The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-11-06

gentlemen, and what is the name Of it In the
Iaws What is the name of this thing of taking a
paper and scratching out and changing it after
the signatures have been put to lit
A voice--Forgery.
Mr.. MilIer-Gentlemen, in the next room,
there, 1t is called forgery; and say that any
man that will do that will forge bank-note if
you give him an opportunity to do it Applause.
say that any man that will do that will mutt
late the records in your recorders Office if he
has an opportunity to do it, / say that no
records in any of your public Offices are safe
when men of that character have access to
them, for man who will steal
vote will steal book-a man who will steal a
vote will steal money Applause What is
the answer to these chargesl What was the an
swer to them when they were made right there
In the Circuit Court room last night Was it a
deniall Not at all. ! heard the charge made
upon the officers there repeatedly that those rec
ords had been changed; that forgery had been
committed; and heard no denial from anybody
but sheer that meant in the language of dis
tinguished citizen of New York city, who died In
convict garb, or shortly after he had left the
penitentiary What are you going to do about
A voice-Hang then.
Mr. Miller-There is just one thing you can
do about 1T, and that / see determination In
your faces you will do. You will investigate it,;
you will 90 to the Bottom of it, and if you find
that any man holding a public Office has done
that thing, or any other man, be he who he may,
has encouraged it, has aided or abetted it, you
will see that he visits Jeffersouvllle, Michigan
City or Canada right away. Long and loud ap-
plause
A Voice-Or a lamp post.
MIR. Miller-Those are the only three places
where that kind of cattle are safe,
and there. I think, you will see that
they CO. If they guilty; and that is what you
are here for to nght-not to hear further words
from me, but to hear, perhaps, from others, and
to devise deliberately, coolly and wisely the best
means for accomplishing this end. Applause.
1t was moved that committee of eleven be
appointed to draft resolutions to express the
feeling of the meeting. The president appointed
the committee, of which William Henderson
joining room.
While the committee was engaged, brief
speeches were made by a number Of gentlemen.
The first speaker was Judge E. B. Martindale,
who said:
In a meeting of this character it is not sur
prise that there is great earnestness manifest
ed, which should always be characterized by de-
liberation. 1t is remarkable fact that fraud
of the character that has been charged should
be perpetrated for the purpose of placing a
man upon the Criminal Court bench of Marion
county. 1t is a little suspicious. 1t does not
look well upon its face. It is inclined to
excite the suspicion and to excite the wonder of
the men VINO are in favor of law and order under
all circumstances. It cannot be possible that a
man who is fit to administer the criminal law Of
Marion county would allow himself placed upon
the bench by forgery. Applause If the
forgery has been perpetrated that has been
charged, then the man in whose favor
it has been perpetrated, If he
is proper man to occupy the place
of criminal judge, would at once resign, and
not receive the appointment under such circum-
stances. Applause 1t is certainly proper
that we should start with pure fountain head.
Why. the security of each of us, of our bust
ness. of our property, of our families depends
upon the execution of the law. and how can the
law be executed by man who would accept a
position by forgery and fraud2 Now, l state
this because l take it for granted there
been made l do not wish to speak to
you tonight If Mr.. Loreuz Schmidt
the Democrat-and laud him as a Democrat
aud an honest mans here, / would like for
him to come forward and talk to you. 1t is the
exception when man who Is hot under the collar
in politics WILL in the face of plain fraud of his
party. say, gentlemen, l will not go one step
further with this business Applause. Such
a man deserves to be honored, and such man /
believe to be Lorenz Schmidt.
Resolutions upon this subject are small mat
ters You need an earnest working committee,
who will probe this matter to the bottom and
see that the men are punished. When this great
fraud was perpetrated in Chicago there no
found defending the criminal, and the people OF
that great city were not satisfied until he re-
ceived his sentence to go to the penitentiary
where he belonged 1t has been so in
Cincinnati and other cities. Now, let
US in Indianapolis maintain our char
acter and credit as city of morality. and as
city Of law, and city of order. Let aid
the authorities, and if these things are true,
let the perpetrators be punished sending the
guilty men to the penitentary, where they be-
long. Applause. We have had enough of
this business. What use is there in holding
elections if my vote and your vote may be
stricken out at the pleasure of some scoundrel
who appears to have authority or gets posses
sion of the paperl
voice-Bernhamer, for instance.
Judge Martindale-I read both the papers
this morning. They both admitted there were
great frauds being perpetrated in the room, or
an attempt at it, and each one claiming the
fraud was attempted upon the part of the other
but there was specific charge that l have
heard. except the one made by
a Democrat against the Democrats
for forging and changing the returns
[Applause Let US have specific charges. If
these charges are made, let them be made def
nitely, and let US see as citizens whether they
are true. 1t is important, think that you APP
point an executive committee, divided between
parties equally as it may be- gentlemen of earn
estness and capacity Let this work of further
ering this prosecution through every means
known to law be placed in the hands of such an
executive committee.
Rev. DR.. H. A. Edson of the Memorial Pres
byteran Church, being called for, came forward
He said:
Mr.. Chairman aud Fellow citizens: I do not
know that l have anything to say about this par
ticular ISSUE for the simple reason that do not
know anything about it. The newspapers have
made certain charges. I find there is a good
deal of feeling here, and came to the meeting
because wanted to be on the record in behalf
of the purity of the ballotbox. l take a good
deal OF interest in the pride of this beautiful city
l believe in its past record. think
we have been reasonably free from great crimes
in the administration of our local affairs. We
have an unusual number Of honest and able cit
liens. l believe it proper for clergyman to
stand in such a meeting as this simply to add