The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-10-10
THRILLING WITH
The BALLOT BOX
ILLEGAL COUNT CHARGED
IN RECENT STATE ELECTION BY
REV. A. NJ. WILLIAMS.

Candidate Assured Him That Not
More Than 700 Votes Were Cast,
He Says-Were No Evidences of
Work at the POIIs-COmmended
the Charge of Judge Cam as to
Children in the observation-disclosures
ties Should Act for Cleaner
Street.
From the subject Grimes Cure
Rev. A. NJ. Williams. pastor of Trini-
ty Methodist church, last night paid
special attention to the recent state
and county election. The text was
taken from jeremiah vii:22: rs
! there no balm in Gilead, is there no
physician there? Why then is not
the health of the daughter of my
people recovered?' Among other things
| the speaker said:
The moral conditions of our city
deserve most careful consideration.
| Those are not her enemies who seek
to arouse attention, indicate remedies,
and urge action. The existence of
| good, much good, among the people
does not justify blindness to obvious
facts or heediessness of threatening
| conditions.
The earnest and, as far as we can
| judge from words. sincere charge of
the Judge of the Superior Court is a
source of qualification. 1t is also en-
| couraging when he goes outside of
routine duty to note dangerous ten
| denotes. His course deserves COM
! mendation and cooperation and we
thing. The cure of crime is a supreme
need of the day.
Prevention stands foremost as a
cure of crime. Eradicate the causes!
! Doubtless Judge Cam is right when
he asserts that the street life of the
crime. The streets are never teachers
of the good, yet very large part of
| our education is received from them
| 1t is a sad commentary on our
civilization that street teaching is so
! low.
The street Teachings.
ION the streets the young mind is
! filled with the degradation of human
| ity. Keeling drunkards obstreperous
swearers, foul broilers, and indecent
| providers of the night are some of the
| instructors. Educators have not given
the street school enough consideration
Judge Cam is wise in concentrating
public attention on the condition that
confronts us.
The public must demand clean
streets, not only physically, but moral
ly clean. Open barrooms, shooting
scrapes between city employees, stag
gering drunkards, swearing men, and
other evils can be lessened, if not
abolished. Firm administration with
| an earnest. desire to reform will great
| ly lessen the evils and dangers that
surround our young.
Parents must aid in effecting the
remedy Home is the place for boys
after dark The boys club. the Y. M.
c. A, public school athletics, or the
revival service, may be the first down
ward step to boys of good homes. They
| injure by contracting the out-at-night
habit and furnishing blind for other
! places. Home is better for boys than
| church, unless there is something the
matter with the home. The true faith
er and genuine mother will plan to
make home the sweetest spot on earth
The State Election.
Pursuing our discussion of proven
| tive cure of crime, l mention next
the absolute need of stricter observ-
ance of law on the part of the authori-
ties themselves. Cleaning the rascals
| out of Office is the needed reform in
| Chatham county The protection of
the ballot box is the sacred duty of
| every citizen. Destroy that sanctity,
and all confidence in popular govern
ment is gone. The public cannot af-
| ford to be patient when this right is
trihed with.
yet on last Wednesday such was
| the case A vote of 4,520 out of a reg
istration of $685. is reported. No one
believes there was any such vote cast.
| l overheard one candidate declare
| there could not have been over 700
polls voted. Others say the actual vote
was multiplied by ten. There were no
signs of such large vote in the city.
No workers at the polls, no hurrying
| of carriages over the city to get out
the vote. If the Atlanta Constitutions
estimate is correct, one-eighth of the
vote of the state was cast in Savan-
nah.
What TriAing Means.
you say what does it matter: there
was no contest? Such Indifference is
the parent of all political and govern
| mental abuse. 1t matters much. 1t
| publishes abroad an alleged fraud, and
there never was a harmless lie. If
the managers or the election
should perjure themselves, when
| just numbers is at stake, what
would they not do if serious
issues are pending. The ball
lot in the South is the contempt of
the nation and such practices as these
make It so. Unmatched, some men
| study the art of ballotbox stufling 50
as to be ready when this practice Will
/ pay.
1T is trifing with a right that is
the purchase of centuries of toll, sac
rifice, and blood. The ark of our con-
stitutional liberty is profaned with UNI
holy hands. Still no voice is uplifted
in condemnation, no protest offered
Here and now 1 desire to be the
exception, the one man who cries out
/ for a pure ballot whether no contest
or most virulent conflict is on hand.
Noble men have given their lives to
| confer this right on their fellows, and
surely / ought to be willing to stand
little cussing in protesting against
this violation.
Duty of the Press.
"Our editor-legislator fills his col
umns with vigorous attacks on the ma
tons executive for encroachments on
| the constitution. Here, where he is
| involved, a wholesale fraud is
alleged to have been perpetrat-
ed, subversive in tendency of the
very foundation of all constitutions
and governments. What will he do?
our legislators will agitate for an