Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1869-03-18
ELECTION FRAUDS In NEW
YORK.
WHAT THE INVESTIGATING
COMMITTEE DISCOVERED
Political Corruption Shame
lessly Practiced.
Fraudulent Naturalization PPpers and
Repeaters.
THE NEW YORK ELECTION FRAUDS.

THE NEW YORK ELECTION FRAUDS.
Judge Lawrence has prepared a vo-
luminous report upon the New York
election frauds of last November. He
will present it tomorrow. Judge
Lawrence says =
''But appalling and startling as the
frauds have been in our past history,
they are all surpassed in some respects
by those perpetrated in the general
election in the State, and especially in
the city of New York. These frauds
were the result of a systematic plan of
gigantic proportions, stealthily prear-
ranged and bodily executed not mere
ly by bands of degraded despOradoes,
but with the direct sanction, approval
and aid of many prominent officials
and citizens of New York, with
shrewdly concealed connivance of 9TH
ers, and almost without an effort to
discourage or prevent them by any of
those in whose interest and political
party associations they were success
fully executed, who could not fail to
have cOgniZance of them, and whose
duty it was to expose, defeat and pun
ish them. They were aided by cor
rupt and cOrrupting official patronage
and power, which not only encour-
aged, but shielded and protected the
guilty principals and their aiders and
abettors. These frauds are so varied
in character that they comprehend ev-
cry known crime against the elective
franchise. They corrupt the admin
istratiOn of justice, degraded the judi
ciary, defeated the execution of the
laws, subverted for the time being, in
New York State, the essential princi-
plies of popular government, robbed
the people of the great State of their
rightful choice of electors for Presi-
dent and Vice President, of a Govern
or and other officers disgraced the
most populous city of our Union; en-
cOuraged the enemies of Republican
government here and everywhere to
deride our institutions as failure, and
endangered the peace of the Republic
by an attempt to defeat the will of the
people in the choice of their rulers.
'"The events of the past year in New
York, and the evidence taken by the
committee, furnish proof of all these
allegations. Among the most Starring
of the frauds committedint the interest
Eof>the Democratic party, in the city
and State of New York, in connection
with the election in November, 1868,
are these: Many thousands of aliens
fraudulently procured or were furnish
ed with certificates of naturalization
illegally or fraudulently issued, by
means of which they were enabled to
register as voters, and voted in viola
tion of law. Many hundreds of certi-
ficates of naturalization were granted
in the names of fictitious persons, to be
used by native born and naturaliZed
citizens and aliens in falsely register
ing as voters, and to enable them to
vote many times at the same election.
REPEATERs.
"Many hundreds of persons voted in
New York city from two to forty times
or more, each under assumed or ficti-
tiOus names, fraudulently registered
for the purpose. Extensive frauds
were committed in canvassing tickets,
and names of voters were entered on
poll lists, and Democratic tickets cOun-
ted, as if voters representing them vO-
ted, when no such persons voted at all.
GROSS NEGLECT OF DUTY.
"To accomplish these frauds, gross
neglect of duty and and disregard of
law, so great as to eyince criminal pur-
poses, prevailed in some of the courts !;
while the officers and Democratic par
tisans, of almost every grade, either
by official influence, or otherwise,
aided, sanctioned, or knew of, and
failed to prevent them. The same in
fiuence shielded perpetrators in near
ly all cases from detection and arrest;
and when arrested, they have, through
the agencies of judicial officers and
others, charged with the duty of pros
ecution, escaped all punishment.
'Through these agencies the Demo-
cratic electors Of President and Vice
President and the Democratic candi-
date for the Governor of the State of
New York were fraudulently elected,
and the investigations of the commit
tee show that the existing State laws
and mode of enforcing them, are
wholly inadequate to prevent these
frauds, but that Congress has power
to enact laws which, if faithfully exc
cuted, will, to some extent, furnish
protection hereafter. There is no law
of Congress protesting to prevent or
punish frauds in voting or conducting
elections, and the penalties relating to
certificates of naturalization are by no
means adequate.
NATURALIZATION PAPERS.
'The largest number of naturaliza-
ton papers ever granted in one year,
in New York city, before 1868, was in
1856, when only 16,493 were issued,
while in 1868 there were Al ,112 isssed.
Tn noSohnr a hOf1f IN 0-0 yxyaro nofFIro1-