Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1880-09-09
STARTLING FACTS.
The StupendOus Frauds of the Demo-
cratic Party.
From the Chicago Tribun.

From the Chicago Tribune.
The testimony of Chief Supervisor
John I. Davenport before the committee
appointed by the Senate to investigate
the charges of election frauds commit
ted under d 5mocratic auspices is full of
startling developments that ought to
appeal strongly to every man who is in
favor of honest elections and of preserv-
ing the purity of the ballot-box. His
statements show that many persons who
/ held certificates of naturalization had
never declared their Intentions, nor
sworn to the applications which appear
ed on file in court Others were not
asked whether they had done SO or not,
and great numbers were never asked
about their age at all. They were nat
uralized In squads. On one day Judge
Barnard alone naturalized 2,543, and on
the same day, in the Superior Court,
2,077 were put through this fraudulent
process, making 1920 for the day
Nearly 10000 persons voted in the cleo
ton of 1868 upon these fraudulent nat
uraliz alton papers, the others voting in
various counties in New York State, and
in New Jersey, Connecticut and in
| Pennsylvania. In answer to question
how many naturalization papers bearing
the seal of the court had been issued in
excess Of the number upon the records
of the court, he replied about 49,,
900. The Supreme Court alone issued
$4,000 certified blanks, of which 1884
were used. The papers were issued in
blank with no name to them" The law
requires that the testimony showing
FIVE years residence must be taken in
open court by an oral examination of
the witness, previously prepared affida-
Wits not being in evidence, and yet, says
Mr.. Davenport, In these cases in 1868
no record was taken by the court. On
the minutes of the Supreme Court six
names appeared during the month of
October up to Oct. 6 On the next day
the court adorned, and not line ap-
peared in the minutes in regard to the
other Is, Sl8 persons" In another part
of this testimony Mr.. Davenport says
"Of the papers secured in 1868 and
held by voters in 1878, about rs per
cent. were assumed to be Democratic
and % per cent. Republican, but all the
naturalization papers issued in 1868
were to Democratic applicants, with the
exception of about 2,SC0, in which cases
the naturalization process was honestly
conducted in the Court Of Common
Pleas" Fraud was pill d upon fraud.
False naturalization was not the only
form of Democratic rascality. By re-
peating alone, $4,000 fraudulent votes
were cast in the election of 1863, and
every scoundrel arrested for illegal vot-
ing was discharged by Judge McCunn.
As Mr.. Davenport expressed it-and it
is matter of public notoriety, never
questioned-tha election was carried
by repeating, false voting, false swear
ing, false canvassing, false naturalization,
falsehood throughout, aided With money
and with the power of criminal bench
upon which sat Democratic Judges
whose corruption and dishonesty knew
no limits. That is the way in which
the Republican majority in the State of
New York was overcome, and that is the
way it will be overcome next fall unless
some check is placed upon the frauds
practiced in New York city.
These outrageous frauds upon the
ballot box have been investigated before
this, and they have been brought home
so clearly to the door of the Democratic
party that no one has ever questioned
their paternity. And yet this is the
party that is continually bowling for re-
form and demanding honest elections in
its platforms and party organs! If the
Democratic party is in favor of honest
elections, why does it oppose, tooth and
nail, every attempt to legislate for such
result and to surround the ballot boxes
with every possible safeguard? If it is
in favor of honest elections, why does it
seek to vitiate every law and statute that
guards the ballot-box against fraud? If
it Is in favor of honest elections, how is
it that it polls 4O,0O0illegal votes in New
York city; that it has been convicted of
repeated frauds in Chicago, in Cincin-
natl, and in other Northern cities; that
it has colonized Indiana and New Jer-