M ''-a Yale University Library 39002002966662 CJ3 2 1879f YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Tammany Frauds in New York— The Justification of United States Election Laws. speech: OF HON. WILLIAM P. FRYE, In" the House of Eepeesentatives, April 2S, 1879. The House being in Committee offhe Whole on the state of the Union, and having un der consideration the bill (H. E. No. 3) ftialjing appropriations for the legislative, executive and judiolal expenses of the Government for the flscal year ending June 30, 1880, andfor other purposes — Mr. FRYE said : „ , , , , Mr. CHAiRMAif t Is there any foundation for these wholesale charges against Federal officers in their conduct of elections in the city of New York ? Was there a coEdition of affairs in that city which rendered the interven*tion of the United States necessary? Has there been a wasteful expenditure of money in the attempt to correct election abuses there? Do the facts demand, as the other side insists, the repeal of the laws known as election laws, or do they fully j ustiJy their retention % These and kindred questions should be an swered, not in any spirit of partisanship, but in truth andfairness. The safety of the Eepublic depends upon the purity of the ballot. Let us, then, view the great city, its condition, its population ; glance hastily at its political record, and examine the remedies resorted to for its cure from political disease. New York City has a population of about 1,100,000. It is sixteen and wne- half miles long by an average of two and a half in width. Sixteen States only have a larger population than this city. About 45 per cent, is of foreign birth. Nearly one-haLf of the population reside between the Battery and Fourteenth street, on an area of 3,408 acres. About 55 per cent, of the people reside in 35,000 tenement houses, containing each four families and upward— 605,000 m 25,000 houses. The Seventeenth ward in 1875, with an area of ti±ty-two one- hund redths of a square mile, contained more inhabitants than LoiusviUe, Ken tucky, or Cleveland, Ohio. Fourteen cities only in the United States con tained more. The Eleventh, Thirteenth and Seventeenth wards, with an area, including streets, of alittle less than one square mile, had a population of 200,- 000, whick, leaving out streets, would make 1,000 to the acre. Only seven teen States in the last Presidential election cast more votes than this city. It poUed more votes than Vermont, New Hampshire andEhode Island. There were lodged at station bouses in 1871, 136,743 persons ; m 1872, 147,- 315 persons; in 1873, 183,854 persons^ in 1874, 331.9fJ>.ersons; m 1875, 217^2 persons ; in 1876, 186,876 persons. There were arrestedm 1871, 83,673 , m 187^, KTiii 1873, 88,538 ; i/l874, 93,112 ; in 1875, 91,363 ; in 1876, 92,830. With this great army of vagrants, criminals, depraved and desperate men , with a foreign population of males over the age of twenty-one, accordmg to the census ol 1875, of naturalized citizens, 141,179, aliens, ^,305, very many of whom know absolutely nothing of pi^ i^«*:^*^*i°^^°^. *^^iPi^i'^P^ir« ri?^ Government, are the mere dupes of desigmng, wicked politicians, m a city ^o-thMsoi the time under the absolute donmiion of the Democratic party, that pl^ty which here to-day, by its demands for legislation on these two ap- prKtion bms, allies itseHwiti andindorses ku-kfux, white-leaguers, tissue ballots repeaters, false and fraudulent naturalization, baUot-stufiftng, and eveiT oth?r dev^^^^^ destruction of all purity of the baUot, what may we expect? Let (!ie past briejay speak. ELECTION FEAUDS. 1837: A committee of the assembly in their report declare that "they were a disgrace to the State and a manifest wrong to the country." 1844 : Through that alone the State was lost to Henry Clay. 1856 : Another committee declare that the election iS not at aU the wdl of ^ Ym- Another committee declare " of late years fraud and simulating at the baUotrbox have become extensive and enormous." . 1860 : In one election district, for sixty -three names registered no person could be found to represent them. Two Irish hoys, sons of a widow, one six and the other eight, were registered. In the Twelfth ward 500 out of 3,500 were fraudulent ; Seventh ward, 935 names fraudulent, and so on. 1863 : General Wadsworth, the Um'on candidate for Governor, was de feated by Horatio Seymour, and it can be safely asserted that false registra tion, repeating, and unscrupulous count in the city gave him more votes than he had maiority in the whole State. . 1863 : The notorious Judge MoCunn was elected by a deliberate mampula- tion of the votes. , , ^, „ , • „ , , \ 1864 : In the campaign of Lincoln and McCleUan marvelous frauds had been set on foot by forged soldiers' names, officers' certificates, false papers bearing names of sick, disabled and dead soldiers. Some of the parties con cerned were arrested and tried before a military commission in Washington. The city was full of Southern sympathizers, deserters, bounty-jumpers, thievfea and other desperate characters. The agents of the confederacy were in strong force on the Canadian border and in constant communication with their spies and allies in this city. Application was made to the authorities at Washing ton for protection, and General Butler with six thousand troops was sent for ward. The election was peaceable. 1866 : Tweed ring in Inill power, and its wUl law. Every form of fraud and violence was resorted to. And this in sjiite of the fact that Kennedy was at the head of the police. Careful examination of the registry lists disclosed over fifteen thousand names not to be found at the places they claimed to reg ister from. This was the time when the Republicans endeavored to hold a meeting in the City Park to be addressed by General Butler, Horace Greeley and Governor Curtin. That atternpt is historical. Such a scene was never before witnessed in New York. A howling, raving mob of Democrats ruled the hour. NATURALIZATION, Up to this time naturalization had been reasonably legitimate, confined to two courts, the superior and the court of common pleas. Prior to this y^ar the average number naturalized annualljr in these courts from 1857 to 1865, both inclusive was fifty-six hundred and eighty-two— many more in- the com mon pleas than in the superior ; but Judge McCunn was to preside in the lat ter this year, with James M. Sweeney, clerk, and Judge Cardozo could be used m the former. Cardozo made citizens at the rate of eight hundred a day on some days— swore them in sc^uads ; a single runner brought before him in one day nine squads, aggregating fifty-two, and swore them aU through ; at another time this same man brought m twenty, vouched for them aU. The result was that these two courts made 13,033 citizens, the average before hav- mg been, as I said, less than six thousand. Let it in this connection be re membered that m 1844 m Louisiana- Judge EUiot presiding— f our hundred cer- pfioates were granted m one day : that the attention of Congress was called to this glaring abuse of power; that a committee investigated and reported tnat It was impossible such a number coiild have been legally naturalized in a aay. Un their report the judge was impeached, convicted and removed. 