The record-union., 1892-12-08
CORRUPTION STILL EXISTS.
POLITICAL HEELERS THRIVE AT
Los ANGELES.
Upward of a Thousand Purchasable
Votes in the City-How the Bus
mess is Carried on.
Special to the REcoRp.UN1ou.

! oESCldl 70 lL0 hECOfSD- ONlON-
| Los ANGELES, Dec. THE Express
to-day says that the willy and ingenious
political heeler has asserted himself under
the Australian ballot system as success
fully as under all other systems Of ballot
ing heretofore known, and certain ear
marks on the ballots in certain of the
wards az Tuesdays election show that
votes were purchased and were furnished
upon as wide a commercial scale as here
tofore.
! Many persons who stood round the
| polls on election night and watched the
counting of the ballots were puzzled to
observe the great scattering vote on mem
bers Of the Board OF Education, 1t
seemed that all the names known to COM
mon and uncommon lie We're written on
the ballots for members of the Board of
Education.
y singular coincidence occurred also in
that the ballots bore strange names in
lead pencil for members OF the Board Of
Education, They were all straight DEM
ocratlc ballots. The observer at the polls
was also struck with the great and steady
interest certain gentlemen, not officers of
the election, appeared to take in the re-
suit, which impelled them to remain at
the several polls all throughout the
count, studiously keeping record of the
votes.
If the observer had peered over the
shoulders OF the gentlemen he would
| have found their keeping accounts con-
| fined to taking down these lead d-penciled
names written upon the ballot for mem
bers of the Board OF Education and put
ting mark opposite each name if the
ballot bearing such name was straight
Democratic.
If the observer had gone farther he
might have watched around certain head
quarters or offices the next day and
found them besieged by certain persons,
and II he had understood the reason why
they were thus congregated, would have
known each man had slip of paper
bearing some kind OF private mark, and
that the piece of paper presented to the
proper authority at the Office or head
quarters would have been taken up and
| the sum of y SO paid therefor.
The scheme is as follows: The heeler
goes to those men in the city who hold
their votes for sale, and approaching one
says: Now l Will give you - 80 if you
will vote this or that ticket. You go into
the booth with your ticket, put stamp
opposite each Democratic name till YOU
get down to the Board of Education. Then
YOU don't stamp any names you find on
the ticket for this office, but write the
name of John Jones' in the ticket with
Q
says: II Will write the name of John
Jones down in my book and put your
name opposite, and when the vote-buyer
hears the name of John Jones for Board
of Education called out at the voting
place when the ballots are being counted.
he viii then know that is your ballot. If
that is straight Democratic ballot you
can tomorrow take piece of paper he
gives you down to Bobbie Blanks, and
Will leave your name there on a book
and you will be paid g 50.''
The fellow who sells the vote is lust as
anxious to get the thing through all right
as is the heeler who buys his vote, and he
invariably "sees."
1t IS estimated there are upward of one
/ thousand purchasable votes i'll the city.
Experience shows that anybody in this
city who has a vote to sell on election
day can always find 4 purchaser, and the
fact that arrests for this of1ense are ex-
ceedingly rare makes the business OF
buying and selling in this line of mer-
chandise practically without risk.