Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-11-06
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man, but you all remember what followed,
Bills precipitate flight to Canada and
your representative in Congress was roam
ny among the deserted fields of the Cana
das, hiding from the pursuit of the officers
of your government.
WE HAD AFTER THAT
the campaign in which Mr.. WashbGxn was
a candidate against myself. And now 1
will ask DIR. Ames to be kind enough to
read two or three passages from the re-
port OF the committee of election of the
congress of the United States, and would
call your attention to the fact that these
deductions aIe all based upon known tes-
timony and this report was signed by the
majority of the committee. For, although,
as I honestly believe, he went
and bought that committee.
Colonel Crooks-That is true.
Although I honestly believe he bought
in the chairman of the committee, never
theless, those men, those vesy men, were
compelled by the overwhelming nature of
the testimony to assent to the proposition
of this report and to agree that Mr.. Wash
burn should be expelled from congress.
Now, it is very short and I will ask my
friend to read one or two passages.
Mr.. Ames arose and being greeted with
loud cheers read from the report above
mentioned as follows:
1.-THE first question which they considered was
the question of bribery, They lind that bribery
was committed on behalf of the sitting member,
Mr.. Washburn, by his friends, by members OF
his district committee, and by personal, polite
nd l,,,cIv hot hr.f,
not confined to any portion of tie district, or TO
any enc town or county, but that it extended
throughout region of country nearly four hun
dred miles long and one hundred miles wide;
and they further find that in many cases the
bribery has been traced home directly to Dir.
Washburn HIMSELF
Mr.. Donnelly--Here are all the different
| cases, in all some three or four hundred
cases. where
THE COMMITTEE FOUND BRIBERY
had been committed and was proved.
DR.. Ames then read from the report the
following passage-
"'Under these circumstances, when it is shown
that in an election 800 cases OF bribery and
attempted bribery are proven, the presumption
is not violent that for every case that was by
accident the indiscretion of the parties
brought to the light, there were three others that
were never revealed. The records of the con-
tested election cases in congress will be searched
in vainfOr parallel to this case. 1t shows
that the people of this congressional district
were debauched to the last degree. The witness
es in many Cases defend the practice of buying
up voters to fOregO their principles. The Ear
ties who received the brides in many instan-
ces boosted to their neighbors of the money they
had received, and seemed to be proud of the
high price at which they had sold themselves,
I Al Il
necessary to call witnesses to deny or explain
away this overwhelming mass of corruption.
Nothing could testify more strongly to the de-
generacy of the age and the depths to which
popular suffrage has fallen than the revelations
made in this extraordinary case.''
In Minneapolis the whole atmosphere WIS
clOuded with bribery. The evidence shows that
had been expended for corrupt purposes. A
startling revolution in the political feelings of
the voters was accomplished on the eve of the
election and all the testimony in the case midi
Gates that this was brought about by bribery and
intimidation. There was no attempt on the part
of the sitting member to account for this extra
ordinary revolution or to answer the testimony
showing bribery.
The speaker proceeded: shall not take
up your time with reading farther from
this report. but there it stands.
YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS.
branded by the majority of the committe e
of elections with this statement and with
the resolution that he be expelled from the
house. Now, my friends, he comes back
to you for reelection and he comes back
to you with such a record as have pointed
out.
Let me call your attention to the RESULTS
that must follow from this. Our politics
have become, to large extent, more or
less means for the distribution of money.
I might almost say for the distribu-
ton of overcoats. Where ever
90 in the state there
exists, more or less, this condition of
things. In the Fifth district it has become
absolutely shameless and the result will
be, my friends, in time. that our institu-
tions must disappear in this overwhelming
sea of corruption. It is covering the
whole land. It is taking out the moral
character of the people, and it will termi-
nate, as it terminated in the old Roman
times when the armies who had control of
the country put up the Office of emperor
to the highest bidder. It will be but lit
tie while, my friends, when this awful brib-
cry, scarcely covered with the mantel of
shame-it will be little time before the
candidate will advertise in the newspapers
SO many thousand men wanted to work
at the election, so many Thousand men
wanted with their teams to bring out the
voters and all the other fnesse guises in
which this rascality covers itself.
I say to you, my friends, that the Amer
lean republic was never in such terrible
danger of destruction when Lees legions
were within sight of the grand old capitol
and the thunder of their mighty guns
could be heard within the senate chamber
as those institutions are to-day. Why !?
Because the people, more or less, can
understand and can appreciate an armed
rebellion, they know what the cannon and
the bayonet means. But here is some
thing that spreads over US like great
honey comb, rotting, mining and destroy
ing the moral structure of the people,
and, which, if the republic is
to endure, it must under
mine from its foun lations, applause
because, it follows as naturally as the
night follows day, that man that cor
rupts the people will steal back to get the
money he expended, [applanse] and then
consider these increasing appropriations
which my friend, Gen. Bragg, referred to,
which rose from S144, coo. 600 in 1878 to
$685., OOO, 900 in the last congress.