The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-20
TRUTH ABouT VIEW BAMPsnIRE.
etearns OF the Northern Railroad Expectine
TO be United States senator.

etearns OF the Northern Railroad Expectine
TO be United States senator.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir:
hive read your leader, "Is Reform Possible 2"
It contains a great deal OF solid and wholesome
truth: but nevertheless, so far as New Hamp-
shire is concerned, 1t is to great extent based
on a Misrepresentation. 1t Ignores two vital fac
tors in the late election, via. the power OF
Ste rms, the railway king, and the power Of
money.
No state can compare with this in the thor
oughness Of its political organizations and their
Discipline. Every ward IN each city Is treated as
a town every town is thoroughly organized.
The leading men OF each party In each town
have private poll book or tally list, which con-
tains the name OF every voter in town, whether
he is Democrat, Republican, or to be reckoned
as doubtful. There Is rarely any appreciable
difference in the names and numbers on the
poll books OF the two parties. This is carried go
far that | have known a town with from 300 TO
1000 names on its poll list, In which the name,
face, and political proclivitics OF each voter
were we'll known to the Leading men OF each
party, who could tell precisely how each man
was likely to vote.
As a rule, these poll books show thar from one
fourth to one-seventh Of the voters are marked
doubtful" This means that they will be con-
trolled by the amount of money, FREQ passes,
Jobs from railroad aud other corporations,
which they may receive. These things are equal
ly well known to the managers Of botn parties.
You are mistaken " you think that the mass
OF the Republicans In this State do not believe
as thoroughly In the rottenhess of the national
Administration as Yourself They understand
It all. but It makes no difference with their voter.
The exposure OF Belknap and the general cor
ruption In Official circles at Washington, helped
rather than hurt the Republican party. II only
spuued the leaders TO greater exertion, and
caused them to put out more railroad favors
and more money. Had the whole Cabinet and
the President been impeached, It would only
have Increased the majority, so long as there
was no want OF funds.
The simple truth Is. that from tro TO fue thou
sand men rOtc IN this state crerv year 1ho hare
no more legal right TO uotc here than you hare.
About sixty thousand OF the voters are what
Horace Greeley called the strained reeula !"
They are perfectly sure, and the rest, less tho
Illegal vote, are In the market. Their price
ranges from a free pass for a few days to t100 IN
cash. rural town. which l will not name,
and which is presumed to be respectable II any
can be, within twenty miles OF ths city, Is a
marked, perhaps an extreme illustration. Il
has less than three hundred voters, Fifteen
years ago, a dozen votes could not have been
purchased there for money, At the last cleo
tion 1t had about seventy reliable Democratic,
and about seventy five reliable Republican vot-
ers, and about ninety were In the market. Tho
latter have found out their power; they cohere
together; they refuse TO sell single votes and
whoever buys must buy the block, unless the
vote sellers quarrel or the purchasers divide.
To some extent the same ia true in many other
towns which are close. THIS vote trading Is
done openly by the side OF the ballot boxes aud
In open town meeting. One Of the senators
elected this year, had at the election last to
buy up the town In which he lived. He stood
in front Of the door of the polling place with an
open pocket book, aud dealt out the bills to the
voters he bought they passed him, a gam
bier deals his cards. The Republican Legislature
OF last year. OF which be was me Der, defeated
a stringent bill to stop this bribery because they
knew they had the advantage in money. The
fact Is shameful and Illuminating beyond the
power OF words but what help have we2 rs
reform possible Z"
Mr.. Stearns Is the President Of the Northern
Railroad, and controls that corporation and its
branches. He expects to be United States
Senator, and probably will be. Every intelli-
gent man OF both parties knows that the latc
election represents nothing but the corpor5te
power welded by this railway king, and the pur-
chasing power of money. An OLD SUBSCRIBER.
CONCORD, March Is.