Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-02-11
BLAINE AND BRIBERY.
Il Crime That Will Never be Fairly Inresti-
gated by the Present Maine Legislature.

Il Crime That Viii Never be Fairly Inresti-
gated by the Present Maine Legislature.
Boston Globe.
Somebody in Maine is out just $2,OO5
purchase money paid for two fusionist MEM
bers of the legislature. who took the money,
put it in bank, and openly declared on the
floor of the House, in open session, the cir
cumstances of the attempted bribery. We'll
lace r. White, the man who paid the money,
is sick with the measles. Blaine is at Wash
ington, running Presidential boom with
very poor success.
This is the situation in which Representa-
tive Thomas 3. Swan rises to address the
citizens of Mechanic Falls on the subject,
and to call attention to certain facts bearing
on the case. The Immediate cause of his
address was an absurdly malicious assault
upon him by Republicans of his town, i'll
the shape of an open letter published in Mr..
Blaine's Portland organ, asserting that Mr..
Swan had by his action at Augusta forever
disgraced tho town which no represented.
They have nothing to say about the disgrace
of the attempted bribery, but they denounce
the man who exposed it. Mr.. Swan takes
the occasion to show in what manner the
disgrace was incurred.
The story of the attempted bribery. as
now related by Mr.. Swan, is the same that
was made public at the time that White, as
the purchasing agent of the Blaine gang,
was engaged in trying to buy up enough of
the Fusionists to prevent the assembling of
q quorum at the time of meeting. The
story is familiar, and need not be repeated
in detail. 1t is, simply, that Mr.. Swan, con-
siderng it to be his duty to expose the
bribery which was going on at Augusta,
accepted the money which White offered
him, took it at once to the Fusionist leaders,
made the necessary afidavits, secured the
necessary witnesses, and the next day showed
up the whole plot in the legislature.
All that Mr.. Swan now has to add to this
story of corruption in the way of narrative,
is the following: 81 did not see Mr.. White
again that day till after dusk; passing down
to my boarding place near the Augusta
house, he was standing on the corner near
the highway. He called out to me and told
me he wanted to speak to me. He asked me
what I did with the money. told him I
had deposited it in tho Granite National
bank. He said Are you sure it was the
Granite National bank?' 1 said, 'Yes.' He
said, You must be as careless as HI to do
it, That was the last time had any con-
versation with Wallace r. White"
1t remains to be seen where this large
sum of money, which White was using to
buy off Fusion members of the legislature,
came from. It is very evident, as Mr..
Swan says that Wallace r. White did not
take it out of his own pocket, for he has not
the means that would permit such On ex-
penditure. Some ona else must have sup
piled it; and no one would have done SO
without very strong interest in defeating
the organization of the legislature by the
Fusionists. No one had a grester interest
in this than Mr.. Blaine. He it was who
must suffer if the legislature Investigated the
bribery and corruption practiced at the cleo
ton of last fall, and he it was who could
find any safety only in establishing legisla-
ture in which his own tools held control.
And in this connection it becomes of the
first importance to know where White went
when he left Mr.. Swan to get the $1,000
bribe. Alfred Kimball, attorney of the
county of Oxford, testified he was coming by
Mr.. Blaine's house between 1890 and II of
that day; saw Wallace r. White come ont of
MIR. Blaine's house, Jump into his sleigh
with another person, and drive down to the
court house. If this testimony Of Mr.. Kim
ball is true, during the time Mr.. White was
after that money he went to the residence of
James G.. Blaine. Whether he obtained the
money there, or went to other persons during
the time he WAS away, of course no
one can tell: but Mr.. Swan says that the team
Mr.. Kimball saw Wallace Il. White get into
from Blaine's residenceewas the same team
he saw Mr.. White get out of when he
came to the corner room in the court house,
where he had left Swan waiting for the
money.
Now, this Is getting very close home to
MIR. Blaine. There is, of course, no moral
doubt that the bribery Of the legislature, as
the bribery of the voters at the polls, was
done under Mr.. Blaine's direction and with
the funds which he held for party use;
but actual proof, on which o charge can be
made and sustained is quite another thing.
The bogus legislature which Blaine
has set up at the court
house will never investigate this
crime. 1t was made up and set up for the
special purpose of preventing investigation.
The only recourse is the trial by public
opinion, and this is now in progress. No
simple denial will serve as an answer. The
bride money is still in the bank. The
briber is sick, but will get we'll and answer
if he will. The briber was seen coming
from Blaine's house during the short inter
val in which he was absent with the an
nounced intention of getting 1000 to pay
Mr.. Swan. Taking this all together it
makes up case that the Republicans can