The Springfield herald., 1905-01-06
CRISIS IN THE ELECTION
FRAUD SENSATION
Denver.

The crisis In the probing OIL inc
Denver election frauds was reached
last week when the Democratic man
ayers, through their attorneys. sud
denly changed from vigorous policy
of opposition to the opening of the
Denver ballot boxes to u demand that
the Supreme Court open them all.
They had up to this time resisted
every step that had been taken to un-
cover the frauds. to punish the guilty
or to throw out the fraudulent pre-
cincts. This change of tactics was
disastrous, as the Republicans who
had been doing their utmost to get the
Supreme Court to open the boxes
which came before 1t in the contempt
cases, promptly accepted the chal-
lenge. The subsequent action of the
Democratic leaders in trying to back
out of an awkward situation disclosed
the insincerity of their original inten-
tions in asking the court to open the
boxes.
Mr.. Patterson is held responsible for
this blunder by the other leaders and
he is roundly scored on all sides.
There can be but one result from the
opening of these boxes. and that re
suit was sure to add very much to the
disgust and pain Of the rank and file.
Further, it was very likely to have
as finale the entangling of some of
Mr.. Adams personal friends from the
upper ranks of the leaders.
The point that caused the most Sc
rious criticism among the Democratic
lawyers was the fact that in making
the demand on the court they recog-
nized the courts jurisdiction. which
they had vigorously denied and which
they sent Senator Teller to Washing
ton to disprove before the United
States Supreme Court. They cannot
consistently accept the courts juris-
diction and the same time deny 1t be-
fore the national Supreme Court.
Sentiment of State.
he oSitiihtht Vi siN
state as reflected in Denver appears to
favor the Peabody side of the question
at the present writing. The extraordi-
nary extent of the frauds In Denver
ard III a few other counties has be-
come well known. At first it was be-
lieved that the Republican estimate OF
the number of fraudulent ballots cast
in Denver was perhaps exaggerated.
but the further the investigation pro-
ceeded the more convincing became
the evidence that the original estimate
of from 5000 to 10000 was approx
mately correct.
When the Republicans found that
they could not get the fictitious names
stricken from the registration lists, be-
fore the election, they at once can
yassed the wards with a view of find
ing out how many non-residents were
registered. After the election they Sc
cured by a court order for the poll
books and copied them, and immedi-
ately started new canvas to see how
many of the bogus names were voted.
This canvas has been made hur-
riedly and far from thoroughly, but it
has revealed enough fraud to shock
even the "savages" themselves. In
addition to this the attornews for the
local Republican organization have ac-
cumulated an enormous mass OF evil
dence in the form of afiidavits, of wit
nesses to the crimes, OF people who
were refused the right to vote, and of
the repeaters and impersonators them
selves which when presented to the
Legislature and the courts will be
equally as convincing as the opening
of the ballot boxes.
The opening of the ballot boxes will
divulge but portion of the frauds.
This method will show much of the re-
peating, but not all of it by any means.
1t will show if the returns have been
falsified. but it cannot show the work
of the 'impersonated" votes nor the
number of Republicans who were dis
franchised by being dropped from the
registration list, or kept from the polls
by the rough tactics and intimidation
of the police machine. Neither will it
show the fraudulent scratching which
affidavits show was carried on to a
great extent in some precincts.
Mr.. Fairley's Statement.
1t will, however, be a basis. and a
good one, from which the extent of the
frauds may be justly estimated.
The statement issued by Chairman
Farley of the Republican state cen
tral committee last week regarding
the frauds was the first issued from
that headquarters and the facts he
listed construct a most convincing in
dictment of the election machine
which perpetrated the crimes. He
calls attention to the frauds two years
ago by which nine assemblymen were
elected from the Denver district with
an average plurality of about 1000,
and then in the same column of fig
ures he places the 4.715 fraudulent
holIptS ,yhi,h wCra found