Morning journal and courier., 1883-07-18
THE KUYING OF VOTES.

Dorsey claims to have carried Indiana in the last presidential election with $40O,0O and seeks to corroborate his statement by the fact that General Arthur at the dinner given in Dorseys honor shortly after the election congratulated him on his skillful use of ''soap." Dorsey is not full witness and his story will be pretty generally discredited. Yet this part of it will be more readily be- lieved than any other part of it. To say that the Republican managers sold judge ship of the Supreme court to raise election funds is a charge as novel as it is serious. But to say that the Republican managers have used money to buy votes is not to make any new charge at all. Bribery at elections is such 8 common thing with the politicians of both parties that there is nothing inherently improbable in Dorsey's claim that Indiana WAS bought unless it be the amount he says was raised for the purpose and the exceed ingly low price of two dollars which he inti
 mates was paid for the votes.
 We can well remember time when the mass of the Republican voters did not be- lieve that their managers used money to buy votes and they refused to believe it until they were forced to. There are not few who do not believe it now, and we heartily wish they had no occasion to think otherwise. The Republican manag- CTS never had any authority from the party for any such use of money. No convention ever authorized it, and if the suffrage of the Republican masses could be taken upon this matter to day the practice would be over- whelmingly condemned. They do not want to belong to party that purchases it's vic- tories, and would not if there were any party which did not do it. The masses of this country are not so corrupt that they believe the crime of bribery can ever be justifabls. It is only professional office seekers, of which both parties are much too full, who have any inclination to commit this offence. The average voter has no such temptation, and we believe that the great mass of Republ1- cans, and Democrats too, had rather see their party honestly defeated than dishonest ly triumphant. The common argument with the managers of each party is that the other buys votes and this makes necessity that they should do it. If one party makes cor rupt use of money this would seem to us to be the very reason why tho other should not. It would seem as if one party ought to profit by the corrupt practices of the other, by exposing these practices and try ing to prevent rather than en- deayor to outde the other party in corrup- tion Honesty ought in politics, as in every thing else, to be the best policy in the long run To be beaten while in the use of hon. est methods by the use of dishonest methods is really victory, and would soon bear the fruits of victory. In the early days of the Republican party thousands locked to it's standard for no other reason than because it was believed to be pure in its political meth ods and because the Democratic party was believed not to be- We have not the slight est doubt that now the corrupt use of money keeps thousands of voters at home and that these votes are far from being compensated for by those which the money buys. If either of the two great parties of the country would absolutely abstain from corrupt prac- tices it would soon rally all honest citizens to it's support and easily control the country.
 Bribery is not only 8 very heinous offence, but it is very short-sighted and feolish one.