with ale and all other things we
might eat and drink. am convinced that
every soldier of the two thousand voted once
and many two or three times, although we
belonged to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan,
Maryland, and other States At $50 P
NJ. started the soldiers of the Pennsylvania
regiments to Crestline, and the soldiers of
other States to other places.
GEORGE STUMPF.
Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry.
The Indianapolis Gazette, an Admins
tration paper, openly justified the practicing
of these infamous frauds upon the elective
franchise, using the following unmistakable
language:
"If thousands of soldiers voted in this
State, on Tuesday last, who were not legally
entitled to vote, it were better, provided
they voted the Union (Aboition) ticket,
than for the election to have been carried by
the opponents of the Administration. The
contest was squarely between the Govern
ment (Lincoln) and the rebels Mcclellan
Democrats The end justifes the means,
in such an issue. 1t were better that a half
dozen Massachusetts, regiments should vote,
than that the State should fall into the hands
of the opponents of the Administration
Does any one think that the Administration
is going to allow the State to fall into the
hands of its enemies at time like this p
The contest is national one. The soldiers
are in the national service, and if they can
be used in the rear, to gain victory which
is quite as important as victory at the front
in the field, why not dc it?"
Not only is it charged that the October
election in Indiana was carried by fraudu-
lent voting, but that the November election
was carried in the same way. And it is
charged that the election was conducted in
several other States in the same manner
As matter of course these charges are
made by Democratic newspapers, and some
of these characterize the election in general
terms as having been stupendous swindle,
from beginning to end-a broad farce, which
they appear to have anticipated, and which
they treat as being too apparent to require
any discussion or ferreting out. If these
charges are true, and if the Administration
papers justify carrying the election by
fraudulent means, as in the case of the In
dianapOlis Gazette, it will prove that cleo
tions during these times of war are mock
cry, and it would look better to do away
with such deceitful appliances and forms
altogether; for how, under such state of
things, could the majority party out, ever
vote itself into power? But we are unwil-
ling to believe that the virtues of the people
have fallen to so low an ebb and degrading
a standard as to permit, much less uphold,
these frauds upon the ballot-box. Individ-
uals may commit these frauds and uphold
their crimes, but certainly not an entire po-
Htical party. The ballot-box will be looked
upon as sacred SO long as it is kept pure,
and no longer Those who desire to live
under a popular form of government, who
desire to be freemen, will commit no frauds
upon the ballot system, no matter to what
party they may belong; for by keeping the
system free and pure they maintain their
ever cherished liberties. None but tyrants
and ow-bred menals would seek to under
mine and destroy the ballot system in this
country. We know that when frauds of
this kind have been practiced in Idaho and
Montana Territories, they have been gene
rally looked upon by the people of both po-