The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1875-11-18
ELECTION FRAUDS.

L
It is remarkable fact that no party
cries out more Justify against election frauds
than the Democratic party, and yet that
whatever election frauds are detected are
almost invariably traced to that party. The
| Democratic screechers point to Philadel phia
as a hotbed Of election frauds, and yet it is
notorious that the only election frands ever
|JudicialIy detected and exposed in that city
were committed by the Democrats and for
the purpose Of counting in Democratic can
/ didates.
! We have, now, fresh instance Of this in
| Montgomery county. The returns as filed
in the Prothonotary's Office elected the
Democratic candidate for Recorder by one
majority but a scrutiny Of the ballot boxes
showed that, in Democratic township, a
Democrat had voted two tickets in one, and
that both had been counted in defiance Of
law, which requires that both should be re-
jccted This was sufficient to turn the
scale in favor Of the Republican candidate
but upon counting the votes in another bal
lot box it was found that the votes for the
Republican candidate was returned at five
less than he actually received, while the vote
for the Democratic candidate was returned
at four more
In both these cases the fraud was deilber-
ate, and was practiced on purpose to cheat
the Republican candidate out of his elec-
ton It failed through exposure of it but
the fraudulent intention was too plain for
doubt.
Luzernc county furnishes another illus
tration. The majority for Pershing, as
originally returned, was put down at l :
4UG, but the frauds detected by the court,
in canvasSing the returns, cut down the
majority to lilo, showing a fraudulent
Democratic vote of 294 The object of
this fraud was not to elect Pershing, but
to help u Democratic candidate for 4 coun-
ty Office through. 1t was accomplished,
rot by the return judges, but by altering
the returns after they reached the Pro
thonotary's Office. The Prothonotary, it
need hardly be said, is a Democrat, and it
is likewise unnecessary to add that when a
warrant was sued out for his arrest he was
not to be found The Scranton Republican
thus details the facts:
at has been proven that election returns,
officially fled in the Prothonotary's Office,
hal been altered, changed false and forged
papers substituted for the genuine ones,
and frauds promiscuously perpetrated in the
interest Of defeated Democratic candidates.
DR.. Samuel w Trimmer is the custodian
Of the Parliamentary Office, and he is the
man who must he held responsible for these
stupendous outragcs. He is an officer Of
the court, sworn to do his duty how has
he discharged one Of the most sacred and
important of these duties When the cleo
ton returns were fled in his Office, they
became part of the records Of the Court
Of Common Pleas Of Luzerne county. Af-
ter they had assumed this sacred character,
some Of the retuns were falsifed, others
were abstracted and forged ones substitu-
ted, while still others were tampered with
in various ways, all for the purpose of count
ing in candidates whom the people had re-
pudiated at the ballot-box This infamous
crime has been in a measure defeated by
the action of the court, in throwing out of
the count such Of the fraudulent votes as
have been conclusiyely proven. 1t has been
proven that in the south district Of Blake
~ township one hundred votes, cast for
each of the candidates on the labor ticket,
were in the returns taken from those can
didates and added to Duffy, Campbell, Jen-
nings and the rest Of the candidates on the
Democratic ticket. In the third district
of the Twelfth ward Of Scranton, just one
hundred votes more than were polled were
returned for the Democratic candidates.
The returns from Old Forge were raised
Thirty votes those of Spring Rock ten );
those from Fell ten those from Union ten.
This much has been proven and the court
has changed the count accordingly. As
the count has been corrected and officially
promulgated by the court Mr. Kaiser, the
Republican candidate fox Recorder, is elec-
ted by eleven majority Mr.. McNeish's S ma
jority has been about doubled, and the ma
jority for the Democratic State ticket has
been somewhat decreased, as has also
that of the few Democrats of the county
ticket who are elected
The purpose of these frauds has, it is
true, been baffied but the fact remains
that they were perpetrated, and that
they were committed by Democrats to help
Democrats into office. This is a part of
the "reform" to which the Democracy would
fain introduce us and from all such ere
FORM nav the GOOD ord daliver us