Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1888-11-20
The Cry Of Fraud Raised 6y Repub-
ican Organs Only to CoUer Up
Their Dun Nefdrious Plot.
The Bold Work Of Corruption Begun
on November 9th, Continued in
COTS Interests.
False and Malicious Reports to Create
Public STANDARDIZATION
Returns Held Back to be Ma
mipulated by Republican
Boards-De:oils Of
the Plot.

From the beginning up to the presentda the
Republican campaign in this State has 9een
marked bv corruption and dishonesty Des-
perate political managers with unlimited funds
at their command have resortcd to every means.
fair or foul. 10 attain their ends Plans were
boldly laid to corrupt the ballot and defeat the
will OF honest voters. The very extent and All
daciiy of these plans was sufficient to reveal
them to the public eye.
Then it was that the cry of fraud was raised
by the nen who were themselves engaged in
the fraud. At the very time Chairman Cow
den was in enc end of the State distributing
Doodle. and Steve Elkins was in the Other col
OniZ;um repcaters. the DOODLE organ started the
crv that Democrats were prepared to buy up
voters. It. was the old cry OF stop thief. At
trat time The Register pointed out the corrupt
scheme that was on foot. and warned the pub
lie against it.
A CAMPAIGN OF
. The people o! West Virginia were thea slow
to believe that n campaign of wholesale cor
ruptiun had been deliberately arranged. They
cannot rcfi;se TO believe it now.
The Democratic Committee has been in re-
cpiDt of numerous complaints from Democratic
VOTERS. They have come from every section of
the State. Complaints of illegal voting and
open corruption at the polls are universal
Special effort has been made to sift ont these
reports and arrive Mt the facts. To-day for the
first time partial results of the Investigation
are made public. They are sufficiently start
ling to alarm every honest citizen and put him
on his guard against the same corrupt men
who are now irving to cheat the people.
Unlawful voting. open bribery and actual in
timidation prevailed in every Republican conn
~. Never in the history of the State has there
been an election in which desperate and illegal
methods of influencing voters were so freely
used.
whole counties along the Ohio and Pcnnsyl-
vania borders from the Upper Panhandle to the
Big Sandy. and from the Ohio River to the
Maryland line. were flooded with Republican
repeaters, who were openly abctted in their
work by the election officials. We have the
testimony of reputable gentlemen that in the
county of Brooke over 100 more votes were cast
than there are taxpayers i'll the county. Life
long citizens who amined the polling books
did not recognize the names of many voters as
residents. Marshall county brings the same
story of fraud. Ballots were cast by men who
do not live in the State and whose names are
not even Known to the oldest citizens.
The Democratic State Committee is in receipt
OF numerous letters from Preston and MOnon-
gala. and it is in a position TO prove that at
voting places in those counties Democrats were
not allowed n single representative among the
election officers. AT one polling place the
Democratic Judge was III and Il mere boy was
substituted without even being sworn to per-
form his duties faithfully. In these counties
and under these auspices illegal votes were cast
with impun:tv. The only limit was u lingering
sense of shame or fear left to men who were
selected for these positions because they felt
neifhcr shame nor fear.
The interior of the State was visited by tie
same methods. We have the evidence of a
high official of Richie county that the names
| OI tnCu i btlsiN 'I lilt Dpl nv liz
not known to be residents of the State. Pau
pcrs and minors voted ut every precinct. and
The election judges would not listen to any
protest.
THE SHoT GUN POLICY.
The most startling case of all this disgrace
full list of outrages occurred in 4 Fourth DIS
of df'T The sIot gun policy in the W hole Country
Reputable witnesses testify that in one heavily
Republican precinct. u Republican took UP his
position by the polls. gun in hand. and threat
ened to shoot any Democrat WAC attempted to
vote. Democrats came to the polls and went
away without voting. The election officials
cOuutenanred and encouraged the perpetrator
of the outrage.
OF ILLEGAL VOTES IN MERCER.
