Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-10-23
RRIBERf or ASCfssr TIMFS.
The Ononse, ss 10 Generally supposed, 10 Not
Of Recent Int rod Iotiob


Of Recent Int rod action.
From ihe Boston Advertiser.
Bribery IL an antique heirloom, though
Just now so tiourishing. Bribery dates from
Il. e. l5o, ~ law pun ishing brlDe gvers by
exile was enacted that year in Rome A law
passed In Is &. 81 imposed "A heavy fine on
the candidate who should attempt to brihe an
elector, whether, his attempt was successful
or not, aud deprived him forever OF the ri ght
Of holding office or sitting in the Senate.
Three years latter the Senate deCreed that the
provisions OF this law were applicable 20 any
candidate VINO should keep about him hired
followers or entertain the people with g,aiia-
torial shows or Te'reshmpnts OF any kind.
"This," says writer IN the quarterly Re
UIeT. Z" Il the earliest law against treating Of
which we find mention
The next year the Lex Tullla confirmed
these provisions and punished corrupt cand!-
dates with ten years exile. These laws were,
however, Intellectual. Pompey, Caesar, Curio,
Milo and host OF lesser men violated them
with impunity.
In tho east, particularly IN Indis, bribery
WAS long regarded a. the only straIghtfor-
ward method Of doing business, and inCOr-
rupt Englishmen were looked upon by the
natives "a uuaocOuntsbe freaks OF nature.
By bribery, no less than by pIunder, the for
tunes Of many great servants OF the East
India company were rolled up, and one can
scarcely smile at the famous reiOinder OF
Warren Hastings to one Of his friends who
ventured upon some mild censure "Sir,
when | think OF my opportunities, | won
der at my moderation" Doubtless the evil
has greatly absted, but 1t isa significant sign
OF the times To note the following sentences
in a memoir Of Hon. OuOOcOOl Chunder
MoOkeriee, 4 superior court judge who
died in ISL "Such was the integrity Of this
remarkable man that, having taken a brief
from one party In case and read II, he in
vsriabiy refused to fec from the other side"
Ii must be rememhered however, that this
lofty eulogium was written by the nephew OF
the dead Judge and that, II this assertion be
true, Judge Nook erlee must have been a lone.
iy bulwark Oi the native bar. Treachery to.
wards clients a. the Quarterly Rcview states,
was an otiense which AN Indian lawyer COM
mitted, and still commits, without scrupie
Turning to our mother country we find
many items in the record of bribery. Tam
pering with Judges and jures was once com.
mon. In letter from the bishop of London
To Cardinal WOlsey, that venerable authority
states that a London Jury, for reasonable
consideration, would find bel guilty OF the
murder OF Cain. The weakness Of Bacon Is
almost too familiar for recital, aud when We
| came down TO the time of Walpoe We find
bribery fourishing like green bay tree.
During the reign OF George ILL., says Sir
| Erskine May, 3SS peers were created, nearly
| all for political jobbery In the manufacture
| and bribery Of constituencies.
| Direct bribery of electors became an orga.
nized system under Charles III, and reached
| Its climax, ~ the quarterly RevieIV says,
| under George III who recognized aud rec
| ommended IT, he same competent authority
states that "ln sums of money spent az direct
| payment for votes, England has not been be-
nina kome at her corruptest epoch" II the
| struggle for the consulate In the 700 year of
| the Roman republic produced an offer of
| nearly tlOO,OOo for the vote OF the prmrO.
| gatira, in the year OF grace lS07, when Wilber-
| force contested Yorkshire against Lord Mil
ton and Hon Henry lSScelles, the latter are
| said to have spent GluO 600 each on the elec
| ton, while WilberfOIC6's expenses, which
| were betrayed by the contributions of Wings
| and Dissentors far and near, amounted to
| nearly $50 900.
The English Beverly bribery commission
| reported, that out of constituency of some
what more than ], 100 at the date OF tho repre-
| sentation of the people act in 1857, about 500
ences. And the case OF Beverly was only one
sample In multitude OF instances OF preva'
lent bribery. The minute and stringent pro-
visions OF the currupt and illegal practices
prevention act of 1883 are proving an etfec
tual check to this practice, but the note
worthy Improvement Which has followed Its
enactment Is, OF course, due mainly To the
effectiveness OF the law and not to any sud
den change OF heart.
| Tho use OF large sums Of money In our pol
itics Is already alarming. But il is no new
| evil. Several states have now stringent
laws against bribery, and with steady pub
lie sentiment demanding punish hment fo
such crimes with courts and jurfes to con
Vict, as in Jaehne's case, we may hope I,
see this corrupting tendency In a measur,
check cd.