The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-02-17

A Les ON IN CINILIZATION.

We are very much given hereabou's
TO Wanting our civilization as much
superior 10 that OF the North, and we
! mink the Dispatch may fiatter itsei
with being one Of the most pronounced
! OF all the advocates of that idea III
may be right I'm its view of the case, but
/ we can certainly recommend IL to
| most improving example in the recent
| conduct OF New Workers and New York
newspapers regarding frauds in elections,
which we cannot think an evidence OF the
superiority in our civilization. which we
claim. Mckane. the political boss of
n Long Island town, was charged with
having "counseled. induced, commanded
and procured the inspector at Gravesend,
l.. l., to conceal the registration lists
and having aided and abetted them In
preventing copies from being made"
With one voice. his neighbors
demanded that he should be made 10
answer for these alleged interferences
with the freedom and purity of the cleo
tions. and there were no Northern news
papers to pooh-pooh the charges, and
talk about recorded evidence before any
body could doubt the purity of their cleo
lions. The Northern newspapers Joined
with the whole body Of the people
in the demand that the charges should
be investigated. and the guilty parties,
whoever they might be, should be pun
ished The result was AIcKane was
prosecuted. found guilty and convicted
and now he is confronted with a SEN
tence TO the State Prison (Which cor
responds 10 our penitentiary) for from
two 10 ten years. at the discretion OF
the judge.
At The same time another election
thief was being prosecuted in another
New York court, and he also was con-
victed and fined 500 and sent to the
penitcntiary for one year.
We commend these cases to the Dis
patch as excellent lessons, furnished by
a lower to n higher civilization in the
ways Of dealing with violations Of the
sanctity OF the ballet box. Public and
claiming that when it is alleged that the
elections are tempered with, alarm shall
AT once be taken, and the charges shall
be investigated TO the bottom. We have
heard of no claims from newspapers in
that lower civilization that patriotism
requires us TO ignore general charges that
elections are dishonest until verdcts OF
Juries are brought forward, establishing
the fact that they are dishonest. Quite
the contrary is the doctrine that pre-
walls amongst the newspapers of that
lower civilization. Their doctrine is that
purity in elections is the very corner
stone of ell representative government |
and that government must Immediately |
rot and 20 TO decay unless there is alb
solute purity in the elections of the peo-
pie. They say that all the people and |
newspapers should be jealous on this
point. and all the time on the keenest
every whisper that charges a fraud in
the elections. They think that there
should be nothing that smacks of supine-
ness or Indifference IN this matter, but
that all the newspapers should make
an especial point of diving down into
every charge Of fraud, however faint,
ana ascertaining whether there has been
any attempt TO cheat the people out of
the results Of their votes.
1t is true that this is only the example
which the newspapers of "lower civili-
cation set, and the Dispatch will, no
doubt, therefore spurn it as unworthy
If a moments consideration. But though
i is only the doctrine OF Clover civili-
zation' still it will preserve them that
over civilization which is better than
The Dispatches 'innocuous
iesuetude," or whatever else it may
want to call it. will certainly turn our
higher civilization" into a society OF
election thieves. and such companions as
suit them.