The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-05-19
rhn C:rrnt New Work Imposture.

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city gave about GO,0O0 and the State som(
10000 more Democratic majority. Nori
there any reason to doubt that they speak
the truth Dispatches from New. York
fully confirm oil they say. A special tc
the Cincinnati Commercial says:
Never, in the annals Of New York
chlcanery was an election characterized
by greater frauds than the one which tool
place to-dAy. The city swArmed with re
peateB, who voted openly, and with i'm
punity, in most Of the districts, the inspcc
tors generally either being in league will
the scoundrcls or dCeming it Of no use tc
have them arrested.
In the First Ward q repeater attempted
to vote on Judge Hogan's name, in the
Judges presence, and tho policeman on
duty in the booth refused to arrest him
although ordered u do so by the mNgis'
tratc. Very little challenging was done
and only three repeaterS were arrested.
In tho Fourth IYarl nearly every Re
publican name was voted on by repeatcrs
before the rightfill voters arrived ut the
polls
In the Eighth Ward two hundred and
eight negroes had registered, and they as
semblcd in their church and marched in Il
body to the polls, but found that one hun
drcd md sixty Of their names Ind already
been voted on.
An old Irish woman tried TO cast IL hal'
lot in the FiNh Ward, but it was rejected,
much to her disgust.
4 gang Of four hundred repeatGrs pa
raded tho Eighteenth Ward, and voted in
nearly every district, without let or hin.
drRnCe.
Repeating iu the Twenty.first Ward
was confined to Districts Nos. 4, s and O.
Here the inspectors made every one OF
the rcpcatcrs swear their votes IN, which
they did, without hinching, but no ono
WAS arrested,
In one district only did thcnGgrOcS dare
10 exercise the franchise, and there bnt
eight ont Of twcnty-scvcn registered mus
tered sufficient courage to face the hang'
erS'On ut tho polls
In the Second, two oftllC strODglnindGd
women attempted TO vote the Republican
ticket, but were sent home disguised.
In the Ninth Ward a colOred man mis-.
took his district, and was arrested, but re-
leased.
In the Third District Of this wartl IN
old Colorcd woman sought to deposit a
vote for her husband. who could not como
himself. The negroes turned out strong
In this ward, and vOtCl the straight Re.
publican ticket.
A coal yard, corner Eleventh street md
University PlACe, in the Fifteenth Ward,
was the headquarters Of gang Ol forty
reporters, who repaired thitlIcr uilGr vOt-
ing in ono district, changed their clothes,
and then went md voted in another.
The Seventeenth Ward was OvCrrlIn
with gangs Of repCaters, but two members
Of which were arrested This was the
case nll over the city, the election In every
ward, without exception, being given up
to the mercy Of the repcatcrS, and not
more than thirty arrests being made all
day.
Very few Of the respectable citizens
thought it worth while TO waste their
time in casting vote which would not
count, md the greater number Of those
who did attempt il found that rcpentcrs
Ind been beforehand with them, and thai
they had their trouble for their pNins.
There never was II greater tarce than the
New York election Of today.
This is n shocking state of things, and is
10 be viewed with serious concern. Sc
far rs the honest people of New York
suffer the immediate consequences, there
is II sort Of reason for saying they deserve
very little sympathy, for they have nrge'
ly to thank their own Indifference and nc'
glect Of duty. They could cure this mon-
slrous evil if they would. But they arc
not the OILY sufferers. An offence Of such
magnitude wrongs all the lAw.rcspcCting
citizens in tho Union, and grIvely cndan'
gers the very institutions under which VIC
live. What kind of government is it.
which protesting to be republican, does
moi express the popular wish, and is
really hut the sport Of fraud and villNiny?
What is 10 become Of II, If it becomes a
generally accepted fact that fraudulent
result mNy he always and certainly sub.
stitutcd for the real will Of the electors in
State or municipal elections? Must not
the decentralization be rapid and fatal
unless some signal check he given
to this habituOl ind systematic thwart'
ing Of the popular will, in the most
corrupt and lawlcss manner, for the
most venOl purposesP Is there not
serious danger ahead? Danger that peO'
pie may como not only TO fear but to find
that the essence Of our government has
been lost, that the lawful voters 10 longer
controls, that elections are useless and iarCi
cal and that fraud ind deception decide
the results? The more such conviction
grows, the more will honest people stay
away from elections in disgust, the more
will scOundrcls have everything their own
way; and the evil will spread with acCcl
Grated rnpidity till calamity must result.
Once lot general conviction possess the
public mind that u legal ballot deposit
cd in the box will not bO counted or will
be offset by IN illegal one, and that the
result declared will not be the real result
and our institutions rest on very insecure
foundations.
Suppose that in the heated Presidential
election Of 1879 the voto shall DO so close
that tho electoral vote of New York
would dccidciL Suppose great frauds In
New York city, like those perpctrated
Monday, should decide the result in tho
State, and thus in the United States, would
moi tic country hn In vnrv rrcnt ilnnrnr nl