The Labor enquirer., 1886-09-04
BUYING UP THE VOTES.
Icontinued trom r1rst pages

tContinued from rlrst pagel
"When the voter goes in he receives a
ticket calling for the amount he is to re-
ceive. He then goes to the polls; and
right there is where the candidate has
the best Of one up in this neighborhood.
The voting is viva voce, and the candi-
date can't lose his money because tn.
voter has to say who he votes for, while
here his word has to be- taken, as has
been done in some instances, an ar
rangement being made with him, and
he going to the polls, handing in a
folded ballot, and earning the money
that way. But down there the voter
has to give the name aloud, and the
strikers make note of it. If he votes
all right his ticket is % K'd,' he goes to
the place where he got it and receives
the amount agreed upon.
"a reputable citizen of Louisville told
me that, when at the poll, two men back
of him were quarreling because one had
been paid $22 and the other S35 for his
vote. White men as well as negroes
were bought. There was no distinction
on account of race or color. l learned
from reliable source at the Gault house
that the negro help there averaged
$1l.50apiece. Early in the morning
and up to 10 o'clock the price was 81, So
and S.; from 10 to 2 o'clock SIS to 500
and for the rest of the day $50 to $40
whatever was demanded. A high po-
lice official was said to have been seen
coming out of his house with several
large bags of gold. He supported man
who was defeated so the other fellow
must have had the most stuff. 1t was
claimed that $1S0,OOO was spent in
Louisville.
"On the train coming away from
Louisville the brakemen were growing
because the running time had been so
changed that they could not lay over
there and make from $40 to $25 ty vot-
ing. saw more drunken men in Louis
Vile in five minutes than l had seen
here all day in two of our most exciting
elections. Money was plenty and the
saloons reaped harvest. Pretty nearl y
everybody seemed to be drunk or be-
coming 80. l never knew before why
there were 30 many fights and shooting
scrapes in that section. The reason Is
plain now from personal observation.
They are due to the tact that voters fall
sometimes to stick. A voter promises
to vote for a certain candidate. The
striker who drummed him up meets
him election day and finds out that be
has gone over to the other side. The
friends of the latter resent any attempt
to regain him, the strikers of the two
candidates come togethsr, and there is
row. l saw that in Frankfort, but when
the fvht was about to begin I had busl-
ness elsewhere.
Reputable people with whom l talked
said the election was disgrace. They
were very anxious to put stop to the
corruption, but asked how they could
do it. Large taxpayers were particu-
larly alarmed as to what would be done
by the incoming administration. Some
body, they said, would have to make up
the money sluandered, as the cand.
dates couldn't pay out much without
expecting to get it back in some way
With the exception of the wholesale
purchase of voters, like the vivacious
system. In many instances the polls
were on the street corners. Every BODY
knows how everybody else votes, and
tab is kept of the votes as they come, so
that the result is known when the last
ballot is cast But the open buying of
voters beat anything l had ever heard
of; and l wouldn't have believed it if |
hadn't seen it."