They Must Be Convicted

The latest developments in the amendments scandal at Lansing indícate that the conspirators who succeeded so easily in defeating the will of the people and placing a foul blot upon the fundamental law of the state, are prepared to resort to the most daring and desperate measures to escape the consequences ot their criminal acts. In the light of the villany committed in the Downey House, at Lansing, last Thursday night, those who have been charitably inclined and willing to believe that nothing more serious than a stupendous blunder had been committed, must now join the ranks of those who have trom the first held that we have here in our midst one of the blackest pölitical conspiracies that has disgraced American politics. No one can íor a moment believe that men guilty of nothing more than au unwitting error in footing election returns, would think of resorting to such a desperate act as burglary to hide their blunder. The irresistable conclusión is that the persons responsible for the false returns entered into a bold conspiracy to overttirow the expressed will of the people; and that they wiil not now hesitate to commit even more dastardly crimes in order to destroy the evidence of their guilt. The possibility that these conspirators may be in the very household of the guardians of the state's most sacred interests, and that they have violated their official oaths and betrayed the public confidence, has roused the people to such a pitch as to make their detection all the more certain. Public sentiment demands of the legal and judicial enginery of the state that no possible effort be spared to run these men to earth. There is no mistaking the temper of the people in the matter and they will tolérate nothing short of the speedy discovery and conviction of the men who brought this disgrace upon the state. It matters not to what party these men belong or how high they may be in the party councils, they must be brought to justice, and when convicted given the extreme penalty of the law. They must be taught that it is no light offense to override the will of the people in Michigan.