The daily gazette., 1878-06-25

reached the sum of untold thousands
| between one and two hundred thousand
| dollars are reported, and much more is
| snll left to conjecture. This is a good
round sum to be taken out of the pockets
| OF the people and put in the hands of
| These marshals AZ com pensation for their
services.
Their duties are claimed to be to guard
the purity of the ballot-box and to pro-
| tect voters in their rights but their EN-
ployment has been used for merely par
tisan purposes They have devoted them
| selves most industriously to the political
canvass, as well as to the registration
! and election, and have become the most
| active and efficient agents of the repub-
llcan party, on whose favor they hold
their places and receive their emoluments.
The sum paid them, together with the
| usual assessments that are levied upon
| all ofiice-holders, forms handsome cam
paign fund TO aid in the prepetuation of
party ascendency.
| The manner of their appointment and
the character of their employment natllr-
ally lead these marshals TO become, in a
greater or less degree, more the instru-
| ments of party than the conservators of
| the law, and their action has verified the
truth of my assertion. 1t is no part of
their duty to engage IN political canvass
tle voter; and yet the burden of their
reports consists in exhibiting the in
crease of the republican vote in localities
where they were employed. The success
Is, of course, attri buted to the virtuous
cause of a full and fair vote but in real
lty it is the direct result of bribery and
undue influence. In the southern dis
trict of Alabama the marshal sums up his
successfn this felicitous manner:
In the State elections for many years
past, when the MARSHAL by him elf and
deputies has not been present at the sever
al voting places, the repu blican vote IN
MOBILE county has averaged but about
tsree thou ant, yet at the Federal ele>-
tions during the same period, whereat the
authority OF these officers have existed
and been exercised, the republican vote
has averaged i've thousand.
Not what frauds have been prevented,
what illegal voting has been prohi bted,
but what increase in the republican vote.
This Is the test of the merit of the work
perfo omed in the estimation of these
superserviceable election marshals. The
instance are numerous of the abuse of
authority by these marshals, and their
partizan character and conduct are un-
deniable. They were created by the re-
publican party in its struggle for contin-
ued existence, and they have become the
means of intolerable wrong and outrage
In controlling elections. If they were
fair, honest, and impartial they would
be entirely useless, but when they lend
their energies to merely partisan pur-
poses they should not be supported from
the United States Treasury
The people do not need this kind of
protection; they are capable of enforcing
the laws and guarding the rights of the
citizen to vote, through their local au-
thorities. These authorities are the best
and safest guardians of the rights of the
citizen. If they are not competent to
secure the rightful exercise of the ballot
without calling in the aid of Federal
agents, then elections will soon become
a base mockery ard self-government a
disastrous failure. The more specific in
stance OF the unfair political and partisan
work of these marshals L leave to be no.
ticed by the honorable gentlemen from
Missouri, Mr.. Clark