The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1872-11-01
FRAUDS ON OUR SIDE.

We all know perfectly we'll that in
the midst Of heated political campaign,
the partisan papers On either side are
somewhat reckless of staten nt, and
he must be very marvel of eredulity
who at such time accepts without
question all the assertions of his party's
organ. Were the fact otherwise, we
should despair, just now, Of our coun-
try's future, for, according to the
newspapers, the elections in Maine,
North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio have been
simply tits between tricksters at the
games Of ballot-box stufling, false
counting, repeating, and all manner Of
political infamy. Accusations Of the
most serious character are freely ban
died about, and the stranger who should
read our papers just now. could hardly
fail to conclude that our political life is
hope!essly corrupt.
For ourselves, we believe nothing of
the sort. We believe that the great
body Of the American people means to
do the right thing in politics as in
everything else. And yet there can
be no question of the fact that good
deal Of fraud is practiced IN our cleo
tons. 1t is equally apparent. too, that
these fraudulent practices are not con-
fined to any one party, and the danger
which they bring to our institutions is
simply appalling. Our whole system
rests upon the theory Of free and fair
elections. If we can not have these,
our system is failure. AS yet, we
confidently believe that the cases in
which the will Of the people is over
borne by organized fraud are exception
al, but the very existence of such cases
is just cause for serious apprehension.
So long as there are exceptional cases
in which elections are decided by fraud
there will be danger that the exception
viii come to be the rule, and it lies
with the honest people of both parties
to save us from this fate. The rogues
will, Of course, do nothing to remedy
an evil by which they hope to profit.
The remedy seems plain one. We
are all willing enough to aid in the dis
eovery Of frauds on the part of our
opponents, and were our power equal
to our will in the matter, the rogues On
the other side would all have been in
the penitentiary long ago. But how
many Of US are there who arc equally
ready and willing to ferret out the
frauds by which our own party has
won? When an election has gone con-
trary to our wishes, and our PARTY or
gan cries out "Fraud ~ we grow in
dignant, and insist upon an "investiga-
ton" But when re have carried
State, how many of us are there who
think it necessary to investigate the
charges brought against our own party
by our opponents
Do we not rather seal up our ears,
AMI refuse to hear the evidence to
which we would be eager listeners were
the relative positions of the successful
and defeated parties changed |
The trouble is that we are too
strongly partisan in our feelings. We
are better Democrats, better Republic
Calls, better LlDeraIs, lnau 1Hm-iicaus.
We accustom ourselves to think that
the only thing there is about an elec-
ton to rejoice over is success, and the
only thing to lament is defeat. We
need learn that the first question we
should ask about any election is, "Was
it fairly conducted 20 We need re-
member constantly that there is some
thing worse than defeat-something
better than victory. We should never
lose sight Of the fact that our country
is of more value than our party-that
honesty in elections means the perpet-
uation of our free institutions, and that
every fraudulent casting or counting of
a vote is the highest possible crime
against liberty. We can not afford to
tolerate fraud on our own side. With
an earnest will to do SO, we can discov-
er and punish it there, and when We
shall learn to do this. exalting the
purity of election as something Of more
worth to us than the success Of any
party, we shall have taken new lease
upon our liberties. which will secure
the Inheritance to our children. Until
hat time. we are in great danger
Hearth and Home.
Cleanliness is next to goodness. 7"
II that is 50. cake Of good soap u.s.