The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1884-12-03
THE BALLOT BOX FARCE.
How Republican Voters Were Counted Out
In Virginia-The Conspiracy Against
Free Ballot.

disputed fact that the republican MAORI
ties in several of the Southern states have
been for years ignored, with impunity.
Another state is now to be added to the
list of those which refuse to recognise the
voice of the majority as expressed at the
polls. A correspondent of the Chicago
Inter Ocean, writing from Petersburg,
Virginia, describes the methods resorted
to in that state to suppress the republican
majority which was cast in the late cleo.
ton for Blaine and Logan. He says:
The sleeping ballot box was one prepa-
red before hand exactly like the one used
during election day, and ballots put in 1t
in such quantities as democrats desired.
This was kept concealed in o valve in the
polling room and after night, at the clos
ing of the polls, substituted for the ballot
box used during the election, and the lat
ter destroyed. In these and other coun-
ties the votes were received through win
dows so high that the voters could not
see the ballot box. At Keysville the bal
lot-box was not seen by any of the voters
during the entire day. The United States
supervisors were refused admission to the
room.
Capt. Gillian, well-known republi-
can, who is in one of the departments at
Washington, lives in Keysville, aud was
at home to vote. He was not allowed to
see the ballot-box when he voted, and
says he does not know whether his ballot
was put in the box or thrown on the floor.
He also heard tho United States SUPER
visors denied admission to the rooms in
which the polls were located.
BY these bold and successful devices of
fraud, of sleeping ballot-boxes in most of
the precincts Of those two counties, and
tissue ballots in others, the democrats
gained over 1880 votes, over one-half of
the manufactured majority in the state
which they now claim. In many of the
counties negroes were boldly inundated
and kept away from the polls by thous-
nnds.
Another method successfully employed
was to delay voters by many questions,
and 80 preventing numbers of negroes
from voting at all. In the city of Rich
mond, in all the wards where there are
many negroes this plan was adopted, and
many republicans cheated out of their
votes. In Jackson's ward this was so
successfully employed that when the polls
closed 1914 colored men were in line with
ballots in their hands ready to vote, and
were thus DISTINGUISHED. They have all
made affidavit to this effect, and the aft.
davits are in tho hands of Uuited States
Attorney Waddell BY this method of
delay over 8, 900 colored men throughout
the State were deprived of their vote.
Still another method was invoked by
the democrats. The law of Virginia al
lows any five citizens to proceed as n
committee, examine the registry list and
purge it of all names that they suspect,
just before election scores of these COM
mittees went over the list and struck off
thousands of names of colored men. The
law requires that these names be posted
but the committees in all cases selected
the names of negroes who could not read
or of voters absent from the precinct.
The voters thus cancelled, If they did not
learn of 1t until election day, could not be
restored and could not vote. This was
very general over the state. In one pre-
cinct of Henrico county over so names
were thus stricken off and the men dis.
frapchised.
United States Attorney Waddel went
to the county and tried to make a test
case, and appealed from the registrary to
the county Judge, but the Judge was
democrat, and sustained the committee in
DISTINGUISHING the voters. Reliable re-
ports show that nearly 5000 legal repub
lican voters were thus DISTINGUISHED in the
State.
Other devices Of dishonesty and trick
cry were employed at different points,
but these methods which cheated the re-
publicans out of over 5000 votes and
gained the democrats 1880 dishonest
votes were the principal resorts. Still,
Notwithstanding these great frauds, ag-
gregating 10000 votes for the benefit Of
the democrats, the republicans had the
State when the polls closed Tuesday
night. On Wednesday this fact was SO
universally recognized that the democrats
admitted that the State had gone republi-
can, and no republican doubted that
Blaine had at least 1900 majority. No
democrat in Richmond would bet on the
result in the State. The democratic even.
ing paper in Richmond virtually conced-
ed the State. Senator Malone, Col. Brady,
and all leading republicans were sure Of
the victory, and mono of the leading DEM
ocrats disputed it here, although they
kept telegraphing to New York that they
pulled through. They have pulled 1t
through and destroyed the republican
majority gained at the polls.
Despite the 10, 600 votes stolen by the
democrats as above described by holding
back the returns in the remote counties,
stuf1ing 10 enough more votes since We'd
nesday to give them their so-called pres
ent majority Of 5000, the republicans
could have suffered the loss of the 5000
votes DISTINGUISHED through the SO called
purging of the registry lists could have
stood also the robbing of the 5000 votes
gained by delaying the vote and keeping
out negro voters, and could have stood
also the democratic vote of 1880 stolen
by the sleeping ballot-boxes and the It's
sue ballots, and still have carried the
state. The democrats saw this on We'd
nesday, and couriers were dispatched to
the counties which coald be manipulated |
with orders to stuff 5000 or 1000 votes
into the returns.
The boldest resort to fraud before and
during the election could not and did not
give the democrats success. The repub-
licans still had won. Past election frauds