1867. +„ i.^!k^*^® were stupendous ; illegal registration and repeating seemed almost io^!.„ ®^^S- A careful revision of the lists was made, afid thousands of w-ii][ P*"™*^ fraudulently entered-in the.Eighth ward alone over fifteen T^^i- . Compames of men fromNew Jersey and Pennsylvania voted. Rum wii-i:^/ fT^'i^^*^ fi°*V^?P'^l* <™<1 murders were the order. The courts rrfJ^T.nfi^n''^^ !^'^' ^^ *^.? 2¥»&M«e said, they ground out citizens "at the rate of n??«^W.inSo^^-'^^^' ^t^.^io ^ore soleainity than and quite as much celerity Tn thfi Sril"" concerting swine into pork in a Cincinnati packinghouse.''' ^cates ™ °®^^ eleven thousand persons received tlieir cer- 1868— CAMPAIGN OF GRANT AND SEYMOUR— HOFFMAN DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR. False registration, forgery, fraudulent naturalization, repeating, and eve?y fraud and crime against the elective franchise culminated. The courts were in league with the Democrats to destroy the last vestige of purity at the ballot-box. JUDICIAL CONDITION. The court of common pleas, with honest judges, went out of business prac tically. The superior court, for this business, practically went into the con trol of Judge McCunn, fraudulently elected, now a candidate for re-election. The supreme court, never before having anything to do with naturalization, was presided over by Judge Barnard, also a candidate for re-election. These two judicial scoundrels stripped off their coats and prepared for business. Barnard, on the 6bli of October, declared that he would attend to no other busi ness than this until the next term. The ready courts must be provided with blanks, so that there should be no hitch in proceedings. The following table will show no neglect in this direction : Superior court, October 2, received 10,000 certificates ; October 3, received 10,000 applications ; October 8, received 10,000 certificates; October 15, received 10,000 Qertificates ; October 16, received 30,000 applications. Total applications, 30,000 ; total certificates, 30,000. Supreme Oourt. Date. September 16 . September 19. October 6 Octoljer 12 ... . October 13 October 15 October 16 October 19 October 20 October 22 Total. , Number of applications. 10,00010,000 25,000 5,000 10,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 75,000 Oertiflcates. 9,000 5,000 5,000 10,000 ' ib',666 Tammany's headquarters for naturalization were at No. 1 Centre Stree*' a lager-beer saloon. They were provided with a red ticket, forty thousand m niunber, reading thus: No. — . Please naturalize the bearer. M. D. GALE, Chairmari Naturalization Committee, Tammany Hall. And this presented to the clerk of court, was an order on Tammany for the fees. PROCEEDINGS IN COURT. I caU your attention to the testimony of M. R. Leverson, a member of the United States bar, an intelligent man, (Reports of committee, third session, Fortieth Congress, volume 3, page.^ 130 to 140, inclusive ;) and alloiv me to read portions of his graphic description : duestion. You were in the courts witnesslns the naturalization of persons desiring to be naturalized ? _ ^^^^ basement of theold city hall buildiag, which used to be the sheriQ^a office. When I first went iato it, in the day-time, there were about fourJangroffourSerks to^e^^^^ acted In what may be termed the oapao- "y "CherrlmanTadlefote him a list of names and addresses, and he would keep the other three at wSafvlne to each man a name and address which that man wo uld hU mto one of the fnrmrbefore him There were on the table two or three piles of papers. One of them was »i^ilP^ blank forms affidavits, &c. The first form wa.s one io which the appUoant is re- ^''''^ Th??h ree clerks would fill in each the name furnished to him as that of the applicant. It f Yes Whethe?^itSokGofr exists or not I do not know ;. at any rate he was not there nor any one of the applicants whose name s were signed. This was common to nearly eyejy case^he mode in wllieh the process was gone through in Judge Barnard's court was thfs?^ as the men came up they would hand in their papers-this form of affldavit-andit would be handfed to the clerk by the usher, who would calf out the names. It is a presump- Uon 00 mv part that they call the names of the persons who In that paper are represented as applicants and witnesses, because, of course, I could not tell that o/my own knowledge. All lean teU with certainty is that the clerk purported to call out the names from the paper. On one occasion a man named Lu sh, or Lusk, was called forward while Judge Barnard was hi court, and the clerk said to him, "Get your witness to sign his affidavit." The man looked about the court. I was at that time at the extreme end of the court, a,nd I heard him say in a voice which I suppose was heard by the judge and the clerk, I Qon't know who he is your honor." The clerk would call out the names of persons so rapidly that I could not take them down. X commenced to do so at first, but it was performed too rapidly for me to follow it, but I made a mark on some papers which I had with me for each name called. I do not think that while I was there, there was any one occasion when the number was less than ore hundred and ten, the lowest number mentioned in my report, in a batch. The av erage was about one hundred and forty to one hundred and fifty in a batch, w hen they came up they would be divided in groups around four or five Bibles ; each Bible would be held up by four five, or six men in the center, and the others would either touch it or stretch out their hands toward it on being directed so to do by the clerk or the judge, I am unable to say which. While they were being called up to touch the Bible, or in effect to -tretch out their hands towards it, the clerk would call out the«names. There was adou'iif calling of the names; the flrst time to get them within the bar, and the second for thepii i "se of getting them to touch the Bible. As the clerk called out the names he would hana :. : ' paper, being the affidavits before mentioned, to the judge, turning each paper over as : nanded it, so that the place for the judge's signature might be presented at once to him to n e time. The judge would make some mark, which I have no doubt you will find on the re' . i