Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1886-04-30
THE DRY ROT
That Is Consuming the viials Of tho
American Republic.
trrom tho cIncInnntI releernml

turned upon the growing evil of the use oi
money In political Affairs. Follcu wos both
severe nnd eloquent In describing the evils That
would flow from the continued corrupt use Of
money IN our Municipal state aud National
elections. "a do not know" sNid Fnllcit, that
the evils nrc confined to one party IN fact /
know ihnt II Is not | rumcinhcr' continued
he. when was a candidate inr onicc Ia the
County NJ Licking, that throughout the whole
of somewhat heated campaign, there never
was suggestion mndc Ia mo that should give
money iu any one who was furthcrlng my can
dldacy."
our Republican friend asked the Hon, John
how long ngo II was since ho had received legis.
lntiyc honors In Licking county,
"Oh, more than n score Of years ago. was the
response.
"lndccd," said the Republican, "then can
quite readily believe what you have snid. II Is
nearly that long ngo that corrupt use OF money
was first introduced into Cincinnati politics.
Dick Smith WINS at that time nominated for
Congress ngalnst Sam Cary, whom he had, by
ways that were dark" defeated in the Repub.
llcnn Convention Samuel T.. was nominated
by the worklnginen and endorsed by the Demo-
Gratis. A very heated canvass nt once went un-
der way. twas the first time that the Republi
toned from the time that the war promised to
be n success. AS the canvass wore on the Re-
publlcans, under the lead OF Murat IIalstcad
Alexander Sands aud Ben Egglcston, became
good deal alarmed. IInlstead undertook to mp
ply the lash to every Republican that did not
come into line, but the harder he snapped his
whip, the more recruits he made for Sam Cary
The methods of Alexander Sands were entirely
different from those of the warrior IIalstcad.
Alex endeavored by oil and suavity to still the
troubled waters: but the experienced pOliti-
clan, ms Sands certainly was could readily see
MS the day Of election approached, that the de.
fcctions n'thc Republican pnrty were so great
that defeat was almost certainty Then an
appeal went forth for money. Dick Smith did
not put great amount OF funds Into the cam
paign. and to his credit 1t may he said that
Dick was somewhat opposed to the lnyish use of
money In order that the stray Republicans
should be, as it wcre brought bnck or salabo
Democrats procured to substitute them in vot-
| ing the Republican ticket.
John Carr, now editor Of the Arkansas Farm
crs Journal published at Little Rock, was then
nn active working Republican. He was In
constant attendance nt headquarters. Return
ing to his Office one day he bitterly complained
| of the writer of the lavish payments of money
that were then being made to the precinct
workers of the party.
"Why," said he, "they are giving MS much MS
$40 n precinct in the country and s2j to n ward
| in the city" John was II religious man, and
scarcely ever sworG, hut did use some emphatic
words as he stamped up and down the floor dc
nouncing the corrupt cru that Republican poll
| ties had reached in Hamilton county. Poor
| John | wonder what he would say now II he
| was told that $500 to ward in most of the fall
| elections Is considered getting OF cheap. Year
| by year this evil has grown upon the people,
until now there is scarcely country district in
Ohio wncrc contest is made II tall, that does not
| cost the Management OF both the leading parties
large sums OF money. There was a time when
money was not thought Of in connection with Il
| country election beyond the mere hiring Of n
| vehicle occasionally to carry the stump speaker
| from one point to another of the county or pay
his railroad expenses II he came from distance.
| IuIlrm or sick voters were sent after by the re-
| spcctiyc committees in spring wagons, the use
Of which was chccrfully donated to the success
of the cause by Its owner. Frantic appeals In
the country press were paid for by ordering q
few hundred campaign papcs. Printing few
thousand tickets at about scventy-ivc cents a
thousand was the chief item Of expense. The
canvass Of whole county would be conducted
for less money than is ordinarily spent by a can
didatc in one OF the snail wards for position il
the City Council or Board of Education. Th'
worst feature of this is the unblushng way II
which money is used. The writer never was 81
astonshcd at financial transaction in his lif'
ms when he saw james Sands, brother Of Alex
force n hundrcddolar note upon Senator
Logan, then Congrcssman-at-lnrge in the STATE
| NJ In
many days through Ohio, and who nt that tint
made some three or four speeches in Hamilton
county. Logan demurred to taking the money
but finally consented to take 1t saying however
that II was the first money he had received
during the Ohio campaign. The writer theI
thought the amount enormously large. lie ha
! since, however, realized the fact that n hundrct
dollars will not go very far In meeting the eX
pcnses that naturally attends gentleman who
is away from home enlightcning rural does
tricts"
Another political financial transaction that
the writer saw Is worth mentioning. IT occur
red in the year 1879 at the time when Cornell
made his famous canvass for the New York Gov
ernorship. Arthur, ex-President, was Chair
man of the Republican State Committee, and Il
very afrable, corteous, wide-nwake chairman he
made. The writer had just returned from Il
| hricf cnnvnssinp tour through Western New
-, -, ,,e,,t,,. To-, ,,,ir,tos oor,orso.
| lorh' Mhen' h't'i"b " ~"
tion with Mr.. Arthur General Garfield, then Il
| ,nn,nber ofiponpress from the Nineteenth Ohio
m'-.n,". 49, a9',s,a, cors,Id ho1 oomo
Dhtrlc' was uhhouhoeu' ""i"eiu """ 'o,''e
from Washington and delivered one speech, fin
| ;shin, n I'm time In tnke the night train to re
| e ~ ,,,.., " r., NJ -. I,,' 'o,,,,r,ss,,
turn 10 tho capil"i' h"u c"iieu' Us iie eNple''eu
It, to pay his respects to General Arthur, Chair
| mnn 40 After n few minutes conversation
| -, r,.o,, 4, ~ o,,as hd ,o,,
| arthur hskeu "arheiu IL MS cNpe''seS h"" oeei'
attended to.
| "Oh. no. responded the Ohioan. "but that Is
| -, .,.Ia,,t,.u - ,r,hu. ,r,r,.dio,,,,
passed from his own possession into that oil
Goraeld's n hundred. dollar note
| ,,, -, =, ,. - , g.
The next time the writer saw James A. uar-
field he was President of the United States, and
tho next time he saw Chester Arthur. he. too
,ras pros,1a,t or ,ho trni,od States