The weekly clarion., 1879-10-01


the use OF afhdavits the bill would in
vast multitude OF cases. have made it praC
tlcally impossible for an applicant 10 prov,
the length OF his residence The only pei
sons oy whom he could prove when he cam
to the United States might be in another an,
: distant State. Ii he could not use thei
athdaylts, he could not procure his natural
ization, unless, indeed. he could procur
their personal attendance at a cost of hun
: dreds OF miles of travel and of their reasona
ble compensation. But this was not all
Inc applicant might be ready and have hi
witnesses IN attendance when any one Nigh
interpose and contest the application. An,
pettlfoggIng lawyer employed by a Know
Nothing Lodge or moved by his own vim
dlctlye feelings, might 90 to work TO exam
Inc and eross-eXamine the applicant, anC
for the purpose of continuing such exami
nation and the taking of testimony, tht
Commissioner might adjourn the hearing
from day TO day, receiving six dollar.
for every day he sat. Ii was estimated
by some OF the Senators in the debate upon
the blII, that the average cost of natraliza
tion, should the bill become a law, would
not be less than one hundred dollars case
But let Us suppose the applicant successful
and ms certificate granted and the six
months which were TO elapse before il
should be effective, expired. Then you
But not at all; for the bill provided that
at any time thereafter District ATTORNEY
of the United States might drag that man
| into the Federal Courts to show cause
why his certificate should not be revoked.
Now it may be asked, why do | dwell so
much upon this bill, or rather the substi-
| tute failed to become a law. l do so for
two reasons: First, to show what kind of a
measure large number of the most distin-
|
to adopt; and in the next place, to show
| that the election laws of which we complain
| and this knowNothing ganti-naturaliZation
| bill We're win-brothers; for then you will
be better able to comprehend how it is that,
in the execution of the election laws, they
have been turned principally against the
naturalized citizen.
Having failed to destroy naturalization
by the bill to which / have referred, they
now seek, by corrupt and tyrannieal ex-
ecution of the election laws, to throw every
possible obstacle in the way of the natural
lied citizens right to vote. The purpose
to thus use election laws disclosed itself the
moment the substitute bill of which have
spoken was defeated. That, as | have said,
was proposed as an amendment to the House
bill. As soon as it was voted down, the
Senator who had the bill in charge moved
two additional sections to it: one providing
for Supervisors of Elections, and the other
providing as follows: And be it further
enacted, that in any city having upward of
twenty thousand inhabitants, it shall be
lawful for the Marshal of the United States
for the district where such city shall be, to
appoint as many special deputies as may be
necessary to preserve order at any election
at which Representatives in. Congress are to
be chosen; and said deputies are hereby to
preserve order at such elections, and to ar
rest for any offense or breach of the peace
committed in their view"
The bill, thus amended, passed both
Houses, and was approved by the President
July II, 1870. This bill was the entering
wedge for the enactment of the voluminous
Confessional election laws that have since
been passed. 1t introduced the United
States Deputy Marshals upon the scene,
under the pretense of preserving order at
the elections, but it stopped far short of
the powers conferred upon them by the sub
sequent acts, to which | will shortly refer
At the next session of Congress the Rad
ical leaders returned to the charge, and by
the act approved February p, 1871, con-
tanning twenty sections, set up the vast
machinery of Federal interference in the
elections of the people that now exists
This act provides for a Chief Supervisor
of Elections, for two other Supervisors in
each district or voting precinct in any city
or town having upwards of twenty thous-
and inhabitants, all to be appointed by a
Federal Judge and it then confers upon
the United States Marshal, on the applica-
tion of any two citizens of any such city
or town, power to appoint as many Special
Deputy Marshals as he shall see fit to aid
and assist the Supervisors of Elections to
keep the peace, to support and protect the
Supervisors in the discharge of their duty,
to prevent fraudulent conduct upon the
part of any officer of election, and with
power to arrest and take into custody, with
or without process, any person who should
commit, or attempt to offer to commit, any
of the offenses prohibited by the act or any
offense against the laws of the United
States; provided that no person should be
arrested without process for any offense not
committed in the presence of the Marshal
or his general or special deputies, or either
of them or of the Supervisors of Election,
or of either of them. And for the purposes
of arrest or the preservation of the peace
the Supervisors of Election, and each of
them, should, in the absence of the Mar
shals deputies, or if required to assist such
deputies, have the same duties and powers
as Deputy Marshais. And it is further pro-
vided that the compensation of Deputy
Marshals shall be at the rate of five dollars
per day for not exceeding ten days. The
tremendous powers conferred by this law
upon these officers-Supervisors Marshals
and special deputies-cannot be understood
without a reference to the entire statute
and the multitude of offenses that it creates.
1t interferes with the registration Of voters
and with the election, and undertakes to
punish the State Registrars and the State
Judges of election for numerous offenses
declared by the act, and in some instances
to require them, under pains and penalties,
to disregard the State law they swear to
support. And it places every one of these
State officers at the mercy of the irrespon-
sible Deputies appointed by the Federal
Marshal and who, according to the expe-
rience we have had of the act, have gener-
ally been men of the basest and most de-
graded character that could be found; men
who have served terms in the Penitentiary;
men who were notorious thieves; men who
kept houses of infamous resort; in word,
the most despicable characters that could
be raked up in the great cities of New York,
Philadelphia, or elsewhere. To these wrethes
is given the power to tear the Judges of
election from their seats by an arrest with
out warrant, to arrest any,-th the most re-
spectacle voter in the city, and thereby to
prevent him from exercising his right of
suffrage and to terrify whole bodies of vo-
ters BY threats of arrest and by outright vio-
lence. This is no overdrawn picture. 1t
is not drawn strongly enough. Whoever
will read the testimony taken before Com
mittees of investigation of Congress in re-
gard to the elections in New York, especial
" the election last year, will be amazed at
the detail of enormities, almost too shock
ing for belief, committed by these Super
visors and Deputy Marshals. Their great
object seems to have been to prevent ma
turalized citizens from voting, and for this
purpose hundreds of arrests were made, and
the persons arrested held in custody until
they surrendered their naturalization pa
pers or agreed that they would not vote.
Among the hundreds of arrests actually
made, and the thousands of persons against
whom warrants were prepared, it is difficult
to find, so far as have been able to discov-
er, the name of an American born citizen.
Indeed, the execution OF the law was a reg
ular Know-Nothing crusade against natur-
allied citizens, and it has been estimated,