Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-05-05

right; Mr. Rumberger and Mr.. Craw-
ford stood on the other side, while Mr..
Salter stood little back in the centre,
with his overcoat on his arm and his
bright silk hat in his hand Nearly
everybody in the court room stood up
and there was apparently the greatest
anxiety to hear every word OF what
Judge Pearson had to say. He had
prepared his remarks, and read them
with apparent effort. He said;
JUDGE PEARsoN's REMARKS.
Charles 3. Salter, William III. Kem-
BILE, Jesse r. Crawford, William F.
Rumberger and Emil J. Petroff, you
have each been severally indicted for
''corruptlv soliciting" members of the
General Assembly in the performance
of the duties of their Office, by inducing
them, under the promise of money, to
vote in favor of particular bill then
pending before the Legislature OF
Pennsylvania. Four of you have
plead guilty and one was convicted on
| trial. 1t is greatly to be feared that
for many years it has been the prac-
tice in this State to procure the pass
age of laws by corrupt and improper
means. and to such an extent has this
evil prevailed that instead of examin-
ing into the propriety or impropriety
of measures presented to either house
for enactment, the inquiry was much
more likely to be made as to the
amount of money which those request
| ing the legislation could afford to pay
for the passage of the law. 1t was
charged throughout the whole country
that bribery in the Pennsylvania Leg
isature was of daily occurrence, and
was always "the order of the day"
So CRYING was this evil that when the
convention met to frame our present
Constitution there appeared to be a
fixed determination to break up the
practice by severe constitutional enact
ments, requiring the pass ge Of laws
imposing heavy penalties against those
who sholld directly or indirectly give
or offer any money or thing of value
to any member of the Legislature for
giving or Withholding his vote for or
against any measure, as also against
the member accepting or receiving the
same. The penal code of 1860 pun
ished the member accepting the bribe
with Imprisonment in the penitentiary
for a period not exceeding five years
and fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars, and the person giving or offer
ing the bribe could be punished by one
years imprisonment and fine of five
hundred dollars. The fine and impris-
onment against those giving or cor
ruptly soliciting members to receive
bribes for their votes has been greatly
increased, to which is superadded by
the Constitution the disqualification
for holding any Office or position of
honor, trust or profit in this Common,
wealth. Even the occupation or prac-
tice of solicitation of members OF the
Legislature is made a criminal offense,
punishable by fine and Imprisonment,
which is a pretty fair warning to those
who hover around the halls of legisla-
ton under the denomination of 'bores. .
However unimportant you may have
considered the olense, it is not so es-
teemed by this Court. We look upon
it not only as high crime against the
laws of the State, which have been
long in force and well known to all
men, but one leading to the most cor.
rupt kind of legislation, by which the
public treasury has been frequently
plundered and some individuals enrich,
ed and others greatly impoverished
and it is much to be feared that some
of you are by no means novices in the
art and practice of legislative bribery
What adds to the enormity of the of
fense of two Of you is the fact that you
were at the time members Of the Leg.
isIature, and acting in violation of your
official oaths, and ende voring to in
duce your fellow members to commit
perjury on their part. AS an individ,
ual / feel pity for your situation. AS
Judge | cannot sympathlze with
crime When you come into this
court you must understand that the
beggar in rags and the millionaire in
broadcloth stand on precisely the same
footing; the one is to be imprisoned
for stealing loaf of bread, the her is
not to escape who, by his criminal acts
NAV involve the State in the loss of
millions. 1t is not the slightest ex-
cuse as urged by some that the pend
ing bill was highly meritorious. II
80, it should pass without the aid
bribery. You are unlike some men
who are brought into the Court OF
Quarter Sessions, measureably exausa-
BILE on the ground of ignorance. You
are all men of intellig, nee and well
knew that your acts were illegal. You
wert into this criminal practice in
plain violation of law, with your eyes
open. You well knew that many
memt ers of the Legislature were ut
terly corrupt and were ready to sell
their votes In the public market to the
highest bidder You were roady to
suborn them to commit perjury by vi
olating the oaths they took on their in
stallation into office. For this oGlense
the sentence of the Court is that you
each paw a fine Of one thousand dol
lars to the Commonwealth that you
each pay the costs Of prosecution IN
the indictments against you respect
lively, and that you each be imprison-
ed in the Penitentiary for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania, at Philadel-
phia, by separate and solitary confine-
ment at labor for one year there to
be kept, fed and treated as required by
law and you are in the custody Of the
Sheriff to have this sentence carried
into effect.
TAKEN TO JAIL.
Judge Pearson had no sooner finish
ed than Mr. Kemble signilied his de-
sire to say something The Court ap-
parently did not hear and Mr.. Kemble