Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-01-31
RAE CHAMPION BRIBERY DISTRICT

TIE CHAMPION BRIBERY DISTRICT.
II the remainder of the State Of Penn
sylvania in any degree approaches Lam
caster county in the matter of open
and widespread bribery and corruption
in elections, no wonder the Keystone
State is honeycombed with political
fraud whose lord high promoters and
benefciaries sit as the States repre-
sentatives in the United States Senate
in spite OF the most vigorous protests OF
the decent element irrespective OF party.
lisa frlghtful revelation which the
Legislative Committee investigating the
Franklin-F Forest contest makes OF the
astounding debauchery Of voters that
has for years prevailed in Lancaster.
The worst feature of il is that the dis
grace does not seem to have affected
the political conscience Of this county
OF politicians, however familiar the
leaders on both sides may have been
with the facts. The Philadelphia
Times, in its report Of the committees
proceedings, says;
Twenty purchased votes for Forrest
were shown oy Wednesdays evidence, II
the witnesses spoke the truth, and at least
ten times as many more are claimed by the
contestants counsel 70 be held in reserve.
The most remarkable feature Of the exam
inatiou was the utterly shameless manner
in which these men proclaimed their lgno-
miDv. They seemed TO actually take pride
in the fact that they had been able to sell
their votes az prices ranging from fifty
cents 10 q dollar and half apiece; in some
instances, according 10 their evidence, a
bonus Of pint Of whisky accompanied the
purchase price.
one Young colored man, after telling of
how he was bribed, said, with laugh: 81
got a good square paper dollar and bottle
oil whisky. Ispent the dollar and drank
the whisky"
Another man, who follows the sup
posedly lucrative business Of plumbing,
said he had been paid a dollar to vote for
Forresu, and then voted for Franklin, adj
ding wit apparent pride, 81 consider got
that money hOnestly.n Still another tes-
tiaed that he had been hired early on the
morning OF election day to vote toaters for
Forrest, having first received instructions
from one Of the latter's iieutenantS not TO
give more than dollar a vote in any in-
stance. He ran over list Of six or eight
men whom he had handled" for Forrest,
and indicated the market value of each at
fifty cents or q dollar, as the case might
be: there were so many of them, he said,
that he couldn't remember near all"
The local newspapers OF both parties
are outspoken in their denunciation OF
the corruption and venalitY which has
already been brought to light, but they
say the story has only been begun. The
Lancaster Examiner, stalwart Repub-
lican organ, quotes one who is in poll
tics as saying that the ''purchaseable"
vote OF that city is from 900 to 1000,
which would be one out o. every nine
or ten voters. The same paper is au-
thority for the statement that during
the recent election a certain ward boss
who had no interest in which way the
election went still spent his money In
order to hold in his control about
twenty voters, whom he always had to
do his bidding for pay and whom he
wished to retain when an emergency
arose.
No wonder QUAY has such an easy
time controlling the Legislature and
getting any position of honor and emolu-
ment he may want from the State.