The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1908-12-24
GROSS ELECTION FRAUDS.

oAb.to0 ASAAtNSAh-S-N At-h - kpDs
The last issue of the Bessemer City
Messenger, commenting upon the
many Irregularities and gross cleo
ton frauds in the Ninth Congression-
al District, says:
somebody Ought to BE Arrested.
"At one election box In CASTOR
County, one hundred and eleven votes
were cast by people subject to poll
taxes who did not pay their poll-tax
and forty-six votes were cast by men
whose names were not on the regis
ter book, and this is supposed to be
a fair sample of the frauds perpe-
trated by the Democratic party OF the
Ninth Congressional District. Now
and then at box where we lad good
Republican workers. who had the
backbone and would not allow 1t, We
had fair elections, such as Cherry
vile and Bessemer City If this rate
of frauds hold good at all the boxes,
Webb will be unseated by majority
of three to four thousand for Smith.
Another precinct has been heard
from in CASTOR County, since the
above was written, where one hun
dred and fifty-nine voted who did
not pay poll-tax as required by law
and sixty-eight voted whose names
are not on the registration book at
ALL"
Further, on, the following is also
said:
Webb may be a saint; If SO, he
certainly has a band of the opposite
kind running his business for him in
some election precincts. In Gastonia,
for instance, the writer saw with his
own eyes Webb's Congressional tick
ct pasted on the Congressional box,
and we understand over twenty peo-
pie failed to vote for Smith because
when they went to vote they saw only
Webb's ticket on the box, and were
told that that was the box to vote for
Webb in, and on the electoral box,
the box contained the Democratic
electors only pasted on that box. The
judges of that box ought to be indict-
ed and sent to prison, because one
ticket had as much right on those
boxes as another, and it was their
duty as sworn judges if any ticket
was pasted on that box to paste the
tickets of both parties, but as these
things are being looked into, we will
refrain from further comment at
present, and if Webb is unseated, it
will be the same, politically, as hang
ing"
If election frauds of this kind were
practiced all over the Ninth District
they would make change in the vote
big enough to show that Webb was
defeated and that Smith should have
been elected.
Gross election frauds have occur
red in a number of other places in
the State. We see in the Charlotte
Observer that somewhat similar
methods were undertaken in the
Fifth Congressional District to de-
feat Morehead, and that action
against the guilty parties may be
taken at the present term of Federal
Court at Charlotte.
One thing is certain, that the pres
ent election law will permit of gros.
election frauds; indeed, it seems tt
have been designed, not only to make
such frauds possible, but in orde
that such frauds might be perpetrat
ed. ''The Simmons ballot-box stufins
machine" promised that they woult
quit stealing votes if the Constitu
tional Amendment was adopted; blu
it seems that the gang of traine,
ballot box suffers not only can no
quit stealing votes from Republi
cans, but they have actually gone t.
the extent of practicing their sho
methods on Democrats and Demo
cratic primaries.
1t is difficult to make a dishones
legislator to see that laws are repeal
ed that invite fraud and rascality
The next Legislature should make
number of material changes in tn
present election law, and what woul
be better, adopt outright the Aus
tralian ballot system. That woul
not only prevent many such election
frauds, but it would absolutely sta
the outrageous intimidation of vot
PrS at many nlacRS