San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-11-01
NO RlNo IN RExAR COUNTY.

NO RING IN BEXAR COUNTY.
A ring" in politics is a corrupt asso-
citation OF non -offieehOlders to Sc
cure office or, 1t is COM
bination Of Office holders to subvert gov
eminent, engineer jobs, (such as con-
tracts for public improvements or sale
of corporation franchises) and use
their official positions unjustly for these
purposes. These rings have existed In
other communities, notably in New
York, Cincinnati, Chicago. In the ac-
complshment Of their cOnspiracies the
cooperation of the county commission
ers has been a necessity, AS these COM
missiOners are virtually the county legis-
lature. Through the corruption OF these
county legislators, and the connivance
Of the county officers whose books and
records would be check upon
proceedings, fraudulent contracts have
been made. vouchers have been
given, certified to and paid for
services never rendered. Public
works and buildings have been accepted
as per contract, when the,inspection has
been doctored and the thousands saved
in all these ways have been divided be-
tween the guilty and corrupt Office
holders. Does any sane man mean to
cram down the throats Of the people OF
Bexar county that any such combination
OF dishonest officials for fraudulent pur-
poses has an existence in this county,
What county work has been undertaken
BY the commissioners in which there is
any suspicion OF such fraud? What Of
fcers have been suspected OF falsifying
their books to cover up their fraudulent
practices? Who are the men forming
the ring? Has the sheriff entered into
combination with the contractors to de-
fraud the county in the maintenance OF
the prisoners at public expense? Has
the treasurer been suspected OF paying
out money on fraudulent vouchers!
Have the poor house commissioners
been cheating the county in maintain
ing the county poor and dividing the
one knows that these things are not so.
There is not single accusation against
the county officers that justlfles the cry
OF ring against them.
Where then? Is the cry Of Ring"
caused by a combination OF corrupt Off
cials to maintain themselves In office, or
Of no office holders to secure officer
Take the democratic ticket and look over
the principal offices and you see
five candidates for reelection among
those now holding office. Take the So
called peoples ticket and you find eight
Of the present office holders seeking re-
election through the combination con-
Germ. This looks as though the cry OF
ring, if applied to combination of men
In office to stay there, should be chsrged
to the peoples party, and this is the
simple truth. That party WAS created
to put certain people in office, and the
principle of these oandidates-to-b be were
selected before the party was formed.
This matter is an open secret. Where
then is your ring? In the Imagination
and in the party solely Of the man who
raised the cry! The ring cry was raised
and it failed. The personal defamation
dodge was tried and that fell fiat. 1t
remains to be seen how far the cry of
Down with Rome and the Pope" will
help them out. Tomorrow tells the
whole story. The LIGHT has done its
duty let the people now do theirs, and
we have heard the last OF fusion for
spoils in this county for generation to
come.