The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-04
The Purity of the Ballot,

From The Cincinnati GGzsHe.
Destruction of the integrity of the ballot is
the destruction of republican government.
When rulers are elected by fraudulent ballots
the Government ceases to have the rightful-
ness which comes from the consent of the
governed. No man can respect a government
imposed on him by cheat, or eel that he
owes any allegiance to laws enacted or exc
cuted by men who have stolen into power.
When fraud becomes a system for carrying
the elections, the government becomes meaner
than the meapest hereditary despotism. A
decent dynasty, to rule by the right of birth,
would be vast improvement on such gov
ernment of thieves. No people ever had SO
urgent cause, for revolution as a people
would have whose forms of election were de-
graded to cOntIivances for putting swindlers
in power over them.
The Democratic party have boldly attem pied
this degradation OF our Government by vast
conspiracy for the fabrication OF false votes
enough TO carry the Presidential election.
One OF the principal means for this is in tue
manufacture OF fraudulent naturalization
papers. The process has been discovered in
so many places, and over so wide an extent,
that it Is Impossible to resist the conclusion
that it is the working OF an organized general
plan. The testimony taken At New York,
before the United States Commissioner, shows
that naturalization papers have been procured
at wholesale by brokers who peddled them to
Democratic committees at a stipulated price.
There was no limit to the number that was
, offered TO be furnished. Wretohes as vile as
those who made brokerage on Mr.. Johuson's
pardoning power were engaged in this broker
age of false certificates of naturalization.
In Philadelphia the same system has been
practised on mOpstIous scale. IL has been
discovered in two districts in Ohio, in dimen-
sions which were intended to bs large enough
to prevail in tuning the elections. II was,
and is, intended TO carry the Presidential
! election hy this and other frauds. Add now
since the practice was revealed, the course OF
the Democratic journals is a virtual defense
OF it. They give no signs of any sense OF the
nature Of the crime but they try TO shelter IT,
behind the techncalites of the law. Bat
| what If the Republicans were base enough to
resort to the same means Then our elections
! would be governed by money. The party that
| had the most money To spend in fabricating
voters would seize the Government. IL wOuli
| use the public revenues TO carry the elections
| by fraud. This would be vastly meauer
| system than that in which the Roman army
| put up the crown to the highest bidder.
Not only to restore the public peace, but to
save our elections from the degradation OF
being carried by fraud, must the people defeat
the Democratic party. We cannot but believe
that there are many thousands in the Damo.
cratic ranks who would rather that Grant
| should be elected than that the integrity of the
election should bs violated in order to put the
Democratic party in power. We appeal ~
these to cast their votes IN favor OF preserving
the purity of the ballot, aud not to follow
their party managers in destroying the soul
| of popular government for the sake OF party
ascendancy. Parties may flourish and may