Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-03-26
THE WAsHBURN RAsCALITY.
Republicans DenoMnce DOnnelty, but M
Word of Censure for WashbMrn.
st. Louis Republican,

lOVs AOulo lsCpuOA1Cohsl
The majority report of the House election
committee on the Donnelly- Washburn case fur
nishes a large assortment of interesting and in
structiye facts, especially worthy the cons:d-
Grafton of the party to which the defendant be.
longs. We therefore present brief summary.
The evidence produced proves 29l cases of
bribery on the part of Washburn, the money
being paid by his clerks, business manager, the
secretary of his political committee or his po-
litical agents. More than one hundred briberies
are traced directly to Washburn's Office, and in
some instances payment was made in his pres
ence. A Democratic postmaster's vote
was bought for $50; ninety
wood choppers sold their votes
for 81 each, and voted, though they had no le-
gal right to do so; Donnellv speaker sold out
the night before election for $150; Donnelly
newspaper was secured by his opponent for
$3.50; Minneapolis man received $50 for
his vote and influence; another was promised
$32 and got s.; another got $25; another an
overcoat; another sack of -four, and saloon
keepers were paid $35 for voting their boa:d-
ers. In the village of Crookston, where there
are only SIS legal voters, there were 25S votes
cast for Washburn, mostly by nonresident
railway hands paid for so doing. In the north
western part Of the district, where railway
was in process of construction, and there
were neither county organizations, precincts
nor settled population, large number Of la
borers living in boarding cars and having no
local habitation used cigar boxes for ballot
boxes, and all their votes-for which they
were duly paid-were counted for Washburn.
In Minneapolis, where Washburn resided, and
from whence he directed the campaign, the he
publicans polled full vote, while it is esti-
mated that nearly or quite three thousand DEM
ocrats did not vote at all. They were mainly
workingmen, and did not dare to vote the
Democratic ticket for fear of losing their
situations. The employers-all Republi-
cans-threatened to discharge Democratic
voters, and in those precincts of the city
where the workingmen mostly resided, the bal
lots were numbered-contrary to law-sO as to
enable the employers to detect and punish the
employees who disobeyed their commands.
Under this arrangement, the Republican major
ity in Minneapolis, which at the Presidential
election of 1876 was only 1855, rese, when Wash
burn ran in 1878, to 1850. In the seven pre-
burd had ], 760 majority, when two years before
the Democrats had 525 majority -showing a
Republican gain in that short time of 2,2S5
votes out of total of about 5000. In two of
the precincts no returns were
made of the Congressional vote
until eight days after election, and in one of
them Washburn claimed 4S3 majority-though
the tally-sheets kept by one of the clerks
showed q majority of only 26.
The committee throw out the votes of the
seven precincts in Minneapolis where the bal
lots were numbered in violation of law, not on
that account alone, but because the numbering
was part of the general scheme of conspiracy,
fraud and intimidation devised by Washburn
and his friends. The evidence shows cOnclu-
sively that had the election been fair one,
Donnelly would unquestionably have carried
Mime lpolis as he did the rest OF the district.
Tae report gave him majority of 23O votes,
and closes as follows:
1--WE have not rejected the vote OF any county be-
cause it was unorganized, neither have rejected
the vote of any precinct because of the numbering
of the ballots per Sc, but because such numbering
of the incidents of system of fraud and
intimidation; neither have rejected the votes of
any counties for mere nformates the face of the
returns but only for those gross Irregularities which
manifestly incompatible with legal canvass of
the votes"
No vote has yet been taken in the House on
the cOmmittee'S recommendation, but the
probabilities are that Donnelly will get the
seat which belongs to him. Anticipating such
result, some Republican organs arc already
calling attention to it az part Of the Demo-
cratic plot to steal the Presidency" We have
not observed, however, that any of them con-
denim the Washburn plan of electioneering. or
that they manifest any indignation at the bull
doing of white workingmen in Minneapolis,
and the consequent loss of nearly three thousand
votes. Had the city been New Orleans and the
sufferers negroes, what a roar of righteous
wrath would go up from "stalwart" throats!