Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-09-05

forborne to make personal assaults even refer
by name or suggestion TO the hideous skeleton in
that Democratic closet l rather prefer that you
LOOK upon an uncolored picture OF the mass OF
wrong and outrage than that you shall be especially
called upon TO notice the especially obnoxious in
tegers of the whole.
But fellow citizens passing from this sad picture
OF mismanagement ana mlsrule IN Ohlo Deg 10
congratulate the country upon the fact that bad as
is this Democratic organization the leaders OF II in
Ohio who have opened the campaign with such
variety of 'keynotes" have not defended or even
apoogized for the shortcomings of this General AS
sembly- They have turned from il as from spec
ter, and passed il by passed il by perhaps as the
Pharisees passed by the who tell by the way
side the memorable passage from Jerusalem TO
Jericho. At all events they leave the hideous carcass
and do not throw over its defOrmltes so much as an
apron of ilg leaves.
1t is for the people of Ohio to say if they will trust
such party in power in this State; will they in
dorse the record of this Legislature by their votes?
FRAUD THE REAL 'KEYNoTE"i
SBut the real KEYNOTE of this campaign is to be
the stentoran cry from all the organs and orators OF
the Democratic party of Fraud Fraud Fraud!
Like the plaintve cly Of John Hook. amid the gen-
eral haejahs OF the people at the victorious ending
shout is to go up. 1t will be sounded in the deep
bass of the statesman and orator. and then
siO through all the rb varying seys up nn1 TEugh
will be piped in keynotes shrill as to resemble
the yell OF Comanche Indians fresh trail and in
hot pursuit of blood and scalpS. What OF 1t? One
thing / beg to suggest 1t comes with beautiful
grace for the Democratic party 10 talk about fraud in
an election. The old cry Stop thief suggests
rare consistency in comparison. Look for brief
moment at its shameful record. By fraud, bare
faced unbushing fraud. in 1874, it carried Louisia-
for Polk Clay. Up to 1861 the largest aggregate
number of voices in Plaquemine Parish $50: and
yet in 1874 John Sliddell and Others loaded two
steamboats, with pluguglies in New Orleans. who
had voted all day for Polk there, and ran them to
the parish and voted them so industriouSly that
the parish gave Polk 007 majority He, counting
this vote got the Electoral vote OF the State by only
69g majority.
The Democratic party of the South. even under
the strong government of Grant, changed Republi-
majority in Mississippi of over $4,000 one year
into Democratic majority OF greater than that the
next By fraud they overturned the State govern
ment in that State, and when Gov. Ames, pursuant
TO the Constitution and under the forms II law
called upon Grant for troops to uphold his admins
tration, the President was compelled reluctant
ly to refuse, and from that moment fraud
seized upon the Republican States OF
Arkansas North Carolina, and Alabama, and
carried them bodily over into the Democratic camp
But not until during the last two years of Grants
administration were 5000 men murdered for their
political opinions.
The Democratic majority in the House of Repre-
sentativeS to-day is the direct product of murder
ballot box stufing, false poll books forged tally
sheets, purchased election officers and intimidation
at the polls In our own State three men hold
and in two of the record evidence establishes
the fact. The penitentiary of Ohio holds to-day
some of the agents who did the work, while the
principals run at large and shout fraudi
The organization of ballot box suffers and re-
peaters has not been confined to Southern Demo-
Gratis. In 1865 Horace Greeley charged in an open
letter, that denied the truth Of the fact
that Tilden, as Chairman of the Democratic Com.
mittee of New York, acting with the knowledge of
Hoffman and Seymour perpetrated frauds enough
to change the vote OF that State from Grant who
really had majority, to Seymour and Hoffman,
who were counted in"
1t was always claimed by some of the best men in
the country that Clay was honestly elected in 1874
The meager plurality of Polk in New York, only
5lO6 was, it was always claimed, made up by stuff
ing the ballot box in New York City; and judging
by the more recent recent success of Tden and his
gang, the suppositiOn is not an unreasonable one.
