The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-28
THE sACRBDNBss OF THE BALLOT.

lot. Some may say 1t Is little thlng Whether
this or that man is elected to some minor Of
fee, if both be good men, and the majority or
that refuses all the money necessary to deter
mine which has been fairly elected, and es-
pecially to find out characterless scoundrels
who seek to defeat the will of the majority by
destroying ballots or tampering with any of
the books OF boxes. Take the caseat Chicago,
in which the most glazing fraud is so appar-
ent as to admit of no doubt 1t were a small
matter to either of the men directly interested
which,were sent to the Legislature, and if that
were all involved there would be no contest
the returns making the election of Leman,
Republican, so apparent as to admit of no rea-
sonable doubt. But when the returns came
in from the State, it became apparent that
the Legislature would be so close that the
change of one vote would change the major
! ity, and send Democrat instead of Repub-
| lican to the United States Senate. On the
face of the returns in one of the precincts in
| Chicago Leman had a vote of APO, and it was
so announced. But when it became apparent
that the stealing of one seat in the Legislature
would be equivalent to seat in the United
! States Senate, it was discovered that the figure
| 4 in the total 420 had been erased, and q
mans vote, by 200, and increasing
that OF his opponent by the same
number. This erasure was accounted
for by the explanation that it was a clerical
error. The ballots were then turned to, and
it was discovered that there were but 199 votes
for Leman in the count, but that I'll frau2u-
| lent ballots had been substituted since the
election. These ballots were the regular Re-
publican ticketwith the exception of the name
of Brand, Mr.. Lemans opponent, and no
''stickers" had been used on them. No such
tickets had been used anywhere else in Chi
cago, and it is quite certain that that number
could not have been used in that precinct
without detection. 1t further appears that
Brand never had any such tickets printed, nor
has anybody been produced who ''peddled'
such on the day of election.
! There. are other proofs of in
famous fraud scarcely less convincing
such as the manner in which the tickets were
folded, all being exactly alike, thing abso-
lutely impossible had they been folded and
voted in the regular way. The fraud is so
palpable that even the Chicago News, Dem
ocratic daily, denounces it as Infamous, and
calls upon leading Democrats to prevent the
outrage sought.
The people cannot afford to acquiesce in
this thing, nor should the United States Sen
ate consent to the admission to a seat of any
man whose claim is based upon the crime of a
Chicago thief. If such a thing is possible and
permissible in a precinct with such grave re-
| suits to the State and Nation for the major
| ity in the Senate is very narrow, it
is possible and permissible anywhere in any
/ election, and the process of formal elections
becomes an expensive farce, while the most
serious business of selecting our officers is
transferred to the hands of men who ought to
be imprisoned. The Chicago rascality should
be sifted to the bottom, and the guilty person
properly and effectually punished, as should
the scoundrels who stole the ballots from the
court house in this city The question of ex-
pense should not be allowed to stand in the
way of completest investigation. If the
day has arrived when these things
can succeed, then is popular govern
ment at an end, and conscientious,
honest men might as well remain at home on
election day, so far as the influence of their
voting is concerned. No party can afford to
profit by such infamy. nor to bar the way to
the completest investigation To do so is to
confess its shame. We have already the spec
| tacle of President elected by the votes of a
| solid section Of the country, made so by means
of fraud and violence that cannot be defended.
! The Republican party has acquiesced, in the
interest of peace and goodwill, hoping that a
greater sense of justice will obtain in succeed
ing elections, and that the murderous bull
dozers of the South will yet fall under
the condemnation of the better ele-
ments of Southern society. But the
Republican party cannot submit to fraud
everywhere because it did in the last presi-
Dental election. In tho name of the people
and in behalf of free and fair elections it de-
mands that justice be done; that the man or
men who raped the ballot-box at Chicago and
stole the ballots in this county be appre-
hended, tried and punished in such manner as
shall deter others inclined to overthrow the