Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-11-14
THE NEW YORK FRAUDS.

A few days after the election in New
York, the World said in It's editorial COL
umns:
1t was perfectly we'll known ON Wednesday
morning that Dir. Potter and the whole Demo-
cratic State ticket, except Governor Robinson,
had been elected by considerable majority.
The Democratic State committee thereupon
disbanded. The Republican State committee
thereupon went to work.
These few sentences tell tho whole story of
tho alleged election of the Republican State
ticket in New York, and there is scarcely any
necessity OF words to enlarge upon the hint
conveyed. "The Democratic State commit
tee thereupon disbanded. The Republican
State committee thereupon went to work. {"
There is significance in both sentences. The
Democratic committee took no measures to
protect the people from the possibility of a
fraud being committed. They disbanded,
we'll knowing that their opponents were des
perate, and would resort to any means, no
matter how despioasle, to accomplish their
purpose. They surrendered the cause of
the people and their chosen officers to the
mercy OF the combined Republican and
Tammany enthusiastically destitute alike Of
honor, decency or honesty. They knew
their candidates were fairly chosen, but they
permitted them to be swindled out of tho
fruits of their efforts, and the people out of
the privilege of choosing their own officers.
We hardly know which offense is the great
est-that of neglecting manifest duty or
that of deliberately falsifying the vote of a
State.
The Republican committee went to work.
10 do what7 The vote had been cast and
counted, and the result was known to
every reading man in the State.
What need was there for "work" under
such circumstances? There is but one in
ference to be drawn. Work was needed in
order to change the complexion of the Of
fetal returns from that of the reported re-
turns on the morning after the election.
Ihe latter were no doubt correct, or ap-
proximateIy go. There could certainly be
no variation sufficient to- change the result
Ihe work that the committee had to do, and
which our dispatches show that it accomplish
cd, was to so change the returns as to count
out the Democratic candidates and count in
the Republican candidates. The returns
were no doubt falsifed, but it was done in
such manner as to leave no resort for the
Democrats. The only way they could have
prevented it was by being on the alert
and watching every movement of
the opposition. The tactics adopt
ed by the returning board of
Louisiana in 1876 were followed, with slight
improvements, by the New York Republican
committee. The result, as stated, has been
the counting out of the Democratic candi-
dates, leaving them no redress.
The Republicans have simply added one
more to their innumerable crimes the Dem
ocrats have added one more to their list of
blunders which approach the magnitude of
crimes. Neglect of duty is but a remove
from crime, and We are inclined to lay the
blame of the fraud upon the electors Of New
York as much at the door of the Democratic
committee that neglected its work at crit
ical juncture as at the door of the Repub
lican committee that did it's work, despic-
able and dishonorable as that work was,
The result-a gross outrage upon the Demo-
cratic party-will probably be allowed to
pass unrebuked, as were tho electoral frauds
Of 1876.