The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1893-09-23

on the odluIudy lOtto"ihS, uhS
1oth-the County Convention having
met On the intervening Tuesday and
nominated Mr.. Crothers and his
ticket-the Cecil Democrat denoun-
ced in unmeasured terms the same
debauchery that the WING then and
since has denounced.
"The open and wholesale purchase
of votes at the primary elections IN
this county has reached degree
that must not be exceeded says the
| Democrat. 1t has been a growing
practice for years and on Saturday
last thousands OF dollars were spent
in an effort to control the elections
"Is this damnable practice to con-
tinuel Are the morals of the county
to be debauched in this shameless
manner without a word of protest?
Is the rising generation to be taught
that the right of suffrage is but a
marketable quantity and that the
sale of vote involves no loss Of
character, no violation OF principle
and entails no sense of shame"
"Surely the community is not so
depraved as to make no effort to
check this growing evil. The respon
sibility rests not SO much upon the
seller as the purchaser. The need
of money is great and when the
willy politician with smooth tongue
tells the poor man that he Fought to
be paid for his time" and that 'it is
all he gets out Of it anyway" it is
tempting and he falls. To such an
extent has this education been car
ried that men in comfortable circum-
stances do not hesitate to dispose of
| their vote for cash consideration,
and so hardened have they become
that they make no secret OF the tran
sactlon but on the contrary seem to
think it matter to boast OF. "
Something must be done to abate
this course and the only remedy
would seem to be to legalize the
primaries and thus make it impossi-
BILE to carry on this seduction. A
remedy is a necessity not only from
a moral but from practical stand
| point. Under the present conditions
no man of moderate means could
successfully compete with his richer
neighbor no matter how much
greater his popularity nor how much
more competent he might be to fill
the office for which he was a candi
date
Now, if Mr.. Crothers and his
friends were party to this damn
able practice" as the Democrat
forcibly terms it, and he and his
associates on his ticket, benefitted
by this "damnable practice" and
thus secured their nominations,
doesn't 1t become very nice ethical
distinction to discriminate between
the "damnable practice" and the
man who condones the offense by
accepting Its benefits?
We certainly think so.
But were Mr.. Crothers and his
political friends party to or parti-
ant in these "damrable practices"
ciP-ibed by the Cecil Democrat. ?
do s,u0eyat answer.
Lei NY heinp made against
any particular party, fss.on .a al pei era
s Sn1 ) P saws that journal: An are are
SON. oona,Iy guilty and all willingly profit
f9D the advantages thus obtained"
Then by the Democrat, "since all
are equally guilty. Mr.. Crothers
and his ticket did practice the open
and wholesale purchase of votes. He
did become party to this shameless
debauchery of the morals of the
county. HIS did teach the rising
generation that the right OF suffrage
is but a marketable quantity, and
that the sale of a vote involves no
loss of character, no violation of
principle, and entails no sense of
shame.
If the Cecil Democrat truly de-
scribes the Democratic primary that
preceded the nomination of Mr..
Crothers and his ticket, then one
conclusion only is inevitable, that
Mr.. Crothers and his friends did do
what the Democrat says all are
| equally guilty in doing.
Now, by the admission OF the
Cecil Democrat, haven't we come to
pretty pass in Cecil County, in
order to enjoy the blessing ~ OF
having Mr.. Crothers transplanted to
a higher and more influential field of
operation, where the "damnable
practice" spoken of by his party
journal may find fuller fruition
But could the Cecil Democrat in
its unequivocal denunciation Of the
bribery and debauchery that secured
Mr.. Croihers' nomination, possibly
have exaggerated the facts in a
momentary impulse of disappoint-
ment at the defeat OF its own faction?
From an equally respectable jour
nalistlc source, and which no factional
faint has touched so far as we are
informed, comes equally emphatic
testimony.
The Perryville Reeo,a, edited by
Mr.. Wilson L. Coudon whose ortho-
dox Democracy no man who knows
him would question, in its issue Of
June 7, 1893, says:
nowhere in the whole field of
politics is reformation more sadly