Page images
PDF
EPUB

in the presence of each other, in form as follows-namely, 'I,

oath.

do that I will, as judge, inspector, or clerk (as the case may be), at the ensuing elecForm of tion, impartially and faithfully perform my duties in accordance with the laws and constitution of the State of New Jersey, and in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the party of the county of

(as the case may be), for the government of the said primary elections, meetings, or caucus, to the best of my judgment and abilities.'

"The oath or affirmation shall be first administered to the judge by one of the inspectors, By whom to then the judge so qualified shall administer the

be adminis

tered.

oath or affirmation to the inspectors and clerks, and may administer the oath to any elector offering to vote as to his qualifications to vote at such election.

&c.

"2. And be it enacted, If any judge, inspector and clerk, or other officer of a primary elecPenalty for acting before tion, as aforesaid, shall taking oath, presume to act in such a capacity before the taking and subscribing to the oath or affirmation required by this Act, he shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding $200, and if any judge, inspector, clerk, or other officer, when in the discharge of his duties as such, shall wilfully disregard or violate the provisions of any rule duly made by the party of which he is a member, and for whom he is acting, for the government of the primary elections of the party, he shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding $200; and if any judge or inspector of any primary election, as aforesaid, shall knowingly reject the vote of any person entitled to vote under the rules of the said party, or shall knowingly receive the vote of any person, or persons, not

qualified as aforesaid, he shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding $200; and if any judge, inspector, clerk, or any other officer of a primary election, as aforesaid, shall be guilty of any wilful fraud in the discharge of his duties by destroying or defacing ballots, adding ballots to the poll by false counting, by making false returns, or by any act or thing whatsoever, the person or persons so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding $500, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, both or either, at the discretion of the court.

"3. And be it enacted, That all acts inconsistent with the provisions of this Act be and the same are hereby repealed.

66

Approved May 9, 1884."

It is a well-recognised fact that wickedness prevails everywhere, and that no nation is exempt from the Scourge of mankind. The legitimate object of laws is the public good, based in civilised countries upon what each country considers the highest type of civilisation. The preamble of the Constitution of the United States declares its purposes to be "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." The preamble of the constitution of the State of New York is, " 'We, the people grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, do establish this constitution," thereby implying that the people of the State of New York do not ignore God. The third section of this state constitution provides that "The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference,

[ocr errors]

shall for ever be allowed in this state | ligious denominations is calculated to

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

to all mankind, but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state." Thus, it would appear that "liberty of conscience is qualified in the United States; and that religion does enter more or less into the social relations of the people of the United States. But the "neutral attitude" professedly assumed by the Republic has been reaffirmed by nearly all the states of the Union. Thirty-four states have set themselves free from any obligation to give Christianity aid or protection over and above any other religion. New Hampshire remains a Protestant State; North Carolina, in 1836, substituted the word "Christian" for Protestant in her constitution, and Maryland admits to office only Christians and Hebrews (vide the Secretary's Report to the Central Committee for Protecting and Perpetuating the Separation of Church and State, New York, Dec. 2, 1886). As shown in another part of this work, there were forty-four recognised religious denominations at the taking of the 1880 census; but in addition a goodly number of curiosities in religion might be mentioned, to show the credulity, the freaks of fancy, the degraded perceptions, the utter perverseness of the human mind, in religious persuasions. Besides, there is a numerous, unblushing, and loudly-proclaiming body of atheists, who, it is said, have missions throughout the United States to convert the theists. Agnosticism has a large following. Although citizens need not be Christians or believers in God, it has been reported as a fact that would-be citizens were rejected, and could not get naturalised, because they were atheists. The total number of members of the recognised re

be 10,403,826, or, including claimed Roman Catholics, 17,236,780, out of a population of over 50,000,000, leaving a large proportion of the whole population unaccounted for as regards their religious, if any, professions. This being so, it does seem remarkable that the people of the United States should require oaths and affidavits at every step in civil and criminal proceedings of all kinds, and in the ordinary affairs of life. The attention of the reader is called to this fact. The majority of Scotchmen in Scotland have probably never been sworn, or made affidavit; while in the United States the amount of legal swearing is perfectly appalling. The number of persons authorised by law to administer oaths is enormous. They may themselves be atheists, or unworthy Christians. The reader should consider the facility with which at least the greater part of the 50,000,000 of citizens, including many of the 17,236,780, can be presumed to accommodate their consciences, or notions of right and wrong, to partial or total perversions of truth. Familiarity is said to breed contempt, and it is notorious that there is a superabundance of perjury in the United States.

