New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-02-21
THE SOUTHERN INVEsTIGA TON

THE SOUTHERN INF Eoi4oH
Mr.. Hoar has reported from the oenaVe Ovn'.
mittee on Privileges and Elections resOiuuon
nrovid;no for an investigation during the re-
cesS into Southern election frauds geherauy
ne hearing mon the election of members Oh .no
nevt Conoress. and into the Louisiana eieoo'o"
of last April in particular, as urgeu " W.
Chandler. This proposition will, OF course DO
met with the stereotyped cry OF bloody snir"
and tbe charge that the Republican leaders are
seeking TO revive the political animoslnes OF
the mast. whereas, this question is, IN 1act' aS
Ar LODGE well said in the House the other
day. not question of the past a1 AL puU
burning question of the present. livery III
teIlieent man knows that as Southern eiecUons
are conducted to- day the negroes are counueu
for the purpose of increasing the representation
Of those States in Congress, but not for the
nurnose of deciding who the representatives
shall he There never has been in the history
of this or any other country fraud upon tne
franchise so gigantic and unblushing as that
by which the Democratic party has fepeaueuiy
controlled the lower branch of Congress, ana
TO which Mr.. Cleveland is indebted Tor TOUR
years occupancy of an Office to which he was
not elected.
This is an evil which strikes at the very root
Of republican institutions. Every days con-
tnuance of it tends to debauch the popular
conscience by showing that fraud If polltlcS
may not only be profitable, but that 1t Will DC
excused and flippantly treated even by many
who profess to be in sympathy with the best
aspirations in public affairs. When such abuses
poison the sources Of National legislative
power, as il is notorious they do the Senate has
the right to investigate them, with view 10
discovering their exact extent leaving the
question of remedies to be decided later Inc
step taken is in itself encouraging. III mas
long been the fashion to say that it was oil no
uso even to discuss this matter-that the evil
was beyond cure, except through time, and that
nothing was to be gained by agitating it. The
effort now making seems to indicate some
quickening of consciences. With the entlie
Government again in control OF party which
has always believed in honest elections, thor
ough inquiry will be possible, and harmony
of action can follow. 1t is certainly within the
power of Congress to provide proper safeguards
for the election of its own members, and TO
refuse admission 10 those whose title is plainly
fraudulent.
The election in Louisiana, TO which it IL
proposed TO devote especial attention, well de-
serves it. greater trayesty upon free instr
buttons was never seen than that campaign,
during which the merits Of the respective can
didates for the Democratic nomination as bull
dozers were openly discussed, and the organs
of the factions scoIded each other for letting
out in public the secrets Of the policy Of in
timidation and cheating To be sure, the can
didate who was attacked on the ground that he
would not be enough of q bulldOzer received
the nomination, but the course of subsequent
events showed that this was q campaign lie
which did him gross injustice, and that the
party was unit upon this vital question. He
was elected by frauds so gross that the warm
est advocate of the fraud method must have
felt that the halcyon days of the party had
returned. But the November election made
even better showing Cleveland received
85,032 votes, or little more than Tilden's
vote by the Democratic counts Harrison re-
ceived 3O,7O1, or AZ 900 less than were given
to Hayes by the Democratic count. This
makes total vote of 1873. Now, the
registration figures made public by the State
officers show that the number of voters is in
creasing, while the number Of those who vote
is decreasing. There are registered l26.88i
white voters, and 1871 1928 colored voters.
Nearly three out Of every four white voters
voted, but less than one out Of every four black
voters voted. Why was this?