The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1871-02-04
The Radical Campaign Of 1872.


The proposed reconstruction rsscality,
noticed in our last, is step No. In the pro-
gramme of the radical presidential campaign OF
1872. No. has Just been developed in the
bill reported IN the lower house OF congress
last week BY the judiciary committee to zen
force the right OF suffrage In the States
The bill is an enlargement ofthe provisions OF
the infamous enforcement bill' OF the last
session. That bill only applied to few OF the
largest cities. like New York and Philadel-
phia but the bill now reported proposes to
extend It's provisions 70 all the cities in the
Union having 5000 Inhabitants or over. 1t
creates an army of election inspectors, who are
to attend each poll, and, backed by a military
force, are to see that no (negro) voters are de-
barred from casting their votes, and that no
"disloyal" or otherwise disqualified persons
shall be allowed 20 vote, Its object is to
take the control Of the elections out OF the
hands of the statest which, under the consti-
tuition, this control belongs exclusively, and
place it in the hands of the military power of
the general government, with the president
(himsef probably the most interested candl-
date at itS head. 1t is reducing our elections,
which, u ths country, have thus far Cat least
in the northern states) been measurably tree,
to the system established by Napoleon in
France of holding the elections under the
surveillance of The military system by
which he could always get popular majority
Of millions in his faver though niaetenths Of
the people abhored and despised him. In
short, the intention Of the bill is to make
universal, throughout all the states, the system
of holding elections that for the last five years
has prevailed only in the southern states and
has there obtained such an Infamous notoriety.
To give our readers an mixing of what this
system really is, let them look for moment at
how it worked at the election last fall in
Florida The facts are condensed from the
statement OF "loyal' correspondent of the
New York World, written from Tallahassee.
On counting the votes, after the election in
Florida last November, it was found, in spite
Of the great pains taken by the military to get
in every vete, that the democrats had TIL
umphed On the discovery Of this astound-
ing fact, the military commander was appeal
ed to, and when the board of canvassers met,
he sent a squad Of military ''to preserve or
dern' The board of canvasSers, who were all
negroes and radicals, after figuring the matter
up, found it necessary, in order to give the
state officers and legislature to the radicals,
to throw out the vote Of nine democratic
counties \ state Judge was prevailed uponby
democrats to issue an in junction against this
outrage, but the military, "to preserve ORDER
arrested the Judge under trumpcd up pretense
of violating the enforcement act' of congress
SO the outrage was c0nsummated, and the board
Of canyasssrs proclaimed tho election of the
radical state ticket and majority of radicals
in the state Legislature. When the legislature
met, tAe, members not only excluded the demo-
Gratis elected from the nine counties whose
vote had been eatiroiy thrown out Of the
count on the state ticket, but they admitted
the defeated candidates from those counties
So Florida remains q radical state in spite
otan honest democratic majority of 5000 votes,
(eQual to 10000 in lliinois) to the contrary
And this IS the system which the radicals,
to make sure of carrying the next prcslC!cn-
tial election, propose to introduce in all the
states Let them beware The people OF these
states VIII endure much before they Will fight,
but we mistake the temper ofthepeope of Hi
nois if they allow themselves to be swndled
out Of a fair and honest expression of their
will at the polls by a system like this without
fight,