New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-10-24
PEMISTERI


right to vote at the coming election by regis
tering. To-day is the last opportunity IN
Brooklyn; in New York Friday and Satur-
| day next have been set apart as the
| final DAYS 1t is, doubtless, something OF an
annoyance to the restless man of business 10
be compelled to go twice to the polls to vote;
but the hours are convenient, the registering
places numerous and the days so many III
number that little delay occurs. 1t Is only
upon the last day that the registering places
| are crowded to even a slight degree Avoid
| therefore waiting until the last day.
| The registry law Of this state has now oeeh
| in operation some ten years or more. IL mas
| been successful in purifying cur elections III
| many respects. 1t has eiiectualy stopped re-
peating, and made impossible such grossly false
counts as that of 1868 which gave New York
State to Seymour and Hoffman. These cX-
cellent results commend the law especially 10
the best class of citizens, and should reconcile
them to the prompt performance OF duty
which. however vexatiOus, they owe equally
TO themselves and to the community Yet IL
| is this very class of citizens who are, on the
present occasion, neg'ccting to register
This il a fact which we wish particularly to
emphasize and impress upon such OF our fTlenns
| as desire good government. 1t is tact easily
! demonstrated in this way. The various pohtl-
cal organizations keep at the registry places
kcc5,. slrcwd men, whose business 1t is not
only to bring their known party friends to the
polls to register, but to keep tally OF those
registered by the other party, and also OF those
who are considered doubtful This system has
been so nearly perfected that these agents are
able to tell with almost official eXactneSS what
the vote in each precinct will be ON election
day. These agents of all parties are now re-
porting to their central authorities that, to use
their own expressive language, the machine
vote" alone is being registered. That Is to
say that you, Mr.. Merchant, you, Mr.. Banker,
and you learned gentlemen of the profess
sions, are not doing your duty at
all. You are not only permitting pro-
feSsional politicians to run your primaries ana
name candidates from whom You are graciouNiy
permitted to select, hut you are about to per-
NIT them to do your selecting out OF the limited
lists they have presented. by neglectrnS 10
register you are failing to take advantage o.
your privilege to say which OF three candidates
for nearly all the city and legislative Offices
Won prefer. VIII any one maintain Tor IL
moment that it is not a dangerous thing to
neglect this dutyl The registry law Is too
| great a safeguard of the suffrage to he thnS
| permitted to become rusty with disusc Mrr-
| chants and bankers and taxpayers ard ciu-
zeus generally interested in good administration
surely cannot have forgotten what terrible
price Ncw-York City paid for the law, when lis
massage could BE obtained only 10y Il cOmpro'
misc which gave Tweed aud his co-ronspuntoiS
the charter under which they stole fifty millions
of dollars Neglect 10 USE 1t may saddle another
such ring again upon us.
We say that it is the "machinc vote which
is being enrolled and that the best classes OF
citizens are not registering. Yet there never
WAS time when the mere "machlnc vote '
WAS rs close as it is likely To he at the coming
election; and consequently occasion when
the citizens vote was "a potent IA 1t now
nromiscs to he, if il is brought ont has ever
before offered. The faction fight among the
Democrats in both New York and Brooklyn
has resulted in placing in the field three tick
cts of almost equal strength. We think that
rs now practically made up the Republican
tickets have the prrpondcrancc in both cities.
They certainly present the best candidates
for the suffrage of the best citizens, and
these latter can, by promptly registering now,
make doubly sure the election of the best
men. 1t is not merely grave duty it is n
GREAT opportunity offered to those who desire
good government irrespective of party and
party questions and principles do not enter
very largely into our local elections
The class of voters to whom we now es-
prcialIy appeal are usually men OF calculation.
We therefore commend the following facts
and figures to them. The election in New
York CITY, aside from that of the DisiIict-At-
torncy promises to be very much like the
race of 1879 for Governor. Three tickets arc
in the fell now as then; Tammany Is fighting
now as then to demonstrate its strength; Anti
Tannany is laborng as it was then to main
tain its position IN the party organization.
| Ii is of the utmost importance to each faction
that it should demonstrate its superiority to
the other. The Republicans are united as then.
Practically, then, the situation is about the
same as i'll 1879. On a registration little
larger than the one which is now making
PROMISES TO be- the vote Of this county was,
in round numbers, 10000 for Cornell, 60, 900
for Robinson, and $4,000 for Kelly. But
while Cornell was cut, Robinson was supported
by all the power and energy of Mr.. Tilden,
who made the fight his own; and for the
present calculation CornelPs vote must be
augmented and Robinsons cut down. Keys
was a strictly "machno" vote of bolt
ers, and his candidates this year can do better
than he did. On a total vote of 140,O00-and
il promises to be about that-the Republican
candidate for Surrogate ought to poll $4,000
votes, which would leave $4,000 to be divided
between the Democratic factions Tammany
and Irving Halls combined ought to get fully
as much as Kelly did, or say they poll only
10000. This leaves $4,000 for AntiTam-
many. Suppose that there are only $4,000
Republican votes that would leave 10000 to
| La din,idnd among the Demncrats Here Is