New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-14
THE INDICTED INSPECTORS.

The Indictment by the Grand Jury yesterday
Of three election inspectors who served in the
recent Lauterbach enrolment. for frauds in the
reception and counting Of votes Will meet the
approval of all citizens regardless OF their po-
litical affiliations, who are at all concerned Tor
the preservation Of republican institutions. The
offences charged against these men are only
petty, individual manifestations of n prevalent
spirit of lawlessness in the conduct of political
affairs, but on the possibility OF stopping the
petty frauds and Furnishing those who commit
them rest the security OF popular government
and the guarantee that the will OF the people
shall find IT'S legitimate expression
Perhaps the greatest danger to our country
at this time Is the disposition TO misuse elective
institutions by those who have selfish interests
In the management of affairs of State and party.
and the tendency of citizens to tolerate such
misuse Preaching about the purity of the bal
lot is commonplace and trte Everybody favorS
It in the abstract. most people favor 1t always,
but nearly everybody Is inclined to deal lcnenty
with specfc cases. 1t IS only when frauds he
come particularly outrageous, or feeling over a
contest runs unusually high, that violations OF
the election law are rigidly punished Even then
those who are active in investigating AMI prose-
cutting them are likely to be regarded by many
good citizens, especially OF the party to which
the offenders belong. as vndct!ve persons or AZ
politicians seeking to make capital on; OF the
work Chicago shows case In point III the feel
ing stirred up little time ago among Demo
Gratis at the prosecution by the Civic Federation
Of those who had pcrpetrated election frauds.
Governor Altgeld's pardon Of those convicted
was an act of pure demagogy. but. neverthe-
less. In 1t he doubtless had the sympathy Of many
voters who utterly abhor his anarchistic notions
and would not knowingly encourage crime
against the ballot. The general good nature ana
indispositOn 10 prolOng contest Of any Kind
after the first excitement has passed accounts
In great measure for the difficulty encountered
in stopping election crimes.
Two Of the men indicted yesterday are charged
with having in the interest Of the Platt-Tam-
many combination received 4S votes In pri-
mary election Of which all except were fraudu-
lent and having taken the ballOtboX into a
private room to count the vote and then re-
fusing to make public announcement Of the re-
suit as the law requires. The complaint against
the other inspector Is that he assaulted an al-
thorized watcher and refused to permit his pres
ence in the voting booth. If the men are guilty.
their punishment Is not merely nor mainly Of
Interest to those who are attacking the validity
Of the Lautcrbach enrolment 1t concerns every
citizen, and. most Of all those who profited by
the ballot-box stufiinS and assault. Others might
rest content with exposing the frauds Of the
machine whose disgrace they decline to share,
did not their sense of public duty outweigh the
temptation to leave the crimes to react upon
those who prompted them; but Lauterbach and
his lieutenants cannot afford to champion their
servants who do wrong, unless they wish to
share the discredit II the devotion to party
which they so loudly proclaim Is anything but
mere pretence they will join heartily with Mr..
Conkling to hunt down and punish every person
who violated the Primary Election law in the
recent enrolment and vote No party can afford
TO found itself on fraud, and those who are re-
sponsibe for its conduct should be first TO purge
it Of evil. If they are not, they acknowledge
themselves to be not faithful servants Of the
party, but faihless betrayers Of ii.