Year: 1879

the people believe that the Republi


cans have been carrying on grand sys


IN of fraud at the polls, especial.


ever since the colored men were endow


ed with the right Of franchise. Wher


facts are SO plain that this is not true


We cannot see what object it has in do


ing s., unless it be to cover up tn


frauds Of its own party. When tn


colored people were given the right t.


vote every impediment imaginable wa


thrown in the way, even violence. IL


many instances was resorted to, to keel


them away from the polls, and We re


iterate that there has no election ye


been held in this city or State at which


anything like full negro vote ha
been polled. 1t is very likely that there


were some that were little too proud
Of the privilege conferred upon then


and voted too often which We will con.
denim just as heartily as the "Gazette'
does, but there never was time when
the R publicans even with the aid Of
the colored vote, were match for the


Democrats in fraud. We are told that
the Legislature had to be i'm
portuned to take the matter in
hand to protect the purity Of the ballot
by having an act passed requiring tax
receipts to be stamped. 1t is true that
the Legislature has been applied to re-
repeatedly to pass laws under the pre-
tencs CT preventing fraud, but really
for the purpose of disfranchising Re-
publicans at the iisk Of cheating the
State out of taxes. The least TO be OBJ.
jected to was the law requiring the
stamping of receipts which was entirely
harmless and acted alike on both par
ties, but the most iniquitous of all
partisan laws ever passed by the Legis-
lature, was the law relieving the col


lectors from the duty of collecting taxes
except from property holders. There


is pot scintilla of law to-day that re-
quires a tax collector of Delaware to
ask any body but property owners to
pay cent of taxes, and yet a collector
has the privilege of calling upon all
Democrats whether they pay property
or poll tax. 1t may be said that he
has the privilege OF calling on all Re-
publcans and making them pay their
taxes. So he has, but as the collec-
tors are selscte and appointed to
their Offices on account of their
partisan zeal and fidelity they
are very likely to do as the law
intends they shsll do, that is make
every effort to keep all the Democrats
in good voting condition and keep all
the Republicans who pay but poll tax
from voting at all. The law referred
TO could not be more effective for dis
franchi5ing Republicans had it section
reading thus: "Ana b.. it further en-.
acted, that from and after the Iassage
OF this act, no tax collector shall call

upon any Republican Of whatever color
to ask him to pay his State and
county t4xes unless such Republican
be property holder, and for any offence
Contrary 10 the provisions Of this sec
ton, lie COLLECTOR 80 offending shall for
ever Afterwards b1 ineligible to any Of
ic in the gift of the Democratic party.
Carrying out the true intent and mean
ing Of the law as interpreted above, the
collectors have done their duty
nohly, aud to-day there are now six
thousand disfranchised Republicans in
Delaware, nearly two thousand of them
being in Wilmington.


The "Gaze.ts sneer5 at the idea that
there are thousand colorei voters in
Wilmington, but admits there were
seven or eight hundred at one time,
and seems pleased that not more than
two or three hundred of these negroes
now vote at all. That short paragraph
il an illustration of how the law works.
From seven or eight hundred the regro
vote ia reduced to two or three hundred,
and some of these, the "Gazette" says
vote the Democratic ticket. This may
be so, and if they vote that ticket from
an intelligent choice they have right
to do SO, and there can be no doubt that
they will be protected in doing so by
the Democracy who not long ago de-
elared that they did not want tie votes
of negroes. We said few days ago
th at there we're thousand negro voters
in Wilmington, hut we now think tuat
we were under the mark. TO show that
we were even below the true mark we
have but to calculate the vote compar-
ed with the population. Wilmington
has population of 10000, which we
believe she has, the vote in the city up
on the basis of one in five and half.
which is a true one, Is 1872. The col
ored population is now at the least
5000 which would give about 100 ne.
GRO votes. So elective have been the
L. Il Z. n ,ra rnnaald l.u tho I.pn- |