New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-07-18
MORE rHANSILrINIA EYPL0ITS.

Having discussed and cXemplihcd the per-
fornanccs of the Pennsylvania Democratic
State Central Committee in the rural districts
i'm 1851. we turn for varctys sake To the
urban exploits of the same patriotic body
Last year, in Philadelphia, the Democratic City
ticket was declared elected by Il majority of a
little less than 1000. OF course, the defeated
candidates contested the returns, the result
being developments of exceeding richness. In
the Eighth Division of The Fourth Ward, for
instance, every variety OF inquity known to
the hustings and thus far discovered and de-
vclopcd by Democratic ingenuity, seems TO
have been rc,ortcd to. 1t WAS in evidence
that the election officers informed people who
came TO vote that il did not make any differ
ence whether they were naturalized or
not; and it didn't, most certainly, SO
far as these guardians of the purity
of the polls were concerned There were,
it is true assessment lists; but they
were no more regarded than if they had been
so many pieces of blank paper. In one
instance the Judge of Elections took toTcible
possession of the list of taXableS, and sat on
it all day. as if he were Matching Democratic
victory. In the Eighth Division of this Fourth
Ward, divers entcrprisng voters "DerSOnated
real voters who were legally registered, but
who, being dead or otherwise prevented from
appearing, were cared for kindly by these
benevolent individuals who had taken Il fancy
to their names Among the missing men was
John Godfrey. Upon examination, it turned
out that with proluSe liberality, John Godfrey
had voted twice Upn further examination
it turned ont that John Godfrey had
not voted at all Here was circumstance
so exceedingly extraordinary that it can only
be explained upon the presumption that some
enthusiastic Democrat first labored under the
hallucination that he was the vcritable John
Godfrey, and so voted in the name of that
absent electOr, and then forgot that he had
voted as John Godfrey, and so, as John God
frey, voted again Clearly, John Godfrey,
whoever he may be, and whether he may 5e
quick or dead, was most nobly represented at
the polls of the Fourth Ward Eighth Division,
upon this interesting OCCASION Perhaps more
thorough inqairy might even disclose the fact
that there were two John GOdfreys in each of
the other divisions of the Ward, i. e., if all
the Judges of Election did not preside with the
list of taXables deposited under the more Opaque
portions of their constitutions 1t was great
day for John Godfrey, and not less so for the
whole numerous family of Smiths Joneses, ct al.
One thing is clear. If the Judge of Elections
is hereafter 10 sit upon the list of taXabeS, it
will be necessary to provide clairvOyants capa-
BILE of reading the names of the real voters
regularly assessed, in spite of the feshiest OBJ
scuratiOn.
The result of the John Godfrey style of vo-
ting in the Fourth Ward, Eighth Division, was
highly encouraging to the Democrats In this
single precinct it was proved that forty-four
smart men "personatcdn ferty-four men who
were not smart enough to be present. 1t
was further proved that two hundred and
thiIty-seven free and independent citizens
voted, whose names, when the Judge
was kind enough to rise and allow an inspec-
ton, were not on the lists at all. The glorious
result was a Democratic victory. Majority in
favor of the candidates of that ingenious
party-3l6!
But that day, throughout the Fourth Ward,
John Godfrey exhibited kind of godlike
ubiquty, although he prudently operated in
various localities under various names. In the
Seventh Division there was voting with a per-
feet looseness-hardly anybody being sworn,
and no legal record of the proceedings being
kept The Republican window men or challen- |
gegs u the Sixth piYisiQp RIetsssad Until 4ey. |