Is when you have them produced, as his signature to the indorsement, being In fact the tia i Jor the natu ralization. No evidence of any kind was taken by the judge, nor was any oati cf any kind admiHistered to the applicants prior to the judge's signing the papers in this w.iy, which he did as fast as the clerk could hand the papers over to him. When they were all through In this way the judg3 then adminis .ered the oath in words which I took down at tne time and which I will adopt from this report : •' You the several applicants, swear that you are twen ty-one years of aga ; that you arrived in this country three years before attaining that age, and have resided five years la the United States, and for the last year in the State of New York." He swore them in a batch to that form. He would then say, "And you, the several witnesses, swear that the contents of your several affidavits are true." The judge repeated this form of oath, and every man was supposed to kiss the book. The batch ran from one hundred and up to two hundred ; and I remember on one occasion wlien I counted over one hundred and eighty in a batch. A clerk at the gate of entrance for the bar called the names of the applioauts and witnesses In the order in which the papers came to his hands, and on the persons called coming forward they were arranged within the bar, often one witness for four orfive applicants at a time. When a number were thus ar ranged their papers were handed to the clerk who stood at the judge's left hand, who, as he finished off the lot already in hand, took up the fresh batch. An applicant aad a witness, being now called by this clerk, and answering to their names, the judge would- direct them to hole up their right hands. Very frequently the left would be held up, and the usher would ha ve to help the man to put up his right hand instead of his left. The judge then proceeded to swear the parties in the following words : "You solemnly swear, in the presence of the eyer-living God, that the affidavits which you have severally subscribed are true, so help you God."' The testimony of Colonel George BUss, Jr., found in the same volume, page 185, fuUy corroborates this witness. Colonel Bliss has since been United States district attorney. He timed the judge and found that in oneflve-nunute space he made thirteen American citizens, fuU-fledged, "all residents for five years, all men of good moral character, " aU well dis posed, &c., and m another five-minute space he accomplished the marvelous task of turning out fifteen! AUow me also to read from the testimony of Henry Liyle, commencing on page 460, same volume : M,.nS,''n®^???hF=f,f„'T'^^*'""l know of certificates of naturalization being issued- by Judge MeCunn, of the superior court, and in the supreme court by Judge Barnard ? J e 188R Ys7wth»rp-?Brv?,?;il'^i™^=t^'''''^'°?'''^"^I'"8^''^«™°°*'is<>f September and October, »fl'! Ch«^hitL7^V7^°^J:^l^°^^ 7^? ^i".?.^ '°*° "' *°d I tool' a lianif at it. I had an office at 33 Chatham street in this city. I staid there most of the time during the dav and at nisht would go up town to Thirty-second street at a liquor store therawhei-e Dartres to^^^ "eforefhl iullefand'Sut'tht m'.'"'fh'''- ^h'^* "k^^'- ^"^ ^ would'hlT up 'th'L'^ applications go thoeventaiafdnntthe^^^^^^ During the month of October I came down In the S?|e8,^on'« T tS,M ..'In "?i? ^"^'''"' J»age Barnard, of the supreme court, who held IwoSasl^ntheBnuli^Tf^t'^''?" „^^^^ ?.f ^^^ applicants to tfie blank; sometimes X wouiu sign tne applicant's name and sometimes he would himijelr nr -if anvhnfiv msa STo\Ve°c?erk™Hf wouTrt™c\^,fl,^ "' ^ ^"uld take thTpapsr''s7own't "the cT/r? a'S Iwl A- 1 ca'^Z"t?lf bu? l1afl° e'^f^nrn'tJ'^^'l,"''". '^'3 /™ P^'"'"'^« during these two months 7 SomftimesTw^dsweart^otalenfnr Mi;"°'*''5'^*°°'i?''^°"^*'>d!t^'>'*I ^ould swear to. name., just as i? happlnid to cZe fnto my h^ead SomeVw, ^/^J ""m^^^ ^ ^'^ned different others, that of Henry Laurenoerbr Line^Jr anynamf would sign my own name; at A Ye3''°sh-''°8n„°i==^B*t''"i^°,f^?,'"* "^ *^^ s^'m'e business 1 streeWepStrient?rbe1^ieYe-amL'^tte^ T^? J?'^" Gallagher-he is In the aNiutha^venueralir„a?^T;\'e^.eTdrat^S,%-xri;-f,^^^^^^ ¦who 18 also engaged m that business ; he is a conductor on the Bleeker street line and re- aides somewhere m the Nineteenth ward. There is also John Moran, who resides in the Twenty-first -ward. Also Ghaunoey Gray, who resides at the Putnfen Country House, corner of Twenty-sixth street and Fourth avenue. Henry Lyle is siraply a sample— one of a hundred. I caU your attention now to another representative case, one of many, as detailed m the testimony of Robert Murray : duestion. State ^our residence and offl.oial position. Answer. I reside in the city of New York. I am marshal for the United States for the southern district of New York, and have occupied that position since the 20th of AprU, 1868. Q. State if you have any knowledge of the Issuing and sale of fraudulent naturaliza tion certificates in the month of October, 1868. A. In the early part of October there was a rumor in town that naturalization papers could be purchased at certain leoallties in this city for $2 apiece. I directed two of my dep uties, named Jarvis and Dwyer, to Bscertain if that rumor had any foundationin fact. They reported to me, in a few days afterward, that those papers could he purchased from a man named Eosenburg, at 6 Centre street, and also that they could be purchased at No. 13, Cen tre street. He and I sat down and made out a list of four or five or half a dozen fictitious names. He went over to Eosenburg, at No. 6 Centre street, (witness subsequently employed Major Simms, his deputies being too well known.) Major Simms reported to me that he called on Eosenburg and representci.1 to him that he resided in Yonkers, Westchester countyr that he had some fbur or five friends there who wanted to become citizens of the lUnlted States ; that they were poor men and could not spare the time to come to the city to go through the courts of law, and he Inquired of Eosenburg if there was not any way by which he could fix it for him. Eosenburg replied, " Yes, give me the names, and 'I will have the papers for you to-morrow morning." Simms replied that he might want quite a large num- oev, but that the list was imperfect at that time, and that he would call and see him again. He called there the second time and handed him this list of six or eight names, and he was told to call in the mornipg, and that the papers would be ready for him. He did call in the morning, and the naturalization certificates were handed to him. Simms paid Eosenburg $2 apiece for them. They were brought to me, and I made Simms mark them with his in itials, and I think I