National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1876-08-02
BREAKING DOWN THE FRANCHISE.

The press of the country is loud in its
denunciation of the outra &c perpetrated on
Friday last by the House Of Representa-
tives in voting to continue John Goode. of
the Second district of Virginia, in the seat
to which he has no more right than any
other defeated candidate. Even many of
the Democratic papers warn their friends
in Congress of the great mistake they have
made. Though coerced by the powerful
personal and political influences brought to
bear upon individual members into voting as
they did, for the report of the minority, every
one so voting, as does every decent man in
and out Of Congress, must despise the man
they seated. By taking the seat under the
circumstances which surround him Goode
has forfeited the respect of all honorable
men. He must know and feel this bit
terly. The seat he holds by force and
fraud will be poor compensation to him for
the loss of honor in obtaining it. The Ian
guage of Judge Brown, of Kansas, in char
acterizing the process by which Mr.. Plat
was defrauded of his seat as conspiracy,
is fully justified by the record. A more
infamous conspiracy was never known in
our political history. Concocted in the
State of Virginia, and carried out by her
State and county officials until Goode was
given the certificate, Democratic Con-
gress has from its organization carried the
process forward to its final success.
Harris, Of Virginia, was made
ohoi ha
Elections that he might manipulate that
committee in Goodies interest. He sue
ceeded in having the consideration of this
case postponed until every other contest
was settled. Then Blackburn, Of Ken
lucky, and DeBolt, of Missouri, were Sc
lected as subcommittee, to which it was
referred, the former without conscience
and the latter without brains, and as plant
as wax in the hands of his more able and
unscrupulous associate. The case Was
argued in committee early in May, and, on
one preteXt and another, the report of the
subcommittee was delayed until July.
When finally submitted to Congress every
means possible was theoretically and un-
scrupulously used to force a political and
partisan consideration. The party whip
was unspsringly cracked, every Demo
cratic member was personally solicited and
begged to refrain from voting if they would
not vote for Goode. In this way over
thirty votes that would have been cast for
Mr. Plat were sflenced, and it is some
credit to the Democratic majority that only
one hundred and five of the nearly two
hundred members could by all these 10
fuences be whipped into a vote which
sealed their utter dishonesty and turpitude
But it was enough to accomplish the vile
purpose. The solid Republican vote and
that of nineteen Democrats who had the
manliness and independence to vote in &C
cordance with honest conviction were in
sufficient to overcome it, and Goode holds
his stolen seat by barely six majority. He
has been elected by the votes Of little
over one third of the House of Represen-
tatives, and not by the people, and the
Democratic majority has given convincing
proof that their pretentions to purity, re-
form and honesty are hollow mockeries.
The American people will hurl them from
the places they have dishonored.