Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-04-01

The majority report Of the House
Election Committee on the Donelly-
Washburn case furnishes q large as
sortment of interesting and instructive
facts, especially worthy the considers
ton of the party to which the defend
ant belongs. We therefore present
brief summary.
The evidence produced proves 29l
cases of bribery on the part Of WASH
burn, the monev being paid by his
clerks, business manager, the secretary
Of his political committee or his politi-
cal agents. More than one hundred
briberies are traced directly to WASH
burns Office, and i'm some instances
A Democratic postmaster's vote was
bought for $50; ninety wood-choppers
sold their votes for 50 each, and voted,
though they had no legal right to do
so; Donnelly speaker sold out the
night before the election for $3.50; Dom
nelly newspaper was secured by his
opponent for $3.50; a Minneapolis man
received $50 for his vote and influence;
another was promised $32 aud got So,
another got S25; another all overcoat;
keepers were paid S35 for voting their
boarders. In the village Of Crookston.
where there are only IS legal voters,
there were 258 votes cast for WASH
burn, mostly by nonresident railway
hands paid tor SO doing. In tho north
western part of the district, where
railway was i'm process of construction,
and there were neither county orgnni-
cations, precincts nor settled popula-
ton, large number of laborers living
i'm 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 Repub-
licans polled full vote, while 1t Is es-
timated that nearly or quite three
thousand Democrats did not vote Mt
all. They were mainly workingmen,
and did not dare to vote the Democrat
ic ticket for fear of losing their situa-
tions. The eemployers-all Republicans
l-threatened to discharge Democratic.
voters. and i'm those precincts OF the
city where workingmen mostly resid-
ed, the ballots were numbered-con-
trary TO law--so as to enable the em-
| .l.t al, hn nm
lployes who dsobeyed their commands.
Under this arrangement the Republic
can majority In Minneapolis, which at
the Presidential election of 1876 was on
ly 355, rose, when Washburn ran I'm
1873, to 3, go. In the seven precincts
where tie ballots were numbered,
Washburn had 1850 majority, when
two years before the Democrats had
525 MISUNDERSTANDING o Republican
gain i'm that short time Of 2,2S5 votes
out of a total ofabout 5000. In two Of
the precincts no returns were made or
the Congressional vote until eight days
after the election, and I'm one of them
washburn claimed 4Ss majority
though the tally-sheets kept by one Of
the clerks showed majority Of only
&c. sN .
The committee throw out the votes
OF the seven precincts In Minneapolis
where the ballots were numbered In
violation of law, not on that account,
alone, but because the numbering was
part of the general scheme of conspira-
CIV, fraud and intimidation devised by
washburn and lis friends. The evI-
dence shows conclusively that had the
election been a fair one, Donnelly
would unquestionably have carried
Minneapolis as he did the rest Of the
district. The report gives him ma
jority of go votes, and closes as fol-
lows.
"we have not rejected the vote Of any coun-
ty because It was unorg auized, neither have
we re jec ed the vote OF any precinct because
of the numbering Of the ballots PSF e.but be
cause such numbering was one OF the Incl
dents Of system OF fraud and intimidation;
neither have we rejected the votes Of any
counties for mere informaIities on the face Of
the returns, but only for those gross irregr-
larities which were msnifestly Incompatible
with legal canvass OF the voieA"
No vote has yet been taken In the
House on the committees recommends
tion, but the probabilities are that Dom
ELY will get the seat which belongs to
him. Anticipating such result, some
Republican organs are already calling.
attention to 1t as part of the Demo-
cratic plot to steal the Presidency"
We have not observed, however, thst
any of them condemn the wasbbur
plan Of electioneering, or that they
manifest any Indignation At the bull
DOING Of white workingmen In Mime
apolis, and the consequent loss Of near
ly three thousand votes. Had the city
been New Orleana and tie sufTerers ne