Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-10-07
THE STATE CAMPAIGN.
CHARGES MADE AND PROVED AGAINST
REPUBLICAN ADMINS TRATiON.

OoGiSfNiN iS'H
The State Board of Health Hotbed of
Corruption-The arrangements of PEN
itentiaries in Violation of Law and I'm
the Interest of Those Charged With
Their Management.
The campaign in Illinois is now on,
and from this time until the polls close
on November S, the representatives of
the two great parties will by every
means in their power push their claims
for recognition before the people. For
the first time in generation there is
genuine contest for the control of the
state, for the former great republican
majority has gradually dwindled away
until its smallness gives the Democrats
more than the hope of decisive VIC
tory. The Republican party in Illinois
is on the defensive. Ii has a record Of
many years to defend, and the Demo
Gratis active, aggressive and determined,
are pushing it so closely that it has no
opportunity for aggressive methods and
fights only to maintain its grounds, yet
it is making hard fight and will not
surrender until the last minute, for de-
feat means the exposure of the methods
of the party managers for years back
and the political ruin which must fol-
low. Strong in the control of all
branches of the state government, for
years the Republican leaders have been
able to conceal from the people their
mismanagement of the trust placed in
their hands, but enough has been dis
covered to warrant the investigation
which must follow a change of admin
istration. Proof is multiplying of the
corruption which has prevailed in many
of the departments under the control OF
the governor, and the emphatic denial
of the charges made will not offset in
the minds of the people the impression
produced by these proofs.
1t has been shown that the state board
of health is hotbed of corruption.
1t has been shown that the manage
ment of the penitentiaries has been in
violation of law and in the interest of
those charged with their management.
1t has been shown that our state in
sane hospitals have been diverted from
their intended use and made the deten-
ton houses for wealthy patients while
the poor insane were charge upon the
people in the county poorhouses.
1t has been shown that the state board
of charities is simply a whitewashing
machine to cover up the criminal care
lessness existing in our state institu-
tons
1t has been shown that the appointees
of the governor hold their positions only
on account of their ability to serve him
as political managers.
1t has been shown that the large ap-
preparations for clerical help and for
janitor hire in the state house have been
~,
the election of the present state officers.
1t has been shown that state officers
are drawing large sums from the state
treasury as salaries to which they are
not entitled by law, and which even the
leading Republican paper of the state
declared are stolen.
That the rottenness which has been
discovered permeates the whole state
system few people can doubt, and the
demand for change that will lay bare
the matter grows stronger every day.
. The Democrats have wisely nominated
a splendid business man for governor.
One whose perceptions are quick and
whose methods are known to be system
attic and exact. With Judge Altgeld as
governor of Illinois we may be sure that
no guilty man will escape. State affairs
will receive an overhauling and the
guilty will be punished without fear or
favor. The crowd of mendicants and
hao~eTs on in the different institutions
v. ! have to seek livelihood elsewhere,
and our state affairs will, before the end
of his term, be established upon proper
business basis. We shall know where
the vast sums appropriated for state ex-
penses go, and shall for once feel that
or TO. ic rnnIrrntod
after the manner of a Russian province,
bat as BELTS the dignity of sovereign
state of n great union.