Middletown transcript., 1872-05-18
From the New York Evening Exprcss Of Tuesday
What Grant Men Vote Down.

ON Thursday Senator CasseFly moved
q. a suLs,i,u,c 10 the Enforcement bill
| that
!" i, shall be unlawful for any civil. mill
tary or naval officer. or any pcrson con-
nected with the service, TO attempt 10 ex-
ercise directly or indirectly any undue iu-
Aucncc or control over voters as 10 that
end, or 10 distribute ballots marked in any
way for the purpose Of nsccrtuining how
voters have voted, or 10 use amy means TO
destroy or impair the secresy Of tho ballot,
and providing severe penalties for viola
ton Of this law"
] The reason for this movement was the
following facts within the knowledge and
observation Of the mover.
ls,. The direct interference Of this class
Of officers in the election at the last State
election in California. at Mnre Island. For
weeks before the election the State was
secured for men to be employed ut Mare
Island, and the result was that largc
lniy Of men we're employed before the clec-
tion. and the number Of votes they we're
to east aud how they were to vote was ar
ranged By the oflicinls. On the morning
Of the election operations were commenced
by moving gang Of men from the navy
yard to the polls. The lawful State ofic-
ers OF the election had provided sort OF
bulkhcud through which the voters were
to pass MS they went TO cast their votes.
which. being shoulder high. secured u
certain degree Of privacy Of action in re-.
gard to making or changing ballots while
passing from the entrance TO where the
votes are received This gang Of men
tore down that bulkhcad before the eyes
Of the officers, and were too numerous TO
be resisted.
"a This done, The election began. The
, uayy-yard men were divided between the
two precincts, and marched up in gang,
each gang With its foreman a, its bead and
each man with bis ;icke, in his hand,
marked with the number Of his name on
the navy yard pay roll, the foreman check.
: ing of the names on the pay roll, which
he had in his hand In that way there
were 1900 pr 400 votes cast. under such
. circumstances Of duress mud coercion
MIR Cas,crly held up the ,ickc. befor,
6 the Senate
6 "a. This is n sample Of the freedom o
9 lection which the Administration j, will
:. in.. to allow TO the unfortunate men whs
: have to accept its employment to gain ihe'l
$ daily bread This ieke, is marked n'
> the back il the handwriting of prom
!. ucnt politician Of Caliornia-Mr job,
8 ". Dwinclle There II is--a thin stril
: of paper. with the State ,i'ket printed o,
9 the face Of i, solid with the 'mallcs, typ
!. that is ever used. SO AZ to make any al
s ,ela,inn impossible. The ticket has ais
I, n peculiar prn:ei pattern Oh the back.
It l,h, This ti'kt' va. printed aud circu
= Washington City for the recent election
!, 9th. 4, The election in 1861, the ,ot
;, If The county was l,la5 Republican I,
II | ....s Democratic. with 30 Rrrubliea,
Il .n,,S cast for split ticket. making ih
:. ..rpublean vote ,ls5 TO / ,22S Demo
l. tt..c In 1865. the next year, the vol
II for General Grant. ,llr sironscs. man VIII
e ever ran N the Republican ,icke, in Cali
l. tornia, was $40 aud for Seymour, lia
i, But last year, when there was only tioy
q crnor to be elected, the vote for the Dem
n ocra,ic candidate was 1861, jus, ahou
d the usual Democratic vn,c. and less I'm
I Seymour received in lsGs. while the Il,
ii publican vote was 2.Iol. nearly luubl
IN The vote cast Mt either Of the two proceed
d ing elections. aud nearly 200 more ,ha
y for General Grant, with all bis person.
!. strength. That is where those markr
r tickets went 1hpsc | 100 or 400 e,
ID ira Republican votes were fruits Of ,ha
u contrivancc. The outrage Was general
Z. lrnounced-morc vchcmrn,ly. il possibi,
by Republicans than by Democrats.
i. 9th \ few weeks atierward our ina
Ih cinl election cafne on, and the same cor
be spiraiors against the freedom Of election
T. and against the dignity Of the labarif
is man. got up another such iirkc, lie
W is one Of their tickets. Think Of the dc,
c. radiation OF those poor men. compelled
III walk up 10 the polls like cattle. their ,icl
n cts numbered by tho Numbers Of the
u names on the payroll, their obligation
M yoie that prepared ticket thus connected d
by rec,ly with their daily bread and all N
ye der the eyes Of the Government officer
an and Of course with their full knowledg
he Mr.. Casscrly then advocated his amen
he mcn, forbidding the use or presence
ew troops ut elections. unless when called
nj by the civil authorities to keep The pcac
,h and spoke in condemnation Of the pre-
10 cncc of troops Mt elections in New Yo
for city and elsewhere. Mr.. Casscrly's
M mendmcnt was Of course rcjccicd-i
,cs FIRST section 1S 10 81, and the second se
al ,ion 10 to 81. We put this ease not alo
Il. to Liberal Republicans, bu. to the decc
pie Grant Republicans as we'll. aud ask tn,
not wha, they think Of such bold. wicked
,ld Infamous conduct us this nj tho polls
va u S. officers and employees.