But the most disgraccful feature of this foul
conspiracy against an honest ballot was the
Mercer county vote. Beside it. other frauds
sink into insiwniicancc. Within the last six
months from 900 to 1000 negroes have been
imported into that county They were osten-
sibly employed upon n railroad. The State law
requires that a voter shall have a residGncy OF
at least one year in the State. EfuTts were
made 10 enforce This law. but it was practically
impossible. Colorcd repeatcrs swarmcd at
every voting place. An honest Democratic
majority of six hundred was wiped ont. Mer-
Ger county IS now claimed by Republicans by n
majority of less than n hundred. In Mellow
ell. Wyoming and Fayettc the same condition
existed. and the same Illegal votes were cast.
A Republican net gain of over 800 was thus
manufactured.
Inc 1DOEe nc u lew CASES III WHO III pu-
rity of the ballot has been assaulted. They are
the most Glarimg Ontragcs of the many that
have been rcnortcd to the Democratic State
Committee. That body has already taken steps
to ferret out and punish the guilty PARTIES
ITime and money will not be spared in bringing
them to Justice. The evidence of these crimes
is at hand and the men who committed them
will be called to account.
AN ATTEMPT TO STEAL THE STATE.
When this conspiracy was first uncarthcd.
| .ha pyUJCJYI Mi anl II mt and Nynrunl DOM
OcrIls Of ihc danger. To-day these men are
pmrsuii" 'ae sal:lr tactics. They see tlIattheir
corrupt plans have not carried the State
They know thaT West virginia IS Democratic.
They have bOu%ht votes wherever money could
tempt aud il was not enough they have CO.
crc~d and inti'n:latcd Democratic voters and
it is not enough: they have c0loniZcd illcgal
vO:crS and DrOnGh! panpcrS and noi-res!dcntS
10 the polls by the dozen, and it is not enough.
Now. driven 10 the last resort they are prepar-
in" the way for IL r;.ne fouicr than any other
! ihcv have vet cOmmi;tcd-to defeat the en-
pressed will of the people and steal the State
from Democratic control.
The first step is to faIsify the returns, and it
has been done pcrsistently and maliciously.-
Tie Republican State Committee and their or
rans have worked or the principle of claim
everything aud concede nothing. They have
uIisr.prcscntcd the facts in almost every conn
ty. Republican majOriiics have been raised to
an extraordinary figure in their estimates. and
Democratic majOritics decreased everywhere.
Their claims are almost entirely confined to
| general statements. ana the lew complete Ia
hlcs they have dared to give ont arc full of in
accurac;cS. Even then n Republican majority of
20 is all that can DC obtained. while misrcpre-
sensations in four counties alone. of which the
Republican Committee must have definite in
formation. make up more than $50 of COTS
padded D'uralitics.
That tine public may know the exact valrc of
the table that has appeared so prominently in
n Wheeling paper. the Register will giveihc Of
fetal figures on two counties. They are suili-
Client. In the cnun:v of Fayctte COTS major
iiv is made SOL by this table. The official re-
turns certified by the Board of County Com
miSs:oncrS. give Golf n plurality of only 732-
a difference of -. The table givPs Golf n ma
iority of ca in Mercer. The official returns
from this county makes Gen. COTS majority of
34-a loss of So. In these two counties alone
errors exist more than sufficient to overcome
the slender majority accredited 10 the Republic
can candidate. There are Numerous other
cases of inaccuracies. The Register has not
published a comparative table of the counties
within The last Two days because it is Informed
that its tables have been made usc of to Judge
Ficnin"'s dctrimcnt. They have been made
the instrument of Republican fraud. In nearly
every conn:v where n liberal estimate had been
made of Republican majoritics. n Republican
returning hoard has been found TO increase
that majority ou the official count. any num-
her of votes that has been desired.
But the cases given above are fair samples
of the stun that constitutes the Hntepigencer's
%t,iIr%. and hy which it hopes 70 lead the rco-
pie of West Virginia into the belief that Gem
cral Golf has been elected Governor. 1t has
published and repeated these false statements.
Through the medium of special correspondents
they have been spread abroad. Every effort has
been made to manufacture public sentiment.
WHAT REPUBLICANS ARE PLANNING.
Judge Fleming has been denounced because