New-York tribune., 1868-05-29
TIE FORK IN OUR CITY.

We estimate that there are Forty Thousand
legal Voters residing in our City who mean to
vote for GRANT and CoLFAX, and that this num-
Der may be increased to Fifty Thousand by ade-
quate, seasOnable, persistent exertions. Some
of the requisite work will be done; we trust
that the whole may be. And yet all will be
vain if we do not, by our energy and vigilance,
prevent the wholesale polling of Illegal Votes.
The City of Brooklyn has always till this
year, had one member Of the Board of Police
Commissioners. Last Winter, in the choice of
a successor to Mr.. Bergen, this member was
taken from her, in defiance of her most siren
uous remonstrances, and given to this City,
which already had the other three; though
Brooklyn has more than One-thTd the number
of inhabitants of this City.
Why was it so insisted that Matthew T.
Brennan should be the fourth Police Commits
sioner9 And why did The Sunday Mercury
thereupon exultingly declare that the City might
and shonld give One Hundred Thousand Dem
| Ocratc majority next Novembers
We could not swear but we very confidently
guess.
The chief labor of the Republicans of this
City in the present canvass is to take eflectual
means to preclude fraudulent Naturalizations,
fraudulent Registrations, and fraudulent Votes.
This cannot be done by one man, nor by
dozen. At least Ten Thousand must be actively
engaged in it throughout the ensuing five
months.
We must have a Block Committee of true
and active Republicans for each block in our
City; and that Committee must ascertain and
record the name of every man residing on that
block; if of foreign birth, when he migrated
to this country also whether he is or is not nat
uralized and, if not whether he is entitled to
be; if naturalized, whether lawfully or fraud
ulently so.
If any man is entitled to be naturalized, and
wants to be, let us afford him every facility,
no matter what may be his politics; if lawful
ly naturalized let us facilitate his registration
and the polling of his vote but, if not entitled
to be naturalzed, or naturalized fraudulently,
let us take care that he commits no further
crime against the rights of the legal voters.
The great army of convicted felOns will bear
close watching. Thousands of them lurk in
the purlieus of our. City, ready to vote once or
more if they shall believe they may safely do
so; and every hundred votes polled by them
will add at least ninety to the Democratic ma
iOrity. There should be full alphabetical lists
of them, with the various names assumed by
each, in the hands of those Republicans who
will volunteer to watch and check the several
registries throughout the City; and let no one
of them offer to register without being spotted.
If we can keep off all of these who have no
right to be on, we shall reduce the Democratic
majority by several thousands.
Thirty to thirty-six years ago, the writer
hereof was a working Wing in the
Sixth Ward of our City, and repeatedly can
vassed that Ward from door to door in excit-
ing political contests. There were just about
Two Thousand legal voters in it-not two
hundred more nor less. Its number of legal
voters has not since increased; yet it gives
over Three Thousand majority whenever the
Tammany cabal bids it do its worst. That
majority is swelled by fraud. So is that re-
turned from the Ist, IYth, XIVth, and other
Wards.
In fact the Democratic managers in those
Wards register names and poll votes at
pleasure. We have very few Republicans in
those Wards chow could we expect to have
where there is at least one tipping house to
every four dwellings y and they are cowed,
feeble, spritless. Usually, the two young men
at each poll paid TO distribute hepuDlcan oal-
lots clear ont by noon, and let the rum-frenzied
mob do as they will all the afternoon.
We must resolve to change all this, or these
rotten boroughs of Egyptian darkness will
swamp the noble Republican majorities of the
rural districts by polling bushels of fraudulent
votes.
we must have the Rcgistres of those Wards
thoroughly watched and scrutinized by respon-
Slole citizens who are kaowa to be true. so