Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-05-23
THE San Francisco Can considers Il

THE San Francisco Cal considers the
REcoRD-UNIoNs suggestion that the way
to insure fair counting of election returns
and fair dealing IN the management of the
ballot-box. is to appoint men to the offices
on the election boards whose probity will be
a guarantee that there will be no foul play,
and confesses that when the polls opened
in San Francisco last fall the appearance
of the election officials in many cases gave
great cause for the expression of fear that
there would be foul play-as there was. 1t
ought to be possible to bring sufficient in
fiuence to bear upon the Election Commits
sioners in the metropolis, TO compel them
10 nominate to these important trusts only
men of clean characters, and who are not
even open to the suspicion that anything
crooked will be winlsed at by them. If,
however, partisansbip and bossism have
such pull upon the appointing officers
that only venal servitors of political ring
masters can be appointed, there is but one
other way out of the difficulty, and that is
by appeal to the Legislature to place the
selection of the Inspectors, Judges and
Clerks of Election in the hands of the
Courts. If that is refused, and no remedy
is provided for what every man admits is
monstrous crime, and which is committed
at nearly every election in our large cities,
Al
full remedy or that of violence will be APP
piled. Let US not deceive ourselyes-we
cannot forever go on in this way; history
will repeat itself in this as in other cases.
The causes of revolution do not always lie
deep; they develop violence whenever the
public wrong becomes so great that it APP
peals to passion for the remedy that
authority refuses or neglects. 1t is simply
impossible for the student of history and
of the motive forces of American ciyiliza-
ton, to escape the conclusion that sooner
or later ample remedies will be applied to
these election abuses. To hold to the con-
trary is to insult the intelligence and pat
rlotism of the masses Of the people 1t
remains with those who have the power to
say whether these remedial measures shall
be attained peacefully or through violence.
n RENARKABLEstate has been signed
by Mataafa and thirty of his chiefs to the
effect that when the Mataafa men fred on
the Germans at Vailele, they supposed
them to be Tamesscse men; that as soon as
ii was discovered they were Germans the
order was given to cease firing; that had
the chiefs then known what they now
know, the order would not have been
given, but every German in Samoa would
have been slaughtered; that the fact is,
the German soldiers left on the field were
found to be fully equipped for battle, with
provision bags and cartridges, and with
stretchers for the wounded and spades for
trench work, etc. These chiefs were sworn
to the statement on the Bible, Ell oath no
Samoan was ever known to violate or
lightly take. The document also contains
Gal - ti''A"eAoh VI tl'S paper sSIit 10 DeFllD,
signed by two chiefs to the effect that the
Mataafa men fred first. 1t is shown that
the statement was obtained by fraud per-
petrated by Dr.. Knappe, who made the
men believe they were signing paper
that would insure their property from de-
stEuction when the new German warships
arrived. Thsy now, under oath, deny
that they were at the battle, and say that
they had no idea they were signing a
statement such as the paper turns out 10
be. So, too, the two boys whose testimony
has been forwarded to Berlin, to the effect
that they saw the Maiaafa men fire first.
have confessed that they were bribed to
make the statement. All these explana-
tory affidayits have been forwarded to the
State Department at Washington, and GER
tainly will be sent on to the Berlin con
ference. They ought to stifen the backs
of our representatives there against any
bending to the wish Of Germany that the
Mataafa people shall be punished for the
Vaiiele affair.