According to the census of 1880, there were in the United States 43,402,970 white, 6,580,793 coloured, 105,613 Chinese, 66,407 civilised, or taxed, Indians-making a total of 50,155,783 inhabitants. Of the white population, there were 11,343,005 males of twenty-one years and over, of whom 8,270,518 were native in the United States, and 3,072,487 foreign-born. Of the coloured population, there were of the age of twenty-one years and over, 1,487,344, which included, besides negroes, Chinese, Japanese, and Indians. In California and other Pacific states and territories, the Chinese

form the greater portion of the "coloured," and are not voters. There was an aggregate population of 36,761,607, aged ten years and over, of whom 4,923,451 could not read; and there was an aggregate population (including white and coloured) of 6,239,958, aged ten years and over, who could not write. There were of this age 2,255,460 natives and 763,620 foreigners who could not write, and 3,220,878 coloured, including Chinese and Indians, who could not write. The number of prisoners in jails, workhouses, and penitentiaries, &c., was 58,509, of whom 45,802 were natives, and 12,807 foreigners. These figures indicate that the nativeborn citizens of the United States are not more literate, or less given to crime, than those in the United States who are foreign-born.

There are phases of crime peculiarly rampant in the United States, fostered by the peculiar institutions of the country. The laws may be good enough, but they are by no means always enforced, or enforced against citizens and aliens alike, or rich and poor alike. Juries find the facts, and in many states also apply the law; and being irresponsible, they may sometimes be said to sit as legislators unto themselves for the nonce, and to shame the devil. Any one, reading with a purpose, can glean ample evidence from the newspapers showing a very general state of moral turpitude; but then he must not believe all he reads, for the newspapers are of the earth earthy, and furnish little heavenly reading. Newspapers are business enterprises, run to yield a profit, or run to further other business operations or the schemes of speculators, politicians, or other designers, for worldly purposes; and few, if any, are unselfish, or entirely to promote the public good alone. There is certainly room for improvement—a screw loose somewhere when a jury of twelve

C

66

presumed honest men cannot be selected out of a less number than 600, 800, 1000 subpœnaed jurors. The weakness of American citizens where the almighty dollar is within grasp, but hedged round only by dictates of conscience, honesty, and justice, is proved by the numerous cashiers, and treasurers, and managers, presidents, trustees, directors, and others in positions of trust, who fill, or have filled, a felon's cell, or have become outcasts abroad, or have committed suicide; by the aldermen of cities, and by others, indicted, or tried and convicted, of accepting bribes; by the lobbyists and members of Congress and state legislatures openly charged and believed to be corrupt, giving and taking bribes; by the extortioners and the swindlers, by the knaves who buy sawdust for gold, or green-goods" to impose on whom they can; by the bunco steerers, and the horde of gamblers and stock operators; by the watering of railway and other corporation stocks; by bigamies, murders, thefts, robberies, and every other manner of getting money; by the gullible fools who are the victims of their lust for money. It is pretty well understood that a citizen does not stop at trifles when he has an object in view-and his conscience is apt to be elastic. It has been said that the pirate of the present day is the man who hires an astute lawyer as steersman, and, sailing through the meshes of the law by his audacity and unscrupulousness and wire-pulling, gets the advantage of those who abide by the law or by conscience, or have not the nerve or opportunity to do likewise. Newspapers are often important tools in the hands of such piratical operators. The maxim that there is strength in unity is exemplified by "rings" and "pools," &c., &c. Unum e pluribus is the American motto.

The devices by which the

piratical operators attain their particular ends are often intricate labyrinths of cunning. The simple methods of "freezing out" are of everyday occurrence; also buying a controlling interest in incorporated companies, and then absorbing, or winding up. The ways are infinite to ruin competitors, or otherwise destroy them. Directors of corporations are apt to have a controlling interest, and to ignore shareholders' interests if opposed to their own; and it does happen that such directors act as if they thought the shareholders should smilingly and knowingly permit themselves to be fleeced. "He can take care of himself," is the excuse for leaving a man to his fate. It would seem as if every advantage might be taken of all not watchful or sharp enough, or of such as are incapable of taking care of themselves; and, of course, virulent abuse is in order if the party to be imposed upon shows resentment. It is desired to build an elevated railroad from the Battery to Harlem by way of Broadway, Union, and Madison Squares, Fifth Avenue, and Central Park, &c., all within the city limits, and it is known that such a scheme could not be carried in a straightforward man

ner.