marked them myself. The next day I sent a young man by the name of Butts with a list of three or four names— fictitious names— and I directed him to go there to No. 6 Centre street and purchase naturalization papers there. He reported to me that he had had an interview with Eosenburg, and that Eosenburg agreed to furnish him the papers the next morning. The next morning Btxtts handed me the oertiflcates. I compared them with the list of names which I had furnished to him the day previously, and I found that they cor responded. I made Butts put his initials on the certificates, together with the date of them, and I put my initials on them also. The day after I made out another list of four or five or perhaps more, and sent a man by the name of Livingston, with instructions to go over and see Eosenburg and inquire if he could purchase naturalization papers. He reported hack to me that the papers would be ready the following morning. The following morning Living ston handed to me these naturalization certificates.- I compared them with the list of names which I had handed to him the previous morning, and found they corresponded. I made Liv ingston put his initials on them, together with the date, and I think I also put my initials on them. The next day I sent a man by the name of Eeynolds over there to inquire whether he could purchase naturalization papers, and we made out a list of them together of fifteen or twenty names . I simply sent Eeynolds there to have corroborating proof, for 1 meant to arrest Eosenburg that day ; and I directed Eeynolds to have no conversation with Eosen burg; to state to him that perhaps he might want four or five hundred of the oertlfleatea j. that perhaps he could not furnish the list of names, as time was very short, and to inquire whether he could have certificates in blank. Eeynolds reported back to me that he had had an extended conversation with Eosenburg, and that Eosenburg had agreed to furnish him with five hundred of the certificates the next morning at a dollar and a half apiece ; that by taking a large quantity of them he would make a reduction of fifty cents ; then he made a counter proposition that anything else than one hundred would be charged $2 apiece, and over one hundred a dollar and a half apiece. He had quite a long conversation with him, and went into the details of the business. After Eeynolds came back and reported to me, I sent, another man over there by the name of McDonald, and directed him to do the same thing as Eeynolds He reported back to me substantially the same conversation that Eeynolds had reported, that these men would furnish any quantity of these papers— one hundred for a dollar and a half apiece, but any quantity less than one hundred at $2 apiece. I considered then that I had the whole case complete. I went to the district attorney and made the ne cessary affidavit and information, and then got out the warrant and arrested Eosenburg that afternoon at three o'clock. HOW MANY WERE NATURALIZED 1 ' In the supreme court there were filed in the clerk's office as sworn to cer tificates as follows : Date. October 6, October 7, October 8. October 9 October 10 October 12 October 13 October li. Ootober 15 Number. 717 723 901623 867 Date. October 16 October 17 October 19 Ootober 20 Ootober 21. October 22, October 23 Total... Number. 721 633955 944 773 675 687 10,070 But 75,000 blank applications had been obtained in this court from time to «,^i^ An P^aminationl)V the congressional committee and the testimony of a^ clerk^f tKuSroTed conclusi^^^^^ there were issued 37,068 cerM- cates when no appUcation was on file. Thus the number naturalized m this court was 37,178. SUPEEIOE COURT. One of the clerks, Westlake, swore to the number naturaUzed each day ; there being in twenty days in October tlie enormous number of 36,236, or a daily average of 1,311. Meeks, a deputy clerk, testified that Westlake had given the above from actual count ; and GiUespie, assistant naturalization clerk, certified under oath to the correctness of the statement. , , , From these two courts in the month of October, 1868, there were undoubt edly issued at least 63,000 certificates. STANDING WITNESSES. In the supreme court twenty-one witnesses appeared for 3,749 appLicantS ; and the same witnesses also acted their part in the superior court, lake these specimens : Patrick McCaffrey, in the month of October, m the supreme court, swore to the good moral character, length of residence, &c., of 351 persons : and in the superior court of 353 persons ; in aU, 503. John Ward performed like duty in the supreme court for 334 persons; in superior court for 195 per sons ; in all, 519. John Moran was witness in the supreme court for 455 persons ; in the superior court for 399 persons ; in aU, 754. James Goff, and Patrick, Ms brother, certify to 666 in both courts. Patrick McCaffrey was one of James O'Brien's deputies, and by him dis charged for extortion. John Moran had served a term in State prison. The Grofif brothers were notorious thieves, and both Barnard and McCunn, as crimi nal judges, must have known them well. As soon as the business of the court was over James stole a watch, chain, and two diamond rings. It was testified that one of these Goffs had four thousand of these certificates for sale. Now, under the act of Congress of 1803 applications for naturalization must be made in open court, and the court must be satisfied that the person apply ing liad, during his residence, " behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same ;" and in no case could proof of residence be made by oath of applicant. WHO ARE ENTITLED TO BECOME CITIZENS. First. Those who came here over eighteen years of age and had resided tere five or more years, and had made pre-vdous declaration of intention. Second. Those who came under eighteen years of age and had resided here five years. These were not required to make previous declaration of io.