beg to read to you some extracts from the writ
ingS of eminent American, famous for his cour-
age, truthfnlness and candor. He says:
Henry Clay was the choice of the American peo
pie for President and majority OF the votes actu
ally cast was thrown for him. He was chosen Pres
Constitution and laws-by all the rules of right
was entitled TO the Presidency. None now doubt
that. As matter of history it is notorious. Never
theleSs, in the House, in 1S45, the Electoral
vote counted was For Polk, 10: for Clay
los; while Folks minority on the popular vote
was 24,l19. The Electoral colleges counted for
Polk includad that of New York C36), Pennsylvania
(26), Georgia u0), Louisiana (6)-in all rs votes-to
all of which Clay was entitled by decided popular
maorities in all those States. Hence, add those rs
votes to Clays 1O5 and deduct them from Folks TO-
will give Clay 1SS votes and reduce Polk to 92, max
ing Clays majority in the Electoral colleges 81 the
real result of the canvass but which defeated by
the deliberately planned frauds of the Democracy.
Even strike from Polk's 10 New York's SC votes,
which State Clay confessedy carried by from 5000
10000 majority, will leave Polk but 13i Electoral
votes and give Clay 14l, majority Of seven in the
colleges. "
That Henry Clay was Fentitled, and confessedly
entitled to the Electoral votes of the States of New
York, Pennsylvania, Georgia. and Louisiana-seven-
to-eight in all-which by fraud. by the counting
i'm process which the Democracy. now charge
against the Republicans, were counted for Polk, We
have before us the proofs in a number of shapes.
They can not be questioned. In 1874 combination
of gamblers, through system of betting all over
the country in favor of Polk as in The canvass of
1876 in favor OF Tilden, secured by their winnings
the means Of defraving the expenses of the frauds
That was notoriously so in New York, Pennsylvania,
and Louisiana.
In New York, in 1874. of the popular vote Polk
was in minority of 1906 votes. His plurality over
Clay was only 5,106. That he obtained in the city
and its surroundings by fraudulent naturalization.
by repeating and ballot box stuffing; by the manu-
facture and count, through such infamous agencies
of from 10000 to 100 bogus votes Some place the
number as high as 10000.
In Pennsylvania the frauds were equally fragrant.
AT the October election, it admitted by the best
posted of the Democracy that Clay the State Was at
least 900 votes stronger than Gen. Marke the Wing
candidate for Governor. Hence, in order to beat
Clay in November, Shunk's majority must reach
10000. 1t only 4,2S2, fully 5000 less than the
Democratic estimate as absolutely necessary to beat
Clay. Nevertheless, Clay was beaten. His vote, as
the Democracy had calculated, 500 greater
than Markles, and was drawn principally from
Shunk's, yet Poks majority in the State was 6332.
1t was in this canvass in Pennsylvania that the
model of Tidens infamous confidential circular of
1865 by which he arranged the machinery
for Seymour and Hoffman, appeared as a
secret Circular, dated Harrisburg. january, 1874"
and signed by Edward A. Penniman and seventeen
Democratic members of the Pennsylvania Legisla-
ture as executive committee. 1t was distributed
only among the faithful with the injunction that
its contents should be made known only to such of
our [Democraticl friends will keep their own
counsel and assist i'll organizing the party" and
urged that cit is very desirable that it should not
appear in any newspaper or be communicated to our
political opponents" 1t particularly en.oined the
faithful ito secure a large turnout at the cleo
ton of judges and inspectors [of the pollsl This
done. we shall have the vantage ground, and
easy victory will be ours-' So it proved By secur
ing the judges and inspectors of the polis count
of any number by the Democracy was very easy
matter.
In Georgia. in 1874, and it may be so now. by the
list the number of legal voters in the State
could be readily ascertained. By that list there
in the State 7S6l1 votes. At the Presidential election
S6,277 votes cast. Even suppOsing, therefore,
that every legal in the State attended at the
polls-the decrepid aged sick. and dyins-there
was still fraud of 1866 votes By whom these
polled? In the Whig counties less than the legal
vote as shown by the tax list poled; but IN the
Democratic counties of Forsyth, Lumpkin, Haber-
sham, and Franklin, the lawful vote 3202.
They returned vote of 4,O4 for Polk and S25 for
Clay-in ALL 5,SS5-a fraud in these four counties
alone OF 1888; and so on throughout all the Demo-
cratic counties of Georgia. Nevertheless, POlk's ma