Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-12-15
WASHBURN TIE BRIBER.

the Seat-COrrMpst0sa M0st--Issf0ns0ets.
Washington Special to Chicago Times.
The contested election case of Ignatius
Donnelly against W. D. Washburn in the
Third Congressional district of Minnesota
has been postponed until Jan. 8, when it will
be taken up for oral argument. Mr.. Don
nelly, the contestant, was member of the
38th, 39th and 10th Congresses. Previous to
this he was lieutenant governor of Minnesota
and has served in the Minnesota senate
five years. In conversation to-day he gives
his case as he will present it to the commit
tee, as follows:
The grounds Of my case are intimidat ton of
the laboring men of Minneapolis, and extern
sive- briberies which were carried on all over
the district. took testimony during the whole
of the forty days allowed me by law, at three
places sometimes on the same day, and did not
half exhaust the facts that was possessed of.
think the testimony will satisfy anyone who
resds it that no less than
FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS WAS SPENT
by MIR. Washburn and his friends in the can
vass. I proved some 243 cases of bribery.
Some OF them were committed in the Office of
Mr.. Washburn and money paid by his business
manager, the secretary of his committee; in
some cases in his presence and in others in the
presence of his brother, Cadwallader @. WASH
Shogren, who was delegate to the Greenback
convention which nominated me, I having been
nominated on three tickets,-the Democratic,
Greenback, and workingmen's-got out of
work. He was coaxed into the office
of Mr.. Washburn and there induced to vote
for him, and promised $3l and expenses to
abandon me and work for Washburn-$5 of
the money being paid down. In another case,
a Democrat who had made up his mind to take
no part IN the campaign was induced, by paw
ment of $50, to support Mr.. Washburn. Part
of the money was paid in Washburn's presence.
These are examples of cases of bribery which
the evidence proves. There were q great null
titude Of cases of this kind. In addition to
the charges of bribery, the evidence shows that
great pressure was brought to bear upon the
laboring men of Minneapolis.
COMPELLING THEM TO VOTE FOR WAsHBURN,
There are in that town some 1000 working
men. They have association of political
character, called the 'sLaboring Mems Union, !"
containing 1900 members. This association
put me in nomination as their candidate for
Congress-. The remainder of the 1000 work.
ingmen nearly all sympathize with the associa-
ton. had every reason to be-
neVe that would carry the city Of
Minneapolis by large majority; but the
workingmen were SO bull-dozed by their en-
ployers that received only 1900 votes in that
entire locality. The workingmen were taken
to the polls by their employers, tickets placed
In their hands, and outsiders were prevented
from approaching them until they had been
seen to vote the tickets given them. 10 make
this coercion of workingmen possible, law
had been passed the previous winter, under
which all the ballots cast in the towns of st.
Paul and Minneapolis wero to be numbered
with numbers corresponding with those of
voters on the poll-lists The law was declared
unconstitutional, as interfering with the
SECRECY OF BALLOTS.
Judges of election voted that they would not
number ballots, but next day in seven pre-
cincts out OF fifteen, these being precincts in
which there was the largest labor vote, they
proceeded SO number ballots. This was done
to intimidate the workinemen. for every man
knew that his vote might be opened and its
character revealed at any time. Some
six hundred and sixty of MI. Washburn's
majority was made up in these precincts of
these registered votes. His ostensibIe majority
was 3,Ol3, but out of this must be deducted over
There must also be deducted from it TIA votes
which were upon the
SUPPLEMENTAL RETURNS
made by officers of election in certain wards of
Minneapolis eight days after election. By
election officers after they have made their
canvass and adjourned have no right to make
any such supplemental returns. They are
functus oficio.
Correspondent-by what majority do you
claim election?
MI. Donnelly-I claim that am really en-.
titled to over 1000 majority. believe have
good case, and ought to win it, but whether !
will or not feel owe it to my own constitu-
ents to expose the iniquitous manner in which
the canvass was conducted
MIR. Donnelly said that Mr.. Washburn had
not taken any counter testimony or denied
the charge, and that on the record every
charge stands confessed.