Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-07-30
NEW YORR NATURALIZd TJOV
FRA UDS.
Astounding Developments before IN
Congregational Committee.

ton of Commissioner John l. Davenport NJ
New York, with view to prove him guilty n,
an abuse of power in intimidating voters. has
given him the desired opportunity to substop.
tiate proofs Of the astounding Naturalization
frauds committed by the Democrats of New
York in 1868.
II appears that at the election OF 1868 tbe
Democratic majority in the city Of New York
was about co. 600, and this was sufficient IN
overcome a large Republican majority in the
rest of the State, with 10, 600 votes to sparo
1t has always been believed that the Demo.
cratic vote in that year was to large extent
fraudulent, and Mr.. Davenport was employed
by the Union League club to conduct certain
Investigations He discovered that between
10000 and 10, 600 bogus naturalization papers
were issued in the single year 1868, chiefly by
Judges Barnard and McCunn. The fraud be-
gan in the court Of common pleas, under
Judge Cardozo, in 1866, but it was stopped
there by the honest Democratic clerk of the
court, Mr. Jarvis, who peremptorily refused
to issue the fraudulent papers. The business
was then taken over TO McCunn, in the supe.
rior court GsG7), and the next year Barnard.
in the supreme court, lent hand The Tri.
bune, in summing up the evidence, says:
The first thing that arrested suspicion in
searching the records was the extraordinary
number of citizens manufactured by these
two judges. Previous committees Of Con.
| gress had inquired of all the judges who Is
| sued naturalization papers how long the pro.
cess took Judge Brady said five minutes;
the others agreed that eight or ten men an
hour was as many as they could naturalize
But it appeared from the court records that
| Judge Barnard turned out voters at the rate
of 800 an hour, and McCunn was not far be.
hind him. In October, 1868 1.-THE month be-
fore election), over 81 900 naturalization pa
pers purported TO issue from the supreme and
superior courts-every one, with few incon-
| siderable exceptions, bearing the name of
| Barnard or McCunn On the 10Th of October
the number reached the extraordinary figure
of 1920, whereas, according to the testimony
| of Judge Brady and his colleagues the utmost
that two judges could have accomplished dur
ing the time these courts sat on the 18th of
October about five hours each was the natu-
ralization of 100 or 100 men.
Mr.. Davenport obtained the affidavits of
| one thousand men who acknowledged that they
| had been naturalized as minors, although they
were over age, many Of them from forty to
sixty years old, when they landed Even with
all these frauds the work did not go on fast
|
pers were accordingly issued in blank, with
out any application for them, OF transaction
| of any kind in court, or any record appearing
| on the books. Three thousand of these bo-
gus papers were seized by the police at a
liquor store in Prince street they were in
tended for use in Connecticut, where a con-
tract had been made to furnish them at 80
cents apiece. Mr.. Davenport speaks from
personal knowledge about the blank certif-
| forh he hoH 81
thousands-in his possession. An examina-
ton of the court records for the past twenty
| five years shows that the number of naturali-
cations has run from ?, 500 to 10000 a year,
being highest of course, in years of political
excitement. Even in 1867, when the frauds
began to be heavy, it was only Ii, 800. But
in 1865 it went up TO 20, 200 or more.
In the preparation Of these false papers, the
| conspirators committed the most reckless
blunders. Sometimes the application was
| signed in good hand by witnesses who are
| found to be now unable to write. Often the
| names of prominent citizens as Witnesses
August Belmont, John L. Hoffman, VIM. NJ
| Tweed, Peter b. Sweeney, John J. Bradley,
VIM. II. Vanderbilt, and United States District
| Attorney Courtney-were signed with mark
| But great deal of the work was done by pro-
| fessional witnesses, who made nothing of
swearing to five years acquaintance with
| some two thousand applicants. These pro-
| fessional witnesses, of whom there were about
| 100, were kept in a room adjoining the court
and in one month they signed for 20 600 ap-
plicants. The applicants for naturalization,
it appears, during the height of the fraud,
trere herer dtimitt1d 10 the courtroom and Hep-
| er Sdn the judge. The professional witnesses
obtained the certificates, either filed out or
| in blank, and disposed of them at rates vary
| ing from 30 cents to 81. Quantities were de-
| hvered in Westchester, Putnam Orange,
Kings and RocklRnd counties. The compli-
city of the Democratic committee in these
transactions was notorious. The principal
part OF the business was carried on at the
party headquarters, the system was organized
there, the witnesses We're supplied, the Judges
were managed, and the aliens who were TO
vote on these bogus papers received their in
structlons. SO vast a scheme could never
have been carried out except by an organized
central authority. But that there might be
no doubt about the real responsibility for the
crime, United States Marshal Murray in 1868
sent number of fictitious names to the Dem
ocratic national committee, aud in a few
hours obtained certificates of naturalization
for all at 81 apiece,
When Mr.. Davenport was first employed to
investigate these frauds he invited the coGpe-
ration of the two wings Of the Democratic
party, but failed to secure it, as n matter of
course. AS he gradually accumulated evil
dence, he gave warnings to the holders of
these false certificates not to vote, and this is
the intimidation" of which he is accused.
But his warnings worked so well that two
years ago nearly three thousand of these men
appeared before him and surrendered their
certificates, after they had voted upon them
for eight years For his indefatigable exer-
tons in unearthing these frauds, Mr.. Daven-
port has been relentlessly pursued by the
Democracy. petition signed by Fernando
Wood and seventy others has called for Daven-
ports impeachment and removal. Congress
has spent four years trying to invent some
kind of an investigation which would destroy
him without letting him get his mouth open.
Democratic orators have Numbered at him.
Resolutions have been hurled at him. He has
been made great political issue And final
ly the Democratic party of the nation resolved
in solemn caucus to stop the government if
Davenport were not removed 1t was to get
rid of Davenport more than for any other
purpose, that they made the fight on the mar
shals BILL refused to pay debts, blocked the
operations of the courts, and brought on the
extra session. But the ghost of their sins
would not down at their bidding and now
the bottom facts, substantiated by the most
indubitable evidence, are laid bare, regarding
another of those damning acts of political in
fanny of which only the Democratic party is
capable.
--
BY a collision between the excursion
steamer Garland and the steam yacht Mamie
at Detroit on Thursday night of last week. the
latter was sunk and seventeen lives were lost,
only eight passengers escaping Tho cause