Daily inter mountain., 1899-04-03
THE PASSING DAY.

the verdict of the polls will be known.
both sides have struggled with consider
able energy to attain victory.
To all good citizens it has been a mat
ter of regret that the issues did not turn
wholly upon the fitness of the respective
candidates and the policies of the politi-
cal parties to the controversy. In that
event the outcome of the contest would
have been regarded as legitimate vic
tory for the majority and the results,
whatever they might be, would have
been looked upon as the honest fruits
of a political campaign.
! Unfortunately, irrelevant questions
We're injected into the campaign to de-
gree that largely obscured the main
points in issue. Prejudices were created
that serve no good purpose in the COM
munity. But above and beyond all other
lcolulGS VI TIE tlldt nave HO
legitimate place in honest politics, has
been the system of coercion practicad
upon the dependent voter, and the fraud
ulent registration of names.
1t has been for some days apparent
that the only hope of the democracy was
through these agencies and that victory
could be attained by that party in no
other way. Every possible means has
been resorted to in an effort to coerce
and intimidate and frighten the voter
and make him believe that his opportu-
nifty to earn bread depended upon the
success of the democratic party. To
what extent these unholy tactics have
influenced the vote cast can be deter
That hundreds of Illegally registered
votes have been cast today does not ad-
NIT of a doubt. The efforts to stop men
from voting, on the positive evidence
that they are not citizens and had no
right to register have been ineffective
is bold enough to defy the law in the
first place, is bold enough to rest the
future of his crime in the protective
bosom of a paternal democracy, and
swear his vote in. Thus the democratic
party gets the benefit Of the illegal vote.
whatever may be the ultimate fate of
the man who cast it,
With such demoralizing influences at
is not as neghborly and pleasant as if
the contest had been a clean, clear-cut
struggle for political supremacy. The
belief that such methods should be re-
buked at the polls is strong, and thous
ands of votes have been cast today as a
protest against criminal political prac-
tees
Whether the counting of the ballots
SHOW that this rebuke is effective, or
that it has failed to overcome the illegal
political agencies resorted to by the
democratic manipulators, it will show
that the sentiment against such prac-
tees is growing and will at last culmin-
ate in the overwhelming overthrow Of
the men who depend upon them for po-
litical success.
Notwithstanding the conditions that
exist in this community, and the initial
ADVANTAGES possessed by the democracy
through the methods unblushingly pur-
sued. the republicans are hopeful of sue
cess as the balloting draws to a close.
Whatever the result, the law biding e'e-
ments of the community will submit to
the verdict of the majority, even if that
majority consists of votes Illegally cast,
resting in the hope that the integrity of
the courts may at least be depended upon
to record upon the pages of our munich
pal history the injustice that has been
done.
THE BANQUE7 QUESTION.