New-York tribune., 1879-03-19

tnrns: and that It is ready to break mp the
Government, stop its operations, and deprive
the country of its benefits, unless permitted
to control it by fraud.
In 1868 much more than 10000 irauduieh'
votes were cast in this city alone. The lacts
have been established by Congressioha' III
vestigaton, and the report of the Commi''ee
on that subject, with the evidence then takcn'
will form an admirable document 1or 'he
Republican party to reprint ana cIcuia'e'
if the Democratic party does not back
down from the purpose 1t has avowed. fr""u
ulent naturalization papers, many thousa'uS
in number, were issued to Democrats gangs
of repeaters hired and directed by Democrats
went from poll to poll; and even then 'he
honest Republican votes OF other couh-
ties had not been overcome. "A secIc'
circular, bearing the name OF Mr.. III
den. Chairman of the Democratic State
Committee, had been sent out to trusted
Democrats in every part of the State. Dy
that circular these men were dlfecteu " 'oi'
graph the majorities III every district as Sooil
as the polls closed, to Mr.. Tweed, the BOSS OF
the Tammany Ring in this city. The count
ing and return of votes in heavy DemOcratlc
wards was held back until these returns from
the country had warned Mr.. Tweed what were
the honest Republican majOrities to be over
come. Then returns of Democratic majorl-
ties were manufactured to ORDER large enough
TO defeat the will of the majority Oh the peo
ple of this State. The work was done III the
most bungling manner, and the trauds were
palpable. But the immediate end was reachea.
The people were robbed of their rights, ana
Tammany captured the State.
After this infamous deed had been thoroughly
exposed Congress passed the election law,
which il is now proposed to repeal. lhc
object of that law was to protect the people,
not of this State, but of the whole United
States. from debauchment, capture ana virtual
overthrow of their self-gOyernment, by means
of similar frauds in the larger cities. The
law does not assume to exercise any restraint
whatever over elections tor State or local
officers If the people of any State are con-
tent 70 he robbed by the political knaves of
its chief city. or cannot help themselves, this
law does not undertake to give them any re-
lief. Ii does not meddle ut all with the night
of each State to hold its own elections III
its own way. But it provides that at all cleo
tions of Presidential electors and members OF
Congress. and at such elections only, officials
Of the United States shall be present to
supervise the casting and counting OF the
votes. and shall have certain limited powers
to prevent fraud. In consequence OF this
law, the Democratic party Ill this city has
never been able to repeat the frauds
of 1868. Under that law, rcpcaters have
been stopped or punished by imprls-
onment in Cincinnati, in Baltimore and Ill other
cities. 1t is a perfectly notorious fact that this
law alone prevents the stealing OF the cleo
toral votes of New-York by frauds i'll this city,
of New-Jerscy by frauds in Jersey City. of
Connecticut by frauds in New-Haven or
Hartford, of Ohio by frauds in Cincinnati
and other cities, and of California by
frauds in San Francisco. Enough electoral
votes to turn the scale in almost any con-
tested Presidential election can be stolen by
the Democratic party, if it can get rid of the
United States law which was enacted after the
people Of New-YOrk had been robbed by
Tweedism in 1865.
1t is no new thing for the Democratic
party to seek success by fraud. Every attempt
TO secure a more far and honest ex-
been resisted by that party as "a restraint
"upOn the liberty of the citizen" The
registration of voters was thus resisted by
Democrats everywhere, and denounced with
unmeasured bitterness, and the repeal OF
such laws was attempted by that party i'll
every State where they recovered power
alter Republicans had provided for a registry.
There is not one other feature In which
the two great parties are as sharply divided,
by all their past history, as they are In re-
spect to the purity of elections Republicans
have exposed and punished fraud by Repub-
licans, and enacted laws to prevent rcpeti
ton of fraud. Democrats, for half a century,
have excused or defended the perpetrators of
fraud in their interest, and stubbornly resisted
every effort to restrain or punish them.
1t Is very fitting that the party which
tried to get the Presidency in 1876 by
bribing canvassers and electors should now
propose to stop the Government altogether
unless permitted to steal the Presidency. And
it is peculiarly fitting, if Mr.. TIlden is
to be the candidate of that party-thc very
man whose most intimate friends tried
to buy votes for him in 1S7G-that the
prominent issue in the campaign should
be whether Democrats shall be sus-
tanned IN destroying the Government unless
permitted to swindle honest voters, and to
carry elections by fraud. With Mr.. Tilden as
a candidate, and the repeal of laws against
fraud as a platform, the Democratic party
will for the first time appear in its true
cOOrs.