The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-10-21
Shall We Contest

without making an earnest effert to undo the
wrong, no tribulation that could befall them
in consequence would be undeserved. The
election held on that day in this oity was the
NEST consummate farce that was ever enacted
in our midst, and we doubt very much if 1t
has ever been exceeded, or even rivalled, in
any other section Of the country. Over
III, 900 votes were polled, the Democratic
msjorities ranging between 1900 and IS less
than nothing. That 6OO0 of the ballots which
contributed to bring about this result were
fraudulent is fact beyond all doubt. Be-
lieviDg this, and believing that a thorough
and impartial investigation will fully sustain
its truth, we do not feel disposed to bow our
heads to the perversion Of the popular will
which turns our municipal administration over
to the hands of the enemy.
The frauds which were perpetrated at the
polls are of two classes. The tipstaves of the
Supreme Court, under the supervision of
Judge Shsrswood, and by his connivanoe,
granted 6S56 certificates of naturalization be-
tween the first of September and the day of
election. From first to last, their proceedings
in this business were marked by the most
as has been shown by three judges of the court
Of which Shsrswood is a member. Perhaps
one-thrd of the men to whom these illegal
certificates were issued were entitled to citi-
zenship under the laws; but this fact does not
remove the disability under which they labored
on the day of election. The papers upon
which they claimed the right to participate l. N
the choice of our rulers were absolutely null
and void, and they stood upon precisely the same
footing as those who had recently arrived in
the country and lacked the requisite qualif-
cation of residence. Aside from the irregu-
larity and indecent haste which marked the
naturalization process in the Supreme Court,
the utter recklessness of the men who acted
the part of vouchers is of itself sufficient to
call in question and to vitiate the entire pro-
ceedings. We have already shown in these
columns how twelve men acted as vouchers
for full one-fourth of those who were natural
lied between the fourteenth and twenty fourth
OF September, perjuring themselves by so
doing in the most defiant and shameless
manner. One of these professional vouchers,
who appears over seventy times in half of the
petitions on file in the Prothonotary's Office,
and doubtless quite as frequently in the pa psrs
which we were prevented from examining, has
confessed under oath that he had no acq quaInt-
ance whatever with the men for whose long
residence in the country and general fitness to
exercise the rights Of citi zenship he unhesi-
tatngly vouched. That the remainder of the
professionals were equally guilty of wholesale
perjury is fact which, We do not doubt, can
be satisfactorily sustained. Polluted with this
felonious taint, and characterized by hagrant
violation of the plainest requirements Of the
law, the proceedings before Judge Sharswood
in the matter of naturalization were absolutely
illegal and void. And such, says Judge Read,
will be the opinion of a majority of the Judges
of the Supreme Court"
Every vote cast upon the authority of these
illegal naturalization certificates must there
fore be rejected, before the ballot-box can be
purified, and its contents made binding upon
the people. Perhaps one thousand ballots
altogether were rejected, when supported by
these illegal documents only, in those election
divisions in which Sheriff Lyle's deputies were
not present in overpowering force. If this be
granted, at least five thousand fraudulent
votes were accepted and cou nted, and have
contributed to the so-called Democratic vic
tory. Aside from these, Democratic "repeat-
ers," both of home origin and foreign impor-
tation, were present by thousands, and ex-
tremely active, swelling the majorites of their
party in such Democratic strongholds as the
Third, Fourth, Fifth Sixth, and Eleventh
wards, in which the population and the Re-
publican vote are almost at a standstill, in the
most unparalleled manner.
For these reasons we unite most heartily in
the action taken by the meeting at Concert
Hall last evening, and pronounce in favor Of
determined contest and thorough and
searching investigation. This contest, how
ever, should be placed in the hands of men
who are beyond all suspicion as to integrity
and devotion TO the cause in which they will
be engaged. In times past, such contests
have been inaugurated, but only to be turned
into farces which fairly rivalled the great
farce they were intended to remedy
r We want no such triling with the rights
, and interests of the people in the presen,
3 case, and we will submit to no such
o trifing. Incidental to the contest will
Do the prosecution of the men who are proved
o to have thus wilfully attempted to pervert
l. the Will OF the people. They must be followed
/ up by the strong arm OF the law and severely
If punished, as fast as they are brought to the
n light of day, that their well-meritsd fate NAV
% serve as a warning to wrong -dosrs in tn,