New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-10-14
PFpE4TERS on THE RUN,

Tho results of the registration in this CITY
nnust he highly encouraging 10 those VINO nave
held with The Tribune that there mas been TOT
wears an arttf1cially inflated Tammany vote III
certain r,arts of the Borough of Manhattan The
Hearst ClpIlan contest of 1903 disclosed TIE
existence of body of voters in Manhattan
chiefly below 14th street. nsensibie to ordinary
noiiticaI impulses or excitpments. These stand
Matters were SO entirely proof against the
Hearst hysteria that it was easy to conclude
that they possessed neither eyes, ears nor mag
i1ations-that they were, in fact. voting autom-
alta operated by a cleverly organized central
agency The new registration laws were passed
in the hope of clearing the registration BOOKS
in this city of other than bona fde names, ana
we have anxiously awaited the registration re
turns 10 see whether the phantom voters OF the
past had been once more summoned 10 thcF
duty in behalf of the Tammany ticket
Surface indications strengthen the belief that
the new law has scared away many repeaters
and fioaters Manhattan has been the faVorlte
field for the fraudulent voter, because here Tam
many has had a grip on the situation which
guaranteed immunity under the old system II
has been fairly estimated that from -ooV" /"
10000 fraudulent Tammany votes have been
cast in recent elections. The total vote in Man
haitian and The Bronx has, therefore. been from
10000 10 10000 greater than it should nave
been Returns from I'll parts of the city from
the upstate towns and from other large cities
show that this years registration Just ABOUT
averages Ip 10 that of 1904. For New ork Guy
az a whole the loss compared with 1904 Is o.f-o-
Yet that loss results entirely from a decrease
in Manhattan and The Bronx. the other bor-
orghs showing q gain Of 14,151 voters, While
Manhattan and The Bronx have lost 1857.
II is intereStin.. to note just where the losses
Manhattan have been heaviest. 1t is not
possible to compare the Assembly district re
turns of 1904 with the Assembly district Ie-
turns of 1903, because reapportonment has
INTERVIEWED But it IS possible to compare regis
tration results in 1908 with those in 1906 The
total registration for Manhattan and The Bronx
is 500 greater this year than it was two years
ago But in the downtown and strongly Demo
cratic East Side districts the shrinkage since
1906 is startling. In the notorious 30 blStr.'t.
the chief centre of the repeating industry. the
decrease in registration was 1901. In the LIST
il was 42S: in the ID. 1857; in the 4th. 1,335
j. the 9th. 1872; in the 9Th. 1856; in the 'th,
l.141: in the Sth. 1,45S; in the 9th, SS3; in the
10th, ISL: in the 18th. zoos, and in the 1Zth
CTS In the first twelve districts there has been
a net loss of 1866 voters. Natural shifting IN
population cannot account for this EXTRAORDINARY
deficiency. It seems entirely justihabe 10 at
tribute it to the cutting off Of large percentage
of the former fraudulent vote
The Republicans of New York have good cause
to feel cheerful over the registration figures
They indicate the removal of one of the chief
nrops Of Tammany misgovernment and the shift
ing Of power from the hands of corrupt bosses
manipulating a mythical vote to those of bona
fde electors alive to their own interest and
anxious to make government once more an IN
strument for the general good.