The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-11-13
AS TO "STEALING,"

The gerrymander OF the State by the DEM
ocratic Legislature was fraud upon the peo-
ple--an attempt to steal from them their suf-
frages and their right of representation. The
scheme was conceived in fraud. 1t was in
tended as a fraud. 1t was publicly declared
by the conspirators to be a fraud The lead
ing and the lesser lights of the Democratic
party openly boasted Of its fraudulent char
acter. They said the Republicans could carry
the State by thousands but that the Legisla-
ture could not possibly be carried They
chuckled and laughed over the ''steal,' and
at least one Of the merry-makers expected
to be the direct beneficiary Of the
theft by receiving the stolen goods in
the shape Of the United States senatorship,
If the secret history of the passage Of this
gerrymander bill could be given publicity it
would cause some tall heads to bow before the
storm of indignation and opprobrium that
would follow. 1t is Democratic testimony
that attests the fraudulent character Of this
infamy. 1t was glaring, unrighteous, in
territorial ''steal," and the only answer or re-
ply made by the Democratic thieves who per-
petrated it, who supported it, and who hoped
to profit By it, was What are you going to
do about it," They were as corrupt and as
insolent as Boss Tweed. The only difference
between them and that representative Demo
crat was, that justice had overtaken the one
and still Jagged behind the others.
The people Of Indiana understood the ger
rymander to be a 'steal." They felt that
they were dealing with thieves, men who had
feloniously attempted to steal their suffrages,
and in their indignation they declared against
the gerrymander by majorities of thousands.
We make no doubt that when the figures on
the legislative candidates are footed up, it
will be found that the Democratic gerrvman-
der candidates were defeated by not less than
fifteen or twenty thousand majority. But
not content with the gerrymander, and when
that Infamous fraud seemed to have failed of
its purpose, the Democratic thieves did not
hesitate to add outright fraud and forgery to
secure an apparent joint majority in the
Legislature. No honest man doubts but that
it was the intention Of the thieves to count
out Mr. Griffiths in this county, and they
would have done so but for an error they
made in his plurality. No honest man can
doubt that Dir. Taggart was clearly and hon.
estly elected Senator from Clark and Jeffer.
son. The figures and the comparison with
ether counties in the State tell the story con-
clusivey. Frauds of various kinds are al
legged in other districts, both senatorial and
representative, while confessed Ineligible
ity, concurred in by the Democracy because
they knew that an eligible candidate would
be defeated, makes the Legislature a tie on
the face of the returns.
And now, in the presence of all these facts,
the Democrats are talking of an attempt to
'steap' the Legislature, because the Repub-
hcans propose to stand by their rights within
the law, and seek to carry out the commission
the people have given them by a majority of
fifteen or twenty thousand. The conspirators
may buster as much as they please. The Re-
publicans of Indiana have been charged with
an important duty by the late election, and
they will be recreant to that duty, and prove
unworthy the confidence Of the people, if they
fail to discharge it. The people have said that
tho infamous gerrymander should not be al
lowed to profit the thieves who conceived it
and the thieves who executed it. Standing
within the letter and the spirit of the law,
the Republicans must and will do all in their