The New York herald., 1872-11-05

that we are indebted to the present registra
ton and election laws, and especially to tn
law OF the United States and to the manner il
which it has been enforced. for the defcienc,
OF large portion of the missing fifty thou
sand in the legal registration of the city, Thes
laws are of questionable consttutionality
Many sound authorities believe that no lega
voter can be deprived Of his ballot even if h
should have failed to register. The provision
of the constitution are plain. Article O. sec
tion l, provides that ''every male citizen O
the age of twenty-one years" who shall have
filed certain conditions as to residence, ''shal
be entitled to vote for all officers that now are
or may hereafter be elected by the people. :
Section 4 of the same article provides thai
'laws may be made for ascertaining by
proper proof the citizens who shall be
entitled to the right of suffrage hereby
established. While this sanctions o
registry law, it is believed by many that such
law cannot deprive legal elector of the right
to vote, provided he is ready to prove his citi-
zenship by the proper oath. Still less can any
United States law strip citizen of this con-
stitutional right provided he has all the quail
fcations required by that instrument.
Constitutional or unconstitutional, however,
it is clear that these laws and the apathy Of
many thousands of our citizens have together
cut down the legitimate vote of New York
about fifty thousand, and we insist that this is
an evil which demands remedy in the future.
We have now to deal with the present, and the
very meagreness Of our registration renders it
the more incumbent upon every good citizen
to record his vote to-day for such municipal
candidates as he believes will best serve the
interests Of the city. Tire ''bad elements
may be relied upon to have found their way on
to the registrars lists, and hence it is
especially desirable that the respectable vote,
SO far as it can be recorded, shall be pitted
against them. I'm the triangular duel for
Mayor there will no doubt be considerable
trading and dickering among this scheming
politicians but if every honest esector will
cast his vote in accordance with his; convic-
tions and make certain that he is not cheated
in his ballot these dlsgraceful bargains may be
rendered imperative, There was o report yes
terday that Mr. Havemeyef had withdrawn
from the contest, but this appears to have been
incorrect. Mr.. Lawrence, Nh. Hayemeyer and
james O. Brien are oil in the field to-day, and
between them the people of New York must
decide. We can only advise all CAR readers to-
ook well to their ballots for the Mayor and all
other candidates, 50 as to protect themselves
against the tricks of the politicians Let an
lonest vote be- cast and We are content to
Ibide the popular verdict.
spain-The Impeachment OF sagsssta.
Spain promises to'give us ,anoSher sensation
II the impeachment trial Of Saeasta and his
ssociates in the late administration In these
olumns sorae months ago We printed
pecial despatch disclosing certainssecrets re-
aFding Sagasss and the use he was making OF
se public moneys for political pun poses, and
pscially with wiew to the maintenance of'his
,ower. It was expected at the time that the
harges against .Sagasta and his associates
You'd be publiclymade, and that TIE imme-
liate'result would be serious trouba if not
Widespread revolution. The Sagastca admin
strntion had but ~ brief existence and as
lor1illa, the present Prime Miuist, II, was not
n favor Of making q public expos ure of his
Predecessor in ofics, it seemed as il the entire
flair had been dropped
Later, however, resolutions were A,arried in
9th. Houses in favor of impsachme mt; and,
ccording to our latest news, Seiior 81 oulaguer,
Iinister of Financein Sagasta's adj ministra-
ion, demands that the trial be not delayed,
nd that he and hislate assoeiates gin Office
ave.-an opportunity-to answer the charges
against them. Prime \ Iinister
,orrilla is not much.in favor Of the tr ial but
he republicans andthe advanced ibe rails ore
determined to bring matters toa cri sis. 1t
lces not seem as if .Sagasta was' mucll afraid
# the result, for he has just offered hir aseK to
rurnl constituency; seeking tobs thei repre-
entative in the Lower House of the Corbes.
,agasts has the reputation of being q daring
nd unscrupulous. man, butchow fa,. he is
yuilty Of the charges preferred agains him it
must be lett to the proper tribunal o deter
mine. In this threatened impeachr aent we
have another illustration of the truth which we
have often repeated in these columns, that in
Spain politicians arc more bent ON pa rty inter-
ests than on the general welfare of ithe ooun--
try. It would ibe better f,r. Spain if poitical
parties could unite and work together for the
general good. Unless we greatly mistakes this
trial will he another misdDrtune
to Spain andsto the Spanish people.
The Suppression o. the East African.
Slave Trade.
England merits praise for the energy with
which she takes up, the heavy task Of