Wilmington daily gazette., 1872-10-16
THE PENNSYLVANIA FRAUDS.

iCoLoNEL MCCLURE GIVES SOME ACCOUNT OF
How THE OuTRAaEs WIRE PrIrETEATEp
The RErEATERs FRoTEcTEp by THE RADICAL
Local AUTHORITIES
A reporter OF the Philadelphia Press had an in-
iterv,ew with Colonel Mcclure on Friday, relative
to the frauds perpetraed by the Cameron Hart
ranft Ring in the election OF last week The fol-
lowing is an extract from the report
Reporter-Did l understand YOU to say that
there was false counting to the extent of 5.o.mf
! Mcclure Yes, there WAS Mt least that In no
ward in Philadelphia did IIartranit honestly run
ahead of his ticket. ! had the hourly returns
| from many parts OF the city. and hc was almost
uniformly behind never ahead In nearly every
hourly return he was IRON one to live, sometimes
even ten behind his party. When 1t is considered
that change Of one vote i'll each precinct every
hour makes 5000 difference i'll the day, you can
Judge how much false counting has been made.
The first returns from the wards, made about nine
o'clock of election night. gave Hartrantt $4,000
majority. These returns were not i'll round num-
bers but exact Two hours later, finding that
! they did not need so much, and alarmed ut their
own work, they reduced the mnjorities below
Is. 900 and sent them on revised returns. Yes
+, terday Mr. English, Federal oilice-hoider, and
the most expert election arihmetcinn in the city,
| was President Of the Election Board with Lane
as Secretary Ii you read the Ledge7 of this morn
ing you i'll see how the returns read oil and
the papers signed before figures were footed up.
lueTe was no Necessity HSuihlE UP
to the highest vote on the State ticket, and thus
fngng insult upon the injury done to the people
of Philadelphia, but English and Lane did 1t un-
der orders from the leaders, who were ntoA icatcd
with their triumph, to put Hartrantt ahead OF AL
the others to humiliate Colonel Forney. No bets
We're to be saved nothing was to be gained by the
wanton fraud; but Colonel Forney was TO be de-
clared powerlcss by the RETURN and Cameron and
Errett, thus strengthened, notified the President
that Forney's advocacy OF his election would en-
10 Fran hos lna,, sunl,
science, and is so completely protected by the o-
GERS Of tho law that the politicians are not content
with moderate frauds even when frauds are not
necessary
R.-Was there no way TO arrest these fraudss
McC-Nonc. The people of Philadelphia
are pOwerless. An irresponsible Board of Al
tlermen appoint the canvassers mostly char
acteress or incompetent men, and they regis
ter 20 600 or SO, 900 fictitious names The re-
peaters We're here in swarms to vote the false
names, the leader of the enterprise, Mr. The
odOre Allen, having rooms both ut the Conti
mental and the Girard. The police, with the
knowledge and approval OF Mayor Stokley,
not only protected repeaters, but in many i'll
stances ploted them to their fields of opera
tions, and the deputy United States marshals,
rs a rule, were but allies of the repeaters.
Then they had the election boards made up
expressly to receive the fraudulent votes, and
no officer in the whole city to make an arrest
in earnest Cor an offence committed by the
FOUNDERS and repeaters. We had, therefore,
no possible restraint upon fraud, and we have
no tribunals to punish the guilty
R.-Where is the remcdyto come from for
these alarming evils
McC.-l don't know. For the frauds Of this
year the respectable and solid men of Phila-
delphia are much to blame, for they came to
the front and knowingly shielded crime in
their sincere anxiety to save Grant They
will now be appalled, to see a body of legisla-
tors and city officers elected who will close the
doors to all reform, aud they will revolt as
soon as the Presidential election is over, but
they will be powerless, for the Governor must
break faith with the friends who nominated
and elected him if he ever approves any bill
for the relief of Philadelphia