Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-07-03

More Das,ardly Crime Now Than Ever.
In other States than Delaware and
wouid that We had morc evidence Of n
tendency IN this direction here at home
hose who debauch elections. either pr
mary or general. arc detected and haicd
INTO court. thcrr "a receive punishment
for their hcinolls wrong-doing Mud at
times. when evidences Of Scandaous
dchaucherv Of the ballot arc brought 10
tho attention " tho court, hy sworn
testimony. facts and figures. The Judge
moved IL righteous indignation by the
Outrageous revelations. will deliver HIM
self Of a Remuneration Of thus Crme that
sounds most encouraging to the cause at
election reform N the futurv
such an instance occurred last week
IN the I.ackawanns County Court AT
Scranton. Pa contest bad hccn IN
stitrtcd against The announced result
81 the primary vote for Rcpubhcan nomi-
nee Tor State senator, and the evidence
disclosed that DAVIS, the leading candl-
date, was credited with 6,945 votes on
the official returns when he had actually
rccrivri 7,0Si votes lis opponent.
Phillips. was credited with 7.302 votes on
the official returns, when tho proof
showed that he ha0 actually received on y
4 :E}6 votrs
This astounding revelation Of election
r9Scalitv stirred Judge Ncwcomh, who
heard the proceedings. 70 an outburSt OF
remuneration The discrepancy between
the true and FALSE figures. he said, re
vealed state Of things which At tins
time is well calculated TO shock the moral
sense Of the community beyond the power
OF adequate expression lie was amazed
at the revelation 81 lmqmty, While the
very flower Of the countrys Young
manhood. nc continued. ARC paying with
their likelihood the last full measure OF
devotion 10 the cause of self-governmcnt,
and the material resources Of our people
arc being poured out without stint, that
It's priceless privileges shall not perish from
the Garth. some sort OF confederaCy, I'M
ashamed and without conjunction OF con-
science, made nOckery Of the principles
81 stake nv LAYING their foul and ieionIOus
fingers upon the ballot-boxcs, the last
sanctuary 10 which civil liberty can fee,
with intent to lawlcssly prevent the quail
he'd electors from expressing their own
will No form Of disloynlty, nor of tech
meal treason can be hall SO deadly in
its blightlng whitening effect upon our
institutions; no alien propaganda half
90 perilous to and destructive Of their
integrity and permanence
And IN winding up ms exCoriatIon.
Judge Newcomb declared that such an
offence at tins time il nothing less than
shameless crime against the laws Of both
God and man
How refreshing is such u denunclaton
OF ballot crime, coming from Judge IN
such a politically rotten state ~ pcnnsvl-
wanna long has been And now il should
make an impression upon some minds
political in the State Of Delaware
For years NC have had election COR
rupton in Delaware mainly directed
against party primaries Democratic
fraud at primary elections in years past
became so outrageous that the Urinary
Election law-the very best in the
countrv-Ess enacted more than quar-
ter of q century ago The Democratic
party has respected that law eyer since,
but the Republican party, for some mys-
ferrous reason. seemed 10 regard this
law as applicable to Democratic pri-
maries only, and paid scant attention TO
its provisions against illegal voting and
fraudulent counting. II required two
sharp examples the conviction of two
men, with terms Of Imprisonment, for
fraudulent primary election practices,
several years ago, and the imposition Of
stiff fines on two other offenders. within
two years, to impress upon Republican
politicians the fact that the Primary
Election law applies to the primary cleo
tons of all political parties. and not
merely to those Of the Democratic party
The latter party, since the enactment Of
..le law, has not had 10 confront a chal-
lenge of the result Of Il single one Of its
numerous primary elections Some Dem
ocratic deviltry il the count Of votes
following general election. more than
score of years ago. led to prosecutions
and punishment. but the lesson seemed 10
have mad good effect and reform promptly
followed
A. 70 Republican corruption and vote