Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1880-03-13
Bribery made Odious.

July AAAo bOOh Aouhu ot AkoA - w
might rather say that an honest an
upright Judge has presided over tn
courts of Dauphin County for fft.
years past. Judge Pearson going upol
the bench in the thirty fourth year o
his age and continuing on it until tn,
present in the eighty-fourth year o
his age he is as vigorous and intellectu
al as any Of his younger associates OF
the bench, and infinitely more honest
conscientious and upright than TIT
most Of them. In the trial which hal
ended in the conviction Of Petroff, tn,
dishonest member of the Legislature
from the Fifth Legislative district O.
Philadelphia, Judge Pearson was moi
backward in intimating that when
Petroff testified on his own behalf he
Lied, and it did not take the jury long to
come to the same conclusion. This is
the first case of Legislative bribery that
has ever been tried in the State and we
are glad to see that it has promptly
been disposed Of in manner, that it
will be long time before another case
Of the same kind will have to be
tried.
This man Petroff was elected to the
Legislature of 1877 and was expelled
by that Legislature for corrupt pfac-
tices, but the people of the Fifth dis
trict of Philadelphia thinking that he
was unjustly dealt with, reelected him
to the session of 1879, in order to vim
dictate him. This was nothing strange,
for there never has been a rogue con-
Victsd for whom sympathy was not
aroused but no better proof was wanted
to show that Petrof was naturally dis
honest all over and through and
through, than the fact that he had
scarcely taken the seat from which he
had been expelled than he commenced
his old corrupt practices, but on an
enlarged scale. 1t will be remembered |
that Petr0ff was the man who assaulted |
Mr.. Howard NJ. Jenkins, formerly of
this city but now the editorial writer
of the West Chester "Daily Record"
for vigorously exposing his tricks. 1t
is greatly to the credit of the honest
yeomanry of Dauphin County, cour-
ty about the size and with the popula-
tiou of Delaware County adjoining us
and which rolls up about two thousand
Republican majority, that Petrof was
convicted of bribery and may now have
a chance for some time of viewing the
beautiful scenery on the banks of the
Susquehanna from behind the bars of
a prison cell.
We are no ways elatei that Petroff
was a Republican, but it affords us
pleasure to say that he vas convicted
III Republican county, by Republi- i
can Judge, Republican District At
torney and Republican Jury. We only
wish that Republican Legislative had a
a second time expelled him. As Pc t
troff has been twice elected from the 7
Fifth Legislature district, we should a
think 1t was high time the Repu blcans O
of that district should look out for c
somebody else to represent them in the v
Legislature. The Fifth Ward which t
is in that district has recently won for f
itself worse name if possible than the I
Fourth ever had. PetrOf in the Legis- il
lature and Mouat in rhs Common Coun- L
Gil is enough to sink any ward into in I
fanny If such men are to be kept in Of a
flee. If PetrOff and Mouat are the true b
representatives of the Republicans of v
that Ward, we pity both the Ward and 6
the Republican party, and if such men '
are continued through the influence Of ii
ring managers to be thrust before the r,
people for their suffrages We would say Il
that it is high time that the decent l.
citizens of that district should combine b
and vote for honest decent men regard,
less of their political affiuities. It ia
nigh tim9 such " ROSTERS" as Petrof Ie
and Mouat were transferred to theDemo- n
cratic party, or at least sent to tine ex- s.
treme rear end of the Republican ranks. al
-+-o- II
If THE REPUBLICAN does not come to C,
our readers as we'll printed as usual We 70
hope they will excuse US for few days er
for we are just changing over to our p
fast double cylinder press, which works m
yet with considerable friction and does IL
not do its work to our satisfaction. We hi
expect, however, in few days to have Of
Kings properly adjusted every gudgeon 50