Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-08-24
lcaster f,lteIlige1lcRr.
LAY EVENING, AUG. "a. 1883.
Cumberland County Politics.

Cumberland County Politics.
Shortly after the election Of a state
senator in Cumberland and Adams
counties last fall the air OF that region
was charged with rumors of bribery,
corruption and fraud and though most
of these pointed to the Republican man
aQement, which was flush with money
and unscrupulous in the use of it, the
Republican candidate, who was defeated
at the polls and was 80 returned by the
canvass Of the vote, announced his in
tention of contesting the election. He
very soon gave 1t up, however, and Mr..
Wagner retained undisputed possession
of his senatorial seat. When it came to
the adjustment of the costs the counsel
in the case, by some hocus-pOcus, agreed
to admit that there was probable
cause /" for the contest and SO imposed
the costs upon the county, while Senator
Wagner, by stretch of legislative and
executive generosity, had an allowance
for his expenses inserted in the general
appropriation bill Of the regular session.
The next and most remarkable step in
this most remarkable contest was an
agreement to open the ballot boxes and
inspect the votes and tally papers. 1t
seems to us that the grant of this per.
mission by the court-if it was done that
way-was utterly unjustifiable. There
seems to have been no reason for it, ex.
cept to crafty some old-woman curios
ity. Nothing is better settled than the
ballot of the voter shall be projected
from inspection until its legality has
been impeached and it shall have been
demonstrated by the forms of law that
it was unlawfully cast. In all the elec
tion contests in this state under the new
constitution, this doctrine has been
affirmed and it is sound in law and
morals. But up in Cumberland county
even upon the abandonment of the con
test, they seem to have ravaged the bal
lot boxes, scrutinized their contents and
made recount of the vote simply to
crafty somebody's curiosity.
ScandalOus as this proceeding was, the
disclosures made by it are even more so
and, however irregularly they have come
about, it will not do for the authorities
there TO ignore them. The recount OF
the votes in some districts shows that
the ballots now in the boxes do not
agree with the returns of the tally sheets;
and the discrepancy is such that if it ex-
tends over the district would impeacl
the validity of Mr.. Wagner's seat in the
Senate which he now holds. BOsler s
friends claim, of course, that the elec
tion officers, who we're mostly Demo
Gratis, miscOunted the votes Wagner's
friends insist that after the ballot boxes
left the election officers they were tam.
pered with and there are many circum
stances to cOrrOborate this suspicion.
This is the question that should be de
cided in the courts. Wagner has his
seat, the contest is over and the county
has paid the piper. Whoever committed
the fraud it will not change the result of
the election, but that either the votes
were miscOunted or the ballot boxes
were stuffed by way of preparation
for the contest is unmistakable and
Cumberland county should make thor
ough investigation. Politics up that way
have been somewhat disreputable fOi
the past few years. The degrading in
nuence of the Crawford county system
which has been felt here, has in some
measure demoralized the Democracy and
offered opportunity for the exercise of
Republican schemes of corruption there
Things need fumigating. There never
was filter occasion than arises from
these disclosures of the ballot box. We
wait to hear Judge Herman's charge t.
the next grand jury.