New-York tribune., 1868-12-23
THE COMMITTEE or INVESTIGATION

The Select Committee OF seven appointed oS
Congress to investigate the alleged frauds and
irregularities in the New-YOrk elections, COM
menced their sittings on Monday at the United
States Court Buildings in Chambers-st. 1t is
composed as follows: The Hon. WILLIAM
LAWRENCE Of Ohio. Chairman; the Hon. HENRY
l.. DAWES of Massachusetts, the Oldest mem
Der of the House after Mr.. WaShburne, and
Chairman OF the Committee on Elections; the
Hon. AUSTIN BLAIR, late Governor of Mch-
gan; tho Hon. 0. j. DICKEr of Pennsylvania,
the successor of the late Thaddeus Stevens;
the Hon BENJAMIN i. HOPKINS of Wisconsin
the Hon MICHAEL G.. KERR of Indiana, and
the Hon LEWIS w. Ross of Illinois. The two
last named gentlemon were appointed In place
OF Messrs. Marshall and Hubbard, who declined
the service. The thanks of the country are
due TO MIR. Colfax for appointing to conduct
an investigation of such National interest
gentlemen of marked ability and high char
acter, who have given, in the prominence they
have already won, pledge for the thorough
performance of the work now intrusted to
them. A graver task has seldom 1t ever
been devolved by Congress, for 1T con-
Germs tho honor. the rights, and the
welfare OF the National Metropolis. What
ever doubts may heretofore have existed
on the subject, it Is now apparent that New
York has become and is destined to remain the
commercial capital of our Atlantic coast,
although its future preeminence may, perhaps
some day be disputed 10y San Francisco, rising
like youthful giant on the Pacific shores,
where " the Far West" of the New World
blends with the farthest Orient of the Old.
Ncw-York stands, in Webster's words " the
"noblest product of the Union,n riyalng the
ancient capitals of Europe not alone in wealth
and luxury but in her stately public institu-
tons. and the bonndless charities demanded by
tho peculiaritcs of her position rs the central
point of foreign emigration. lt represents
abroad in no slight degree, tho grandeur OF
our Republic, which but yesterday was tho
scoff of the aristOcracies across tho water, but
whose influence to-day is hailed by every peo-
ple and feared by every court IN Chrlstendom.
When Slavery and Rebellion assaulted the flag
of Sumter and our National honor, it was the
prompt and clarion voice of New-Iork, uttered
from UniOn-squarc, that sounded the Keynote
for tho North East, and West, and heralded the
uprising Of great people and the triumph OF
American freedom. When the Richmond des-
potism rcsorted TO arson and murder as its in
struments of vengeance in the North, New York
was the special object OF its hate. Here were
let loose with the connivance Of domestic trai-
tors, the brutal assassins Of July; and here
again were lighted simultaneously at night onr
crowded thclteTs and hotels. In New York, II
is true, are gathered in force the bitterest enc
mics of the Republic. who during the recent
war did all they dared do for It's destruction,
and whose hatred il not diminished by their
disappointment But here amidst them all Is
felt tho throbbing Of the true National heart !;
hither come the architects of the National
wealth the representatives, OF the National
Interest," here are exchanged the products OF
our soil and our manufactures for the
merchandise of the world; and citizens of
every State, whether they come for business or
for pleasure. find themselves at home, not in a
provincial city, but in their own National Me-
tropOlis They suffer the same modification
that We do at its rotting whaIyes, and filthy
streets. and municipal misgoyornmont. They
feel the same pride III ts features OF magnf
Ccnce, ts schools, and churches and libraries,
it, institutes, avenues, aud Central Park and all
have common interest, however 1t may vary
in degree. in New-YOrks possessing a pure
franchise, an unsupported Judiciary, aud de-
cent government
But another, and perhaps still stronger, rea-
son exists why the Nation should insist that
the purity Of the franchise should be sacredly
guarded in our city. All great capitals exert
n large influence for good or for evil, and the
antcCedcnts Of New-York from its earliest
settlement, have made il conspicuous exam
pie. This, we believe, was tho first spot on the
American continent where school was opened
mt the public expense for children of all classes
and here, by Ithe sturdy founders of New
Netherlands, representing tho best blood Of
every nation Of Western Europe, who had
defed tho edicts OF despotism, the fires Of per-
seCution, and thesterrors of the lnquisition, was
established that tolerance of religious opinion
which, when elsewhere in our land, and under
narrower view, women were flOgged and
witches burned, and Quakers hung for heresy,
made New Netherlands, like her maternal Hol-
land. refuge from religious oppression
Widely as common school education and re-
ligious tolerance have radiated from New-York
since they were here inaugurated by its en-
lightened founders. so widely and far more
rapidly will extend the evil influence of
the political frauds aud corruption inaugurated
by our modern demagogues, who are inveigling
into their tolls the more ignorant of the aliens
that seek our shores, blindly unconscious that
the party which calls itself Democratic is that
which recently attempted to destroy the Re-
public, and that the Rebellion having failed of
its object. they themselves are to be used as
instruments in new effort to undermine pop
ular government by debasing the purity OF the
franchise rt