- fcentions. Third. Honorably discharged soldiers twenty-one years of age and resi dents of the United States for one year. How shall all this be shown? By affidavit? Not at aU. The common- law oath must be administered to both applicant and witness. " You solemnly swear that you will teU the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God." Then should follow an oral examination of applicant and witnesses as to residence, character, attachment to the principles of the Con stitution, as to disposition to the good order and happiness of the country, &c. In 7 HOI, New York Reports, page 137, Juiige Dean held that under the statute the residence of the applicant must be proved by the oath of some party other than the one applying, and that affidavits were inadmisible -and could not be received. In The People vs. Sweetman, (3 Park's Criminal Cases,) Judge Pratt held : The laws of Congress require the application to be made to the court and the proof of flvo years previoua residence must be taken in open court. It must also be common-law evi dence, taken by the oral examination of the witnesses ; previously prepared affidavits are Now, in both the superior and the supreme courts the applications were previously prepared out of court, subscribed and sworn to in court, and before Judge Barnard no oral examination was had at all, , and .both applicants and witnesses were s-worn m squads to the truth of printed forms of blank affida vits. In Judge McCunn's court the only oath administered was : You solemnly swear that those affidavits by you subscribed are true. n^pi'^^rSSf^f^**^,*^® few questions put were not under oath. Right here, again, I wish to caU your attention to the case of Judge EUiot, who was im- peached and found guilty for naturaUatag four hundred persons in one day. Notice the language of the congressional committee : It was physically Impossible, involving as it must the administering of twelve hundred oaths and the examination of eight hundred witnesses as'to age, quaUfloation, residence and moral character of the applicants. And yet each of these judges must have averaged three thousand oaths and examined two thousand -witnesses daily! Mirahue dictvJ The army in Flan ders could not have beaten this swearing. The terrible picture would not be complete wittiout brief references to " false registration," " repeating," and " baUot-box stuffing." A few instances of each must suffice. William H. Hendrick, with;the sanction of Colonel Bliss, district attorney, was einployed by a captain of repeaters, headquarters Peter Mitchell's liquor store. There wa's a gang of about fltfty men, di-vided into squads of four, six, eight, and twelve. Each man received a card giving him his name and residence ; on this he registered at one registry, then returned to headquarters, received a new name and residence, and so on. These men reg- iste):'ed and voted, each from five to thirty times. It may be well to remam that Peter Mitchell was a candidate for the assembly. Alexander Ostander, an attorney at law, investigated on election day ; saw squads of men ; thin slips with names and residences ; saw them vote at one polling-place, then go to another and repeat, then to another, and so on. Wimam H. Greenej a patrolman, saw a gang of men, known to him person ally, register from WiUiam M. Tweed's house, from Patrick Kernan's, the coroners, and from Edward Shandley's, police justice. Some of them were challenged, but promptly took the necessary oaths. Most of them were thieves ; the leader, who registered from Kernan's house, was one Lawrence, alias "Wilson," alias "Nibbs," or "Nibbsey." This gang of eight was fol lowed up, and it was found that they had registered one hundred and sixty on fictitious names. They were arrested, their books seized, revealing the fact that they had registered in two hundred and twenty placM. On the evening of their arrest a writ of habeas corpus was served on the offlcers in charge, di recting their bodies to be brought before Judge Barnard, no time being al lowed for return, none being made. They were taken to Barnard's residence. They remaining on the side- walk, Mr. Howe, an attorney, took the -writ, wrote on it, " The prisoners being charged -with no offense on the annexed return, I order them discharged," gave it to a servant girl, who passed it to the judge, then in bed, obtained his signature, and the prisoners were discharged. And lest there might not even then be votes enough to overcome the hon est voters of the country portions of the State, "counting and canvassing" was indulged in to an unlimited extent. This was William M. Tweed's favor ite method— less expensive, less liable to detection, and more certain of suc cess. Under its operations the only thing necessary to know was the number of votes required. Hence the famous Tilden circular. Mr. Tweed, m his last confession. Report of Special Committee of the Board of Aldermen, pages 133 and 134, throws light upon this : Question. Now, Mr. Tweed, when you were in office did the ring control the elections In this city 7 • ' , Answer. They did, absolutely. O How did vou control the election ? ...... A Well each ward had a representative man who could control matters In his own ward, and whom tiie various members of the general committee were to look up to for advice how to *™ a°.^ What^were they to do In case you wanted one man elected over another ? „ ,1, „, A. count the ballots In bulk, or without counting them^announce the result In bulk, or change from one to the other, as the case may have been. Q. Then these elections were really no elections a,t all 7 • A. The ballots made no result. The counters made the result. Again, he was asked if he ever gave any directions in any ward to falsify the results, and frankly said he had in every ward m the city. On pages 335 and 336 he is^quii-ed of especiaUy as to this election of 18^, whether the in spectors of election lumped the votes and declared them without countmg, and replied that he thought they did; that means were taken to overcome the vote of the rest of the State by that of the city. But tiSie faUs, and these incidents must serve merely as lUustrations of a record Derfectly appalling. False registration and repeating seemed almost to bethe?SerhunEs registered from houses where only two Iwed; scores from buildiigs having no existence ; an army from vacant lots, stables, beer- gMdensluid houses 0I prostitution. What a picture This a republic ? This feK-^OTerSment fwhen the disgraceful story was pubhshed our whole Nation 8 trembled; its ruin was predicted in the EngUsh Parliament, and this electic was the evidence. New York city was a reproach, and her best citizens of bot narties fully appreciated it. These election frauds, increasing; year by yea had not been quietly acquiesced in. The New York Assembly liad enacte laws to prevent and to punish again and again, but corrupt courts, packe grand iuries, bribed sheriffs, subservient poUcemen, the almost unlimited powe of Tammany, the despotism of Tweed, the entire lack of conscience or moK sense in the Democracy of the city, their tatimate copartnership "with gro^ shops, gambUng-heUs, houses of prostitution, and all other dens of -vice; thei adoption of thieves, perjurers, assassins. State-prison convicts, and aU th criminal classes, had rendered every such attempt futile. But this unmunit; had made them reckless, and their crime of 1868 was so gigantic, so full o peril to the RepubUc, that the whole country was aroused. The Union Leagu Club appointed a committee to