The New Orleans Democrat., 1876-07-22
THE RECENT ELECTION OF DELE
GATES.

There are now in this city number
of delegates to the Baton Rouge Con
vention from the country parishes, and
they must have noticed with some sur
prise the fact that during the hotly con
tested election held on Thursday there
was hardly an incident or quarrel that
rose to tho dignity OF disturbance.
Elections in large cities, when they are
Of a character to deeply arouse the in
terest OF the participants, are generally
associated in the public mind, especially
In the country, with riots, brawls and
street fights; but in the instance under
consideration nothing Of the kind took
place. There may have been here and
there few quarrels and heated discus
sions over the merits Of the respective
tickets in the field, but the records OF
the police stations do not show single
arrest on Thursday growing out OF the
election
This is fact worthy of special notice
and calculated to disabuse the minds or
country delegates of the long cherished
notion that elections in this city are
controlled by violence and disorder
The reverse is the fact, and it IS time
that this should be understood and
properly appreciated.
1t is true that allegations Of fraud in
registration and voting are freely made
on one side or the other, but no unjust
inference should be drawn from this
fact. Nothing is more common after an
election than charges Of fraud. They
constitute the only consolation Of the
defeated party, and furnish an admira-
BILE safety-valve for their soreness and
disappointment over the result.
Eternal vigilance is the price of
liberty, and the best guarantee of fair
ness at the polls. 1t is not to be pre-
sumed that one faction is less vigilant
than the other; if it is, then it
estops itself from making whole
sale charges Of fraud without the
production OF specific proofs. The
fact that at the recent election the
vote In no ward OF the city even APP
preached the number of registered
voters belonging to the ward, would
seem, of itself, to rebut any presump
ton or suspicion Of fraud. We are too
sincerely democratic in our political
faith, we have too much confidence in
the masses, to believe that fraud and
corruption can control TO any great
extent the election of delegates or Of
public officers. When we find one class
OF the community claiming for itself
monopoly of public virtue and charging
fraud upon the victors at the polls, we
are inclined to pay little heed TO their
complaints. When the matter is
thoroughly investigated, it will, we
think, generally be found that the cause
of the defeat Of these complainants lies
in the fact that either they and their
friends constitute the minority Of a
given ward, and consequently are not
entitled to rule it, or, if they are the
majority, that their friends have been
too apathetic or Indifferent TO their
political duty to subject themselves
to the trouble Of registering and
voting. This indifference on the part
OF hundreds and thousands of those
who consider themselves the flower
OF public society is the greatest vice
in our political system, and should be
universally condemned. II every man
in the community would consecrate
few hours Of each year to the perform
ance OF his political duties, such as
registering and voting, as we'll at
primary as at general elections, the
soundness Of the democratic system of
government would be fully vindicated,
and good government be the rule, in.
stead OF the exception. in our political
life.