The Portland daily press., 1879-10-09
THE MAINE ELECTION.
Springer's Description of 1t.
He Says It Was Carried by the Use of
Pimps, Prostitutes and Repeaters.

The following is the concluding portion of a
long letter written to the Chicago Sentinel by
r. M. Springer, who is the reputed editor OF the
New Era published in this city. The letter is
dated Portland, Sept. 27,'' and is published in
the Sentinel of the 2nd inst. We trust all our
readers will give it careful attention:
When the active work of the campaign closed
at u o'clock Saturday night, the Republicans
were beaten everywhere and by overwhelm-
ing numbers. But the Sabbath interviewed
and while the overworked but joyous Green
hackers hailed the day of rest before the deci-
sive hours of their certain victory, the God
and-morality' men eagerly prostltuted the
holy day to the consummation OF the foulest,
blacklist scheme of crime against the freedom
of the ballot and the rights and wishes OF the
people ever known in this country. They
have failed to convince the reason, or to
successfully appeal to the judgment Of the i'll
telligent free men OF the old Fine Tree state,
so they passed the word, even on the Sabbath,
that men who can be bought must be bought;
that men who can't be must be bull-doZed; that
men who can be used while drunk with rum
must be made drunk; that the jails must be
emptied of their convicts; absentees must be
personated; that repeating must be carried ON
in the cities; that the Count must be falsifed,
and, in short, that the settled determination OF
the people must be thwarted and their verdict
reversed. And all this was done, strange as 1t
erybody suspected that the money was to be
used for the corruption and bribery of the vo-
ters, and the Greenbackers were on the watch
all over the state, determined to arrest and
punish every such attempt. TINS watchiul-
ness caused the Republican machine men TO
hold back their money till the last hour, and
this threw the Greenbackers entirely off their
guard. 1t is discovered now that the bulk OF
the purchases were made on Sunday, Sunday
night, and during the progress OF the election
NJ T., fl,o m who
was supposed to be susceptible to the influence
of money, was marked and man provided
with money to offer him at the designated time.
Now this wicked and cunning scheme, hazard
Gus and uncertain as it was, was carried out
successfully in every detail Every half hour
during the forenoon Blaine and his mana
gers at Augusta were informed by telegraph
from all the cities and principal towns OF
the unexpected success of the programme OF
fraud, and this enabled them to telegraph back
encouraging news, which had the effect to en-
thuse the whole mass at the polls. They got
many doubtful votes by this trick alone. The
Greenbackers, early in the day, saw that hun
dreds whom they had expected to vote their
ticket had been tampered with ana
Democratic ticket or sullenly refusing to come
to the polls when sent for, had depressing
influence on even the bravest OF them. Here
in Portland the Greenbackers had NO trains
running to bring in voters and the Democratic
cans to keep out of the way when most needed.
L have given my personal attention to the
investigation of the methods and tactics OF Re-
publican managers since election, and L sum
the matter up thus:
They cot out every man who would volunta-
rily vote the Republican ticket, and, without
regard to cost, bringing men even from foreign
counties at great expense. They voted Doys
under age and dragged old men from the very
ante-chamber of the tomb, their death beds. L
r;aI tot tha 6pn1lc xyin nearly
100 years old, and who had little more con-
seriousness than an Egyptian mummy. bal
lot was put in their hand in many cases, and
the hand guided to the ballot box by others.
At some places, men who could not pc re-
moved from conveyances had the ballot-box
carried to them in the street in plain violation
of law. One old man was worried so by the
effort to get his vote in that he died in few
hours after he voted.
1 have yet to hear of the loss of Republican
vote by absence from the polls in the State
while there is not precinct in the State in
which over fifty GreenbacBerS or Democrats did
not absent themselves. And as the aggregate
vote was the largest ever cast in the State, 1t
is very manifest that the Republicans repeated
and voted fraudulently, for the population OF
the State is decreasing every year.
They bought and by other effective means
induced hundreds of Greenbackers and Demo-
Gratis to remain from the polls and in nearly
every instance had other men to perSonate
them and vote on their names, thus making
double count on each name. They brought
negroes from Boston and New York into this
city and voted them in considerable numbers.
They paid thousands of Democrats to vote
either the Republican or straight Democratic
ticket to keep down the Greenback VOTE They
induced hundreds of workingmen to vote the
Republican ticket or refrain from voting at all
by threatening to deprive them of employment
if they voted the Republican ticket.
They got almost the entire liquor vote by
threatening to prosecute or by discontinuing
prosecutions
They made scores of men drunk and marched
them to the polls in a beastly state of intoxica-
ton to vote their ticket.
their convictions on pain of losing their much
needed stipends, and did cut off many who re-
fused to sell their birth rights.
They sent agents into the slums and brothels
of the cities to buy the pimps and debased
creatures to be found there.
They used split tickets of cunning device
and thus deceived honest men into the support
of their principles and candidates who had had
no thought of thus voting. Their device in this
respect, put to shame the worst cases of tissue
ballots so Justly condemned and denounced by
these sound men.
Now this is all there is about the Maine cleo
ton to date. Not less than $4,000 votes We're
diverted from the Greenback ticket by the
means so family described above. What is to
be done about it? This: The Greenbackers
of Maine intend to show up these frauds and
outrages as thoroughly as they cam and on such
evidence as they can collect will ask the Gov
ernor and Council to withhold certificates OF
election in a number of Representative and
Senatorial Districts till this whole plot is inves-
tigated and exposed to the world. If they find
evidence enough to throw ont these spurious
claimants, it will be done at every hazard, let
the consequences be what they may. These
scoundrels will find that they have not got
Democrats to deal with this time.
The people here feel that the real test of our
Republican institutions is to be made right
here. 1t is useless to spend time and money
educating the people if their will is to be per-
verted by such high-hanGed outrages as these.
Mr.. Blaine may laugh in his sleeves over his
cunning and in his fanciful security against
the enraged people, denounce them as "armed
| communists as he did in a public speech at
| Augusta after election, but he will net escape
| the Just vengeance of an oppressed and out
| ragged people. Il. M. SPRINGER.