investigate— WiUiam E. Dodge, Horace Gree ley, Moses H. GrinneU, Isaac Sherman, MarshaU 0. Roberts, Isaac H. Bailey and John H. White— names sufficiently weU known. They, November 13, 1868 issued an address, from which I wiU make a few selections : To the People : ? * * * * * * * * By these, among other measures yet to be developed, the plot to change by fraud the voti of the State was carried to completion. Commenced under cover of law, with the connlvanoi of courts of justice, by the Issue of fraudulent oertiflcates which were used for a fraudulen registry, furthered by the illegal Voting of tens of thousands, and by gangs of lndust?ioui repeaters, and then by delayed returns and counts based upon reports obtained by secre eiroulars. The plot was also indebted for its accomplishment to the encouragement affordec by the proclamation of the mayor, and to the deputies of the sheriffs with void warrants, ille gal arrests, threats, and violence. It is perhaps possible that we are without a remed3 against the stupendous fraud thus perpetrated against the people of this city, of this State and, as regards the electoral vote, against the Nation. It may be that our State and con gressional legislation, anticipating no such crime, has proceeded upon the suH>osltlon thai our judges and other officials would be uniformly the protectors of the franchise, andnevei the tools of conspirators against its purity. It may be that for two years we must submit tc the wrongful rule of usurpers who have etfeoted a temporary triumph over the men honestlj chosen by the people, and this in the face of proofs that compel the belief that the Democratic majorities were obtained by fraud. But if this be so. and we find ourselves without redress oi indemnity for the past, it is due to ourselves and our children, to the Nation and the world, that we enter our protest against the wrong, and that we obtain by all proper means ample security for the future. It has been our acquiescence in the lesser and partial frauds ol the Tammany ring in former years, and the impunity with which that ring has plundered and disgraced our city, that has emboldened the preparation of this gigantic conspiracy to control the government of the State and Nation. Nothing can be more clear than that a similar acquiescence on our part, now that the conspiracy has succeeded, would tend to make fraud in elections a disease chronic in the body politic, spreading from city to city and from State to State, until our Eepublic should have become as rotten as the municipal gov ernment of this metrODolis. When a fraudulent election Is engineered by party conspirators, under the assistance and protection of conveniep : judges, the returned vote no longer indi cates the will of the people, but simply the a-idaoious designs of a desperate faction who regard polities as a game where truth and honor have no plac6. Indeed, the success of the rebellion would not necessarily have dealt a more deadly blow at the honor and prestige of the Eepublic and of republican institutions throughout the world, than a general debasement of the franchise similar to that which now confronts us, subjecting the entire State to the control of a local ring unparalleled In infamy. Already is the fear forcing itself upon honest men of all creeds and parties that, with Individual local judges ready to abet or afraid to resist the most flagrant plot against the purity of elections and the sovereignty of the people, appeal to our court for protection to life and liberty and property may soon become as idle as those of the victims of the secret tribunal to the masked judges of the Inquisition. This recital of the iaception, growth, and ultimate strength of "fraud upon the baUot," of the attempts and complete faUure of a weU-disposed State to destroy or even restrain it, it seems to me ought to satisfy every intelUgent lover of the Repubhc of the absolute, imperative necessity for interference by the United States, both«by legislation and by a rigid enforcement of its laws. Ihe perpetmty of republican institutions demanded both. In December, 1868, Congress passed a resolution to investigate the alleged frauds in New York, by a vote of 134 ayes to 35 noes ; and Hon. WilUam Law rence, of Ohio, was made chairman of a very efficient committee for that pur pose, ihe investigation was thorough and exhaustive; the evidence taken is accessible to you aU m the Congressional Library, and is terribly convincing. ihe comnuttee recommended legislation, in consequence of which and of sug gestions ot Mr. Davenport, made from time to time— the results of his experi ence m the enforcement of the earUer acts passed— Congress enacted tjielaws of May 31 and July 14, 1870, of February 38, 1871, and June 10, 1873, Inaking certam necessavy amendments to the naturaUzation laws, providing for the appointment of a chief supervisor of elections in each judicial district of the unitea btates; also tor two supervisors in each election precinct, one from each party, m citiea of twenty thousand inhabitants and upward, on appUcation of 9 two or more citizens, and of two supervisors for each county or parish in any congressional district, on appUcation of ten citizens. Nearly aU of this legis lation 18 now found under Title 26 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, entitled the elective franchisei" sections 2003 to 3131 inclusive, a vital portion ot which it is now proposed by gentlemen on the other side to repeal. Is the demanded repeal in the interest of free and pure elections, or is the law as it stands calculated to give every citizen entitled to it a right to vote; and does it insure to him that his vote shaU be counted as it was cast? Ifseems to me the inquiry need go no further, and as these questions are answered our action on this biU, or rather on any biU properly and legitimately before us proposing the repeal of these statutes, shouldTbe determined. Surely, gentle men will not seriously undertake to rise and discuss the constitutionaUty of these laws now. That question was thoroughly considered when they were enacted. Besides^, they have stood the test of years of trial in the presence of bitter hostiUty, with aU the courts open to the settlement of the question. Can any gentleman point to any decision against them in that regard ? In the case of the United States vs. Quinn, (Blatchford's C. C. Reports, volume 8, p^ge 48,) Judge Woodruff, one of the most accomplished and learned judges in the country, held " that the section of the act in question, (act of May 31, 1870, ) which assumes the power of C ongress to make it an offense agaiiist the laws of the United States to fraudulently register, is a constitutional enact ment." I should judge, from the