An objectionable application for a railroad is made by one set of men, and another application for an unobjectionable railroad made by another set of men, and held out or supposed to be in opposition to the former. The second is reported favourably, and at the last moment there is, by manipulation, an amendment carried giving power to make use of streets generally, or some such apparently harmless clause in connection with the road to be built. After the Act is passed the original schemers show their hand, and the railroad from the Battery to Harlem is built under the general powers conferred by the apparently harmless clause.

[ocr errors]

There is no desire on the part of political parties to render trickery impossible; and so long as the political principle is "diamond cut diamond," and political careers are machinemade and machine-guided, and therefore partisan, the legislatures will not look after the interests of the whole community. Conviction or sentiment is made subservient to party politics. A paper read to the members of the Commonwealth Club in New York city by Mr Joseph F. Bishop, and reported in the New York World' of 22d March 1887, urged reforms in the method of carrying on elections, and stated some startling facts. He said that $210,000 are paid annually by candidates for assessments, which, with the sum expended by the city, are divided among 45,000 men, or onefifth of the entire voting population of the city. Of the men employed, between 8000 and 10,000 are hired by the city, and the others are paid by the political machines. One great effect of the assessment system is to make the city government a matter of bargain or sale. The question of the fitness of men has been a secondary consideration, and sometimes has not entered into the matter at all. The showing in minor offices is very discouraging. For years past every one of the successful candidates for these offices has literally bought his place. The effect of the assessments in nine out of ten cases is that it leads poor men into all sorts of efforts to get the money out of their office to enable them to meet obligations; and if they cannot get it legitimately, the temptation to succeed by opposite means is very great. They must repay friends who helped them by enabling them to reimburse themselves out of the public crib. The Broadway bribery scandal was the natural outcome of the assessment system. So also in the legis

lature. They must support the machines by getting "jobs" through, and voting solidly against all measures for good and economical government. Here is to be seen the reason why, out of the city's twenty-four representatives in the Assembly and seven in the Senate, never more than four or five can be depended upon to oppose a job, or favour a desirable measure. In the Senate of 1885 there were five men from this city whose only business was politics; and there were fifteen such in the Assembly. In this year's Board of Aldermen there are five liquor-dealers, eighteen political workers, and one honest man.

Like

These statements of Mr Bishop apply with equal force to other cities throughout the Union, and to the workings of machine politics everywhere. There must be reform. The people's true guardians are being heard, and the reform movement may take the lead for a time. a flock of sheep, however, the people may break away again, the devil in the lead. It is unnecessary to comment upon the manner of cheating a true ballot of the people by transplanting voters, false counts, stuffing ballot-boxes, deals, and other methods. But before leaving this subject, it is proper to corroborate the above statements by others of a similar import, uttered by a gentleman of high position in the government of New York city at this day. In an address to the Democratic Club at Harlem upon 16th March 1887, Mr Ivins, City Chamberlain of New York, said: "Important offices of honour, profit, or trust are either put up at auction or raffled away. " He said men would be nominated for office-not on account of ability or probity, but because they were rich, and willing to buy the offices. "As far back as 1876, Tammany Hall raised $165,000 for the campaign. Why, in 1883

John Kelly was assessed $50,000 for the nomination for Register. Judicial nominations were bought for as high as $30,000. The nomination for District Attorney commanded $10,000 and $15,000. The mayoralty assessment has cost as high as $25,000." According to him, the election expenses in New York city in 1886, official and unofficial, reached the sum of $700,000; and he thought $1,000,000 would not cover the amount expended in the city for the expenses of the Presidential election of 1884. He said fully twenty out of every hundred voters are under pay, official or unofficial, on election days. In close and bitter elections in the city, as many as fifty-five men were paid for their services at each of the 812 polling-places; forty-five were paid by the organisations, and ten by the law governing the election machinery. Mr Ivins claimed that if a man was as great as Cæsar or Napoleon, or as good as St Paul, he could never, under the present management of New York city politics, be nominated mayor unless he had $15,000 or $20,000 to put up for the expenses of his election. He had been told that candidates for the state senate had to spend as high as $50,000 to be elected to the assembly. A Democrat, who had been twice elected to the state senate, had told him that his first fight cost $8000 and his second $12,000 (vide New York World,' 17th March 1887).

It is, in the circumstances, not surprising that the spirit of the laws is wavering or dubious; that the laws are not properly enforced; that the administration of justice is not always even-handed; that the jury system is defective and unsatisfactory; that the judges of the Courts of Record-particularly when about to stand for re-election-involuntarily, perhaps, swerve towards political supporters. Justices of the peace,

« PreviousContinue »