Middletown transcript., 1894-01-13

4
wind. The nation has reaped th,
II whirlwind, but Mr.. Wilson IS no
satisfied.
POLITICS IN DELAWARE.
II The following is taken from recen
issue of the Philadelphia Press, ant
merits the careful reading Of ever.
citizen of this county and State
i WILMINGTON, Del, Jan. 8th.-Sen
ator Gray's announcement that he vii
| tomorrow move to take up the Housl
bill repeating the Federal election law
has more significance to his neighbor
| In this city than it has to the country
The rest of the country takes it fol
granted that be is merely going to per
| form a duty falling to him as member
| of the Committee on Privileges and
| Elections, or at the most that he il
| probably aiming to recover lost prestige
with his party by appearing as the
champion of the one measure that has
the unanimous support of the Democ.
racy and will not, like his efforts at
"compromisen on the silver repeal bill,
cover him with confusion, or his cham
pionship Of the Administration 's
Hawaiian policy bring ridicule upon
| him.
By few leading men Of both parties
here it is claimed that this step means
a great deal more to the Delaware Sem
ator than the mere performance Of
routine legislative duty; that it is part
of a great conspiracy Matched year
ago, and that he is about to perform
his part of that conspiracy. The acci-
dental victory Of the Democrats in this
county id November. 1892, was made
possible only by the perfdy OF few
so-called Republican inspectors of
election. who BY collnsion with the
Democratic election officers counted
Republican ballots as having been cast
for the Democratic ticket. So strongly
were the Republican leaders impressed
with suspicion Of this Immediately
after the election that their candidate
for Tax Receiver and County Treas
urer, Joseph E. Martin, was induced to
take the preliminary steps to contest
the election Of John T. Dickey, his
Democratic competitor, who was de-
clared elected by majority of "a.
The first act passed by the Legislature
of 1898, sitting in January. 1898, was
for the regulation Of such contests and
forbidