Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-05-07
They Refuse to be Investigated.

uCf lCtuSC W AhfS1tA5~NN'
There is to be no investigation of the
scandal growing out Of the election of
United States Senator at Columbus last
winter. The Democrats of the House
did not want it, and yesterday voted not
to have it by defeating the Senate reso>
luton for such an investigation. Senator
Reeds joint resolution. ostensibly for
that purpose, passed the Senate Wednes-
day of last week, and was at once sent
to the House for its concurrence. The
resolution authorized the committee at
that time Investigating the Myers-Littler
affair, to call every member of the Gen>
erahAssembly before it, and by num-
ber of prescribed and pungent questions,
require him to answer categorically,
whether be had participated in the Sem
atorial caueuses of,1ss4, and whether he
had at that time or since received any
money or other valuable consideration
for his vote. The Leader, at the time,
pronounced the scheme huge game Of
bluff gotten up to blind the people, and
cover certain suspected members with a
thin coating of whitewash. And the
sequel shows that we were correct. For
five days the dreaded resolution was
hidden away in the dark and impenetra-
BILE reeesses of Speaker Marsh's desk,
while the schemes of the coal oil gang
for its defeat were being cOncocted.
Yesterday afternoon, after the program
had been successfully arranged, the res
olution was brought forth, and handed
down to the Clerk to be read. Mr..
Brunner and other Democratic leaders
could not see the propriety OF going into
an investigation at this late hour, within
five days of final adjournment, and for
this alleged reason opposed it An
amendment was presented to refer the
matter to a new special committee.
Another, offered by Allen o. Myers, pro-
posed to go back and include Governor
Foster and Senator Sherman. These
amendments were both defeated, and the
original resolution was finally killed by
a vote of As ayes to 10 nays. The Re-
pubIicans almost solidly favored an in
vestigation, even at this late hour, but
enough Democrats voted in the negative
or were conveniently absent to leave the
resolution short of the required SO votes,
and thus it was laid to rest.
The Democrats never intended that
the charges of corruption and bribery, in
connection with the election of Senator
PAYNE, should be officially looked into.
They know that money was used and
men were bought in that contest, and
they did not propose to run the risk of
having the facts brought to light. The
charges were specifically made, not by
the Republicans, but by nearly one half
the Democratic press of the State fifteen
months ago, and have been defiantly and
vehemently reiterated ever since. A
Republican member, Mr.. Love, of Coli
umbiana, offered similar resolutions
over a year ago, but they were indig+
nantly smothered by the Democratic
majority, and their author denounced as
q meddlesome crank. There has been
plenty of time for the Democrats to
vindicate themselves if they were inno+
cent. But they dare not face the music.
Their guilty censciences reproyed them,
and they were afraid to take the chances
of passing this eleventh hour resolution,
though they well knew there was no
time for a searching investigation into
the iniquity that characterized their
Senatorial election of 1884. Therefore.
under shallow subterfuges and trans
parent pretexts, they killed the resolu-
tion, thereby tacitly admitting the truth
of the charges that had been made
against them. 1t is a fitting climax to
the record they have made in the Sixty~
sixth General Assembly, as the most
corrupt and INSCRIPTIONS legislative
body in the history of the State.-Cleve-
n A ln