New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-09-01
JUDGE BARNARD.

The Sun courteously asks us to justify our
recent allusiOn to Justice George G. Barnard
in discussing election frauds. We hasten to
comply.
For several years past, the elections held in
our City have been Systematically and shame
fully Initiated by concerted and wholesale
polling of illegal votes and fraudulent mis-
counting of the votes actually cast.
portion of the illegal votes were cast by
men who were provided with Naturalization
certificates to which they had no legal or moral
right; a very large portion were poiled by
organized gangs of "repeaters," who travelled
from poll to poll, provided beforehand with
false names answering to false presentations
at the time of registering, and who were thus
enabled to cast ten to thirty votes each, under
the eyes of captains who verified their claims
to efficiency and saw that they were duly paid
the wages of iniquity.
Now, THE TRIBUNE has, year after year,
opposed exposed, denounced, and reprObated,
this gigantic villainy, and has actively sought
to arrest it. We have proposed legislative and
judicial action against it, and supported every
measure which looked to its suppression.
There is no one living who doubts that we
have done what we could to have elections
decided by legal votes fairly counted, and by
those alone.
How has it been with Judge Barnardi
During the last eight years or more, he has
been leading magistrate of our City, armed
with vast judicial powers which he does not
hesitate to WELD. 1t is his official duty to
call the attention of the grand juries, and thus
of the people, to such crimes az have polluted
the ballot boxes of our City and, if existing
laws do not suffice, he might well suggest their
amendment. How has he performed this dutyf
Wholesale naturalizations, wherein scores are
made citizens on the afiidavits of the same set
of swearers to order, are among the glaring evils
of our political system. OF these, a very large
share have been perpetrated under the personal
supervision of Judge Barnard. We allude
especially to those of 1868, when he was
accustomed to put through several humid
red applicants for naturalization in the
course of two hours, very much as
drove of hogs are run through pork
packing slaughter-house in Chicago. Accord
ing to the testimony of eye-witnesses, he
turned out twenty or thirty thousand citizens
i'm the course of two months, when it was
simply impossible that, with proper inquiry
and GelDeTatlOn, One-1Ouftn OF Inc NUMBER
could have been naturalized in one court. We
believe full half of these were not legally
entitled to be naturalized.
But Judge Barnard is, outside of his Court,
an active, efficient political manager He is a
member of the Tammany Society, "a Sachem,
if we mistake not,) and OF tie Tammany Gen
eral Committee These two organizations could
stop illegal voting here, if they had the faintest
inclination to do so. Have they ever shown
anyi Has Judge Barnard ever urged them to
show anyi
We have been told, but are unable to prove,
that Judge Barnard has remarked, in leading
Democratic circles, when HOffman's election (O
was alluded to, d" elected Hoffman Cover
"nor." And we think he did, whether he said
80 or not.
Gov. FentOn-nOt then candidate for any
ofiice-came down here and honestly tried to help
stop illegal voting in November 1868. For this,
he was slyly traduced and DETAINED in Procla-
nation by John II. Hoffman, then candidate
for Governor, and about to be elected by means
of these gigantic frauds. We cannot recOllect
that he was rebuked for this unworthy and
indecent conduct by Judge Barnard. Did he
not richly deserve it'll