use made on this floor of the recent decisions of Judges Fruidman and Blatchford, they went to the root of the whole mat ter, and overturned aU the law and all the facts; but they go only to the suffl- eiency of the record in naturalization. They overrule only that one point, so inconsequential that I have not even aUuded to it in showing the utter falsity and fraud of the naturalization of 1868. The papers and facts hereafter to be Dffered in evidence in the "Coleman" case, wiU conclusively show that hia registration was iUegal. Again, in th-e last Congress, in the case of Dean vs. Field, the Democratic side planted itself squarely on the count of the super-vdsors of election, and on the strength of it gave Dean his seat. No, gentlemen, these laws must be weighed in the balance of experience, and to that I now ask your attention. [n May, 1871; John I. Davenport was appointed chief supervisor in that judicial district, including the city 6i Ne~w York, and at once entered upon the great work assigned hini. Against him was arrayed the most powerful and unscru pulous combination ever known to the poUtics of this or any other country; but Davenport could not be terrified, cajoled, bribed, or driven. Bright, active, intelligent, vigUant, from investigations made, thoroughly acquainted with the ways of Tammany, he went into the fight con amore and came off con- imeror; and now the vanquished foe to the decent, weU-ordered, and pure elections demands his decapitation and the repeal of the laws he succeeded in enforcing. Is this suggestive of the thought that history repeats itself 1 The bask set before the super-visor was — 1. To obtain possession of from twenty-five to thirty thousand false and fraudulent certificates of naturaUzation issued from the supreme and superior courts in the month of October, A. D. 1868, then in use in the city, the balance having been sold in packages in New Jersey, Connecticut, and other sections of the State of New York. -,¦,.-, 2. To discover and prevent false registration whereby thousands claimed to reside in dweUings which were in fact brick-yards, vacant lots, parks, stables, gambling-houses, houses of prostitution and assignation. 3. To break up gangs of repeaters, numbered by the hundreds, each of whom was registering and voting from ten to thirty times. 4. To dis'cover the immense number of Uving men voting upon the names of the dead. , , . . , , 5. To make a correct roU of the unpardoned criminals and convicts. a'. To prevent false counting and canvassing. The work was herculean, but the workman was, too. Davenport com menced his operations with enthusiasm, prosecuted them with great earnest ness and unflaging zeal. He encountered opposition but always triumphed over it. He was prosecuted before the courts in 1874. The presiding judge not only acquitted him, but commended his abUity, integrity, and decision m the administration of the duties of his office. In 1876 a congressional commit tee known as "the Caulfleld committee," investigated hun, and in the end were delighted to have him caUed off. Subsequent to the election m 1876, an other conunittee, Hon. Samuel S. Cox chairman, made an mvestigation which resulted in his entire vindication. During the last Congress another was or dered, Hon. WiUiam P. Lynde chairman, on which I had the honor to repre- 10 sent the minority. Witnesses were examined for two or three weeks to so Uttleeffertthatno report was ever made. Two days before final adjourn ment of that Congress Mr. Lynde read to me his views, an argument m favor S the repeal of the election laws, but they were never submitted to the Judi ciary committee nor to the House. The only action had was,, leave "to print and reco^it." I shaU have occasion to refer to these investigations again. All these obstacles had no more effect than the debris floating on its surface has ^^^*'There°wer'e'from forty to sixty thousand false and fraudulent naturaUza tion certificates to be foUowed up and destroyed. It was very difficult to de termine how many of these were in use ia the city, thousands otthem having been sent into Connecticut, thousands into New Jersey and the river counties of New York, ten thousand having been delivered to Jun Fisk for distribution along the Une of the Erie road ; but the registration was carefully scrutinized, compared year by year; certificates of 1868 to be indexed ; records of courts exandned; holders of papers personaUy interrogated; threats, arguments, and entreaties used -with the voters, until in 1876 there werereastered under certificates issued from the supreme and superior courts for October, 1868, less than ten thousand persons. In the accompushment of this no complamt has ever been made against Mr. Davenport's processes, and comparatively speak ing, no obstacles had been thrown in his way. Prior to the election of 1878, the supervisor having become thorough master of the situation, ino-wing every holder of these papers, aU the facts touching their falsity, determined to close them out. There was no secrecy about it, no disguise ; his purpose was pubUshedin the daUy press; he notified a committee of Tamma,ny of it and sought their co-operation, which at first they seemed incUned to give, but sub sequently refused and on the contrary bitterly opposed. In the month of August he caused notices to be served upon these nolders personaUy, also published them, informing them of the fraudulent character of their papers, that they would not be permitted to register under them; that if they would surrender, whenever they were entitled to naturalization they should receive their certificates free of cost ; again served a like notice in September and again in October. Before registration was over, from three to four thou^ sand of these papers had been surrendered, with affida-vits that the surrender had been freely made; that the certificates were fraudulent, and each affida vit signed by the party affiant. Undoubtedly thousands more would have been freely given up had it not been for the violent and persistent opposition of Tammany. Just before the election some thirty-two hundred warrants were issued against parties who had registered under these papers. On elec tion day six hundredTand six were arrested, and only twelve hundred and forty succeeded in voting. These arrests were made for illegal registration on war rants. Immediate examination was had before the commissioners. AU expe dition was used; as Uttle trouble, delay, and vexation was caused to the ar rested as was possible. Nearly aU were discharged on their own recognizance, and very ;few if any were prosecuted to judgment before the courts, the au thorities regarding them rather as dupes of Taminany than wilful violators of the law. A memorial was presented to the last Congress J)y the gentleman from New York [Mr. Wood] pomplaining of arbitrary arrests, cruel freatment, con finement in filthy pens, intimidation, j)artiaUty of super-visors in administer ing the law, and wholesale arrests of innocent men. The Judiciary Commit tee, through Messrs. Lynde, Forney, and Frye, investigated, as I said before. Tammany was represented by two able lawyers, Davenport by himself. Tam- niany had the subpoena of the United States, the largest liberty in its use, aU free of cost ; brought before us seventy or eighty witnesses, of course about aU, and ot course the very best samples of injustice of the law. There were sixty- three of these memoriaUsts, setting forth in words that burn their grievances. Iheir persons and residences were weU known, and yet only eleven of them were put upon the stand. Where were the others 1 Why did not the able coun sel call them ? Surely they knew and could swear to the bUstering facts pre sented to the House by the honorable gentleman from New York [Mr. Wood.] The papers of the forty-two of these men on their face would have convicted them of iUegal registration. Does this account for the absence of all but eleven 1 Davenport msisted that they should aU be sworn as witnesses for the complamant. I have no hesitation in saying, and I do it with the evidence and Mr. Lynde s views before me, that as to intimidation of honest voters, cruelty. partiaUty, vexatious delays, there is not sufficient evidence on which to con- 11 vict a man of the theft of a farthing, not sufficient to awaken a decent sus picion m an unpartisan mind. On comparing the statements of these wit- ?itff. w»*^?J?'/''Pf^' ^ ^^ ^^ip&^i that not more than a score were e^i- tled to vote. DidT not Tammany find tiie best specimens of the six hundred must this law be repealed? Why, you cannot enforce the law against burg- KV +1,^' ™ii^ Everything was serene and lovely. Is it because a score of men entitled to vote were arrested in 1878 and thus deprived of their rights 1 Mr. Cox says such mistakes must inevitably happen, and they did occur in 1876 ; and yet everything worked together for good then. Is it because the enforcement of this lavy operates against the •emocratic party rather than against the RepubUcan 1 Of course it does. So does the enforcement of any law against crime. Repeal the whole criminal code ; open the doors of every prison, jaU, and penitentiary in this country ; and the Repulican party would be' shortly in a hopeless minority. One iUustration will serve to show in what soil this party of "reform" flourishes. 1863 : General Wadsworth, the Union nominee for governor ; Horatio Sey mour, the Democratic. The county of St. Lawrence,. made up of substantial, intelligent and well-behaved farmers, cast a vote of 13,331. Wadsworth had 9,698 ; Seymour had 3,633. Thirty-nine election distiicts in the city, containing a little less population than St. Lawrence, poUed 14,345 votes. Wadsworth. 1,681 ; Seymour, 13,654. The inhabitants of these districts were degraded, intemperate, ignorant, and criminal. These districts, as appeared by the poUce records, contained 3,743 groggenes, 379 brothels, 170 resorts of thieves, 105 poUcy shops, and gam bling-houses and dance-houses in great number. They gave Seymour a greater majority than he had in the whole vote of the State of 603,548. Right here, sir, I wish to caU the attention of the committee to the testi mony ot a man of great experience, Mr. Ottarson, given before the Cox com mittee in 1876. Mr. Ottarson had been a journalist in New York city for twenty-five years, connected with the Tribune from 1841 to 1865, subseauentlv with the Times and the Herald, the compiler of the Whig or Tribune Almanac, a careful student of social and political statistics : I do not believe nor do I charge that all Democrats are dishonest : but 1 do mean to sav that every dishonest man, every vagabond, gambler, illegal rum-seller tramn loafer and bad citizen, m whatever line of business, from burglary down S French nSoSs 1^ inJfi^S- Ively and practically in favor of Tammany Democracy. "" '-'^ -^ louon pools, is mstinot- Again : ^ftr^Ll^ga^ll.rbSf^^^he^'rfU^^^^^^^ Tammanv opposed it. When it was nronosed tn .Ji^o »of!,%,P S ®'* l)etoie the polls opened, the boards orelectionofflCCTs,TrmmanroPD08ed^ir W?pS n ^=? ^'1"^* representation ill • shops during voting hours to prevent flffhtta^ and o.o?L™f.i' ^^/ proposed to close liquor When it was^ propofed to remoTC Ifcket Vooth^s far plout^f frnT t?"'"' Tammany opposed 'it. crowds and confusion, Tammany opposed it wlfn^m^^ *^° P»"'hg Places to avoid ¦ Tammany opposed it. When the neonlefminrf Vh« ? +>,^ n """^^ representation was proposed, Ing enormous donat ons and prfvUelel to Sertnin vmLP^^,^ had been grant! amendment to the constitution of -thlstatLforWriHif^ifi?"^ organizations and proposed an Tammany opposed it. Whenever and wherever tw? ^^PP^g-lations to any sect wliatever, restriction of liquor selling or the lealt attorn rft?^wiSf tH,°®° proposed the least possible Sunday, Tammany has opposed it attempt toward the enforcement of a regard for and against the rights of manrworS f or a dl«^n?L < ^^ worked for slavery the one flnaUy mide a i^d attemnt to ffp.tt?''!'^'^^''^^Sain8t aRe (Aeerediton; theoM fou^t fo?^wnr= +.**''T-*^® Government, the other 15 devastated country ; the other lamented only the loss of poUtical power. And now once more they clasp hands. The confederacy demands that aU protec tion to the voter shaU be withdrawn j that no civU or military officer shall, with armed men, secure to the trembUng black citizen his right to the baUot, that Ku-Klux and White-Leaguers shaU recognize ; that scourging, beating, and assassinations shaU go unwhipped of justice ; and Tammany as before shouts "Amen and amen?' Tammany demands that "thieves, vagabonds, gamblers, tramps, loafers, and bad citizens" shaU again control elections in the city of New York ; that corrupt judges, false witnesses, and perjured applicants shaU again swell their majorities ; that false registration, repeating, simulating voters, and manipulating votes shaU once more overcome the will of the peo ple, and the confederate Democracy shout back their amen. Togetiier they demand that their wicked wiU shaU prevaU or the army shaU be starved and aU the functions of Government shall perish. But the old ship of state sails calmly on. She has encountered in her voyage deeper seaSj fiercia waves, an grier storms, more dangerous shores, and has founa safety from them aU. The Great PUot is at her helm, and, freighted as she is with the hopes of man, all the powers of darkness cannot prevaU against her. YALE UNIVERSITY a39002 0029&66&2b skS*s i£^g r,!„^.'i'-;K;R'"''*"