A Trick That Failed

As the end of the campaigu approacbes honest men sbould keep watobful eyes to protect the purity of the ballot box. That this is iieoessary right here iu Washtenaw cóunty, is shown by an attempted fraud discoverded by the merest aocident last Weduesday afternGOU. It bas made the blood of many voters boil. The faots need only dispassiouate statement. The regular democratie county committee asked lor tbe second place ou the official ballot. This the county election commission, composed of the county clerk, county treasurer and judge of probate, two repulbioaus and one democrat, by a majority vote refused to grant and gave the second place to the assistaut republicans, labeling tbeir column "democratie ticket." The democrats then asked for the sixth or last column on the ticket. This was agreed to by the commission, m and Chairman Cavanangh aud secretary Waid were assured that they sbould have the last column on the ticket. The ballot was set up in type at the Courier office, aud a proof of it was flled with the county clerk in aocordance with the law, for inspection by the candidates and the political committees. This proof, which was the only one ever filed, showed the regular Bryau democratie ticket in tbe last column. In view of the fact that there was a ticket on the ballot named "democratie ticket," which was not the regular democratie ticket, it became absolutely ueoessary that tbe Bryan voters of the county should be fally informad as to where they wonld fiud their ticket on the big ballot, which is larger than a page of this paper. The democratie speakeis drew diagrama ou the blaokboards at their Rchool house meetings showing the silver ticket iu the last column, the papers instructfd the Bryan voters to mark their tickets in the circle under the silver dollar on tbe last column. This was in pursuance of the understandiug with the electiou commission, which the proof filed indicated they were carrying out. At about 5 o'clock Wednesday afternoon the printed ballots were delivered at the county clerk's office. John L. Duffy happened to be presnnt at the time they carne iu and took a look at them aud discovered that the regular democratie ticket was no langer in the last column, as bad been agreed upou and as the proof showed, but had beeu transferred to the fifth column, aud tbe last column given to the National Prchibitiou party so that the democratie voters who strictly followed the instruotions given them by the several speakers would loso their votes. A big racket was raised around the ears of the olection commissioners, at flrst without avail. But when it was found that fair minded republicaas were anuounoing tbeir determinaron to rebuke the trickery at the polls, anñ fearing a boomerang, they called another meeting of the oommission Wednesday morning and ordered the entire ballot reprinted, at the expense of the couuty. On the reprinted ballots the tickets are plaoed in the order they were iu on the proof and the Bryan voters will find the silver dollar vignette at the head of the last column. That the trick bas been baulked is due only to the fortúnate accidental discovery tbat it was being tried. Had Mr. Duffy not been present when the ballots were carried over by employees of the Courier office, the probabilities are that the democrats would not have discovered it nntil election morning, when it would have been too late to counteract the instrnctions they had given their voters. There must have been an object in changing the place of tbe regular democratie ticket on the ballot. That object must have been to cause some voters to rnake mistakes in voting and so lose the democratie natioual and county tickets some votes. The immediate beneficiaries would have been the republican county offioers who were candidates for re-eleotion. Tbey were responsible for the contemptible triok and should be held to a strict aocountability for it next Tuesday.