New-York tribune., 1879-03-31

The Democratic party now proposes 10
DoisoD the very fountains Of sclf-Government
by DESTROYING laws for the prevention OF lraud
at elections. Unless these laws are repealed
Democrats declare that they will refuse appro-
nriatious. AS Mr.. Garfield said, i'll his pow
erful speech, those who tried to shoct Ihe
Government to death now threaten TO
starve II TO DEATH And their alternative Is
starvation or poison; unless the Government
will suffer the very springs Of freedom TO Ue
poisoncd. by fraud aud mOb-Tule at electiohS'
il shall be starved by refusal of supplies. lhe
threat comes naturally from the party Which,
1T every crisis in affairs for forty years. mas
tried 10 carry elections by fraud and force
and which, during al that time, has fought
with stubborn and malignant intensity OF puT-
nose arlinst every measure for the prevention
or punishment of fraud.
Ii ApriI, 1898. the Judiciary Committee re-
ro-ted to the Assembly Of this State that
"mon vote who do not reside i'll the ward;
"ofton not in the State; aliens are frequently
'brouat to the polls and their votes im-
"p0scd upon the inspectors, although many
" of them have not been a week in the coun-
" try, and voters are not unirequently taken
Z" from poH to poll, voting in three or
&" four different wards at the same clec-
" don. Ihcse are tie frarlS constantly
| "pyqcEsed at oar elections, to the disgrace OF
"tho State and to the manifest wrong OF
" the whole country" William /. Marcy was
Mt that time Governor Of this State, and the
Democratic PARTY, under Lin and President
Van Burcn, had already commenced tAat career
of fraud which finally gave Us the Tammany
Ring and the stolen election Of 1sGS, ana thus
brought the United States Congress to see the
necessity OF stringent Federal election laws.
In every great emergency in Its history, the
Democratic party has t1ed to carry elections
bv fraud. When il was battling for ITS very
Iif, in 1914, the State Of Louisiana was car
ricd for Polk by 500 majority, and the op-
ponents Of Democracy in the other States
were greatly disbeartened, for at the previous
Presidential election the State had given
q Wing majority nearly half as large
rs the entire vote for Van Buren,. 1t
was found that the Democratic vote Iad
nearly doubled in four years. More than the
entire Democratic majority in the State WAS
cycu by Plaquemiues Parish, when J,OO1
Democratic votes and $40 Democratic ma
iority were returned. Yet that parish lad
east only 250 Democratic votes at the
previous Presidential election; it gave
onlv $50 in 1913, four years later, and
never as many as 400 at any election from
1914 until the rebellion; it gave only 2'3
Democratic votes in 1865 tWcnty-four years
LATER and only 4GO according to either count
in 1872 Tie method and magnitude Of this
fraud were exposed bya special committee OF
the Louisiana House, which reported in 1915
f,at " lne testimony proved beyond ali doubt
! . dino fafl1Y "a lqyAll
3" and irregalar manner and that it was
iraugbt with illegal votes, with fraud aud
! " corruution." Nevertheless, the Democratic
party enjoyed the fruits, prevented the pun
| isamcnt Of the criminals, and never per-
! mitted the passage OF laws for the
prevention Of fraud. BY means Of gross
! frauds il Pennsylvania and Newly Ork that
party trumphed in both States, and Ill the
| Presidential election OF 1911, and The mdig-
nation Of thc people contributed not little 20
the overwhelming defeat of the Democratic
! candidates in Louisiana, Pennsylvania ana
! &ew-Y0rk at the next Presidential election.
| In 1904 the Democratic party captured
| Kansas by fraud. The report Of the Congress
| Sio1a, Committee shows that only Lila legal
! and 1 ,729 illegal vote, were cast at the cleo
! tion i'll The Territory that year. In March,
! 1898, there were cast at an election ot mom-
! bcrs Of the Legislature $500 votes, Of which,
according TO a census previously taken by
Democratic Governor, 1868 were illegal votes.
! The massacre of many peaceable settlers,
| which attended thcso repeated iny1slOnS OF
! the embryo state, and the Infamous cruelty
| and bll0dthirsty violence there displayed 50
| aroused public opinion at the North that
| Kansas became free and intensely Republic
! can State, and Democracy lost its prey.
! In 1896 Che Democratic party again fought
! for It's lie IN Pennsylvania, a Congressional
committee afterward took testimony showing
the nature Of the means then adopted to Sc
cure a Democratic majority. In the report Of
! the Coyode iuvesugat0n the results are thus
| stated:
| II i- vel known to the American people That stu
pcndous frauds were peIP-tratad iu the election OF
i~5G "a Pennsylvania, Ivy means OF forged aDd fictitious
| naturalization papers. 70 Will PIE seen by the
| testimony Of William Kaus that these papers
! were first prepared AMI obtained IN Philadelphia,
| some OF them bearing The seal aud the sigma
! ture Of plOtl0BotGry who deceased about the
year 1850 and others with forged seals and sigma
! lures or genuine obtained In sOme manner from
the proper officers u Philade phia. These were dis
trbuted over the state by hundreds and probably b.
] thousands.
| Kans testified that those which he re-
ceived came in three packages, under diff
| fcrent franks. One Of them, | know, was
under the frank Of Governor Bigler," he
! said. This is the same Democratic statesman,
| by the way, who sent cipher dispatches from
! Louisiana to Gramorcy Park in 1876 begin
mng Bgler to Russia" Karns alone received
| TWO OF three hundred Of these forged papers
| tor usp i'm one city-Rcading. How MANY were
sent ont through the whole State, or used in