Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-10-31

own letter OF instructions, and to the
peculiar acts and circumstances con.
nected with rhat uHiawrul proceeding.
He scornfully laughed, and brushed the
whole charge away with q toss Of the
head, wave Of the hand, and the lofty
information that 'that man belonged to
one of the best families in Cincinnati,
and his character as citizen and law
Yer was above reproach." That man Of
such good family and such spotless
character has since proven one of the
most audacious rascals, forgers and
criminals ever known In the history Of .
Cincinnati. But he was respectable.
He sleeps in a suicides grave. His name
is Charles A. Kebler. .r "
Some innocents will say that such an
act can not be committed under the
present laws. No; but worse ones have
been committed, and are about to be
committed under the present laws, and
aided by all the machinery the law has
set in motion. We do not mean to re-
fleet upon the character Of the gentle
men who compose the Board of Elec-
tions. They are above reproach, but
their duties are in their Office. They
can not watch the ballot box in each
precinct on the day of election. Good
citizens should do that. Good citizens
have not done that. Good laws can not
enforce themselves, and the rascals, al
ways vigilant for opportunities, have
found them; and, emboldened by past sue
cesses, they are now preparing a series
of frauds that will surpass any rascality
of the kind that has ever been COM
mitted or attempted. At first the judges
and clerks appointed were the very best,
but a number of professionals have
gradually crept in who can not be trust
ed, and who must be watched. Certain
Irregularities have already arisen under
the new election laws. The boxes
are removed from the room when
the voting takes place, and the
habit has been revived of
dumping the tickets in a pile on
the table and sorting out the straight
| tickets, placing them in piles. These
two violations of law afford the oppor-
tunity for wholesale frauds The regis
tration aids in the perpetration of the
fraud. 1t shows the rascals just how
many votes there are in a precinct. The
| Porcupine has information of reliable
character from very curious source,
which shows that ballot boxes have
been procured of the exact duplicate of
the regular boxes. These are to bestuffed
in advance with such number of Repub-
| lican tickets as may be necessary and
safe. They will be placed in the hands
of desperate, smooth, but nervy men
who are respectable" and when the
polls close the regular box will disap-
pear and the stuffed box will be put in
its place, and the fraudulent votes will
be counted. If this fails, advantage is
to be taken of the habit of piling the
straight Democratic and Republican
ticket in piles of ten. As many Demo-
cratic tickets as possible will disappear,
and straight Republican tickets will be
put in their places. BY these two
methods enough fraudulent votes will be
counted to have the entire county ticket
and prevent Governor Foraker from
running behind in Hamilton County
The Cincinnati Commercial is preparing
the way for this bold and Infamous ras-
cality. In an editorial Wednesday it
said: Campbell ought not to have 1000
votes in Hamilton County" The Com
mercial might have as well said: "Boys,
destroy 10000 Democratic votes and you
will be protected" When we remember
that there are two judges on the COM
mon pleas bench who are oath-bound
members of the Strangers secret organ
ization, all may know that the rascals
can understand that the Commercial is
encouraging them to commit crime and
promising them immunity. Had such
brutal bid for rascality appeared in
the editorial columns of the Enquirer,
the Republican press in Ohio would
have howled in horror. Appearing
in the Commercial they are 81
lent, OR smilingly approve. "Any-
thing to win," is the motto of the
politicians of both parties. But the
people Of our city have more at stake
than the politicians. The good name of
Cincinnati must not be tarnished by
fresh crimes against the right of fran
chise. The Strangers are desperate
gang. They are playing for big stakes.
If Foraker wins there are two more
years of stealing and of rascality, and
protection is guaranteed, If they loose,
many Of them will go crazy. Some will
go to the penitentiary or asylum; many
will 60 to Canada, and not wait for ex-
cursion rates.
A fund should be raised, detectives
employed, and reliable citizen detailed
to watch every ballot-box from the time
the first vote is cast until the last is
counted. The Board of Elections ought
to order every ballot-box fastened to the
table in the room where voting is done,
and only one vote should be allowed to
be taken from the box at time to be
counted. SIS
What will you do, o men of Cincin-
natl? Will ye sit with folded hands and
permit these crimes to be matured and
perpetrated, or will you arise in the
majesty of your wrath, and by prompt
action drive the bold and audacious
knaves to covers The committees OF
both parties are untrustworthy. There
are men on both that would sell out
their parties If they could get their
price. Where is the Committee of One
Hundred? Where is the Commercial
Club? And the Chamber of Commerce?
Are you not all interested in an honest
Z and fair election? Honest Democrats