Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1908-01-09

tized as deserters, renegades ant
traitors, unworthy to march un
der the immaculate banner O.
Holy Pilgrims!
In like manner the Democrat,
party in Kentucky maintained
Tor nearly century the rights Of
the people. 1t proclaimed equa
rights to all, exclusive privileges
to none; ballot free from in.
timidat on or fraud; a judiciary
free from partisan bias; rigid
enforcement of the laws; the
strictest integrity in officials;
the practice of public virtue in
all classes of the community as
the only true basis of patriotism
in our republic. But some ambi-
tious men in the party seeking
to promote their personal ends
have succeeded in remodeling
this creed. They met in Frank
fort and proceeded to enact an
election law SO partial in its
action that it robbed the people
of all right to fair suffrage. This
act of injustice was followed, as
natural sequence, by the frauds
of the Music Hall convention,
where the voice of a large major
ity was stifled by intimidation
and every form of iniquity.
There the Democratic party
was overthrown and conscience
less machine, warning upon every
principle of Democracy, was rear
ed upon its ruins.
Though it was exultantly pro-
claimed by an enthusiastic Demo-
cratic orator that after the pas
sage of the new election law elf
any stealing was to be done it
would not be done by the Repub-
lican party" such was the indig-
nation of the people that they
overcame all the fraudulent votes
which had been recorded against
them and defeated the candidates
Of the machine by decided ma
jority; and the Democratic Elec-
ton Commission, whose majority
were men of honor and integrity,
awarded the certificates to the
men chosen by the people, and
they were duly installed into
office.
THE MACHINE AND IT'S HISTORY.
But the machine was not thus
to be thwarted IN its fraudulent
purpose. A contest was insti-
tuted. The returning board was
reorganized, and these slaves of
the ring recorded the will of
their masters by unseating the
officers chosen by the people and
installing usurping minority in
their places. With equal sub
servience the Legislative body
which first organized the ma.
chine registered the will of it's
creature by DISTINGUISHING with
out cause more than one-fourth
the votes of the State in order to
defeat the will of the people; and
to give their action the semblance
of validity did not hesitate to
ante-date the time of their fraud
ulent action.
What has followed since is a
matter Of history; some of it of
judicial history. We have but
to study the decision of our high
est court to find the methods pur-
sued by this machine. The right
of the people to freely express
their will in their choice of their
officials is denied. Ballot boxes
are stuffed with imaginary
names; voting places are secretly
removed contrary to law pending
the election; criminals of every
class are imported as repeaters
and are allowed during their
stay to pursue their vocation of
robbery under the protection OF
the police. Honest election Off
GERS are driven from the polls;
peaceable citizens are knocked
down, beaten and imprisoned for
no other offense than of COM
planning of wrongs, and Offend
ing policemen are publicly COM
mended for their violation of law
and promoted for their crimes
against society.
If the stuffing of ballot boxes
was inadequate, it has been
shown that in the country the
very trees of the forest if not the
beasts of the field, have been re-
corded as voters to silence the
voices of living men who protest
ed against these outrages. An
impartial vote could not fail to
set aside an election so attended
by fraud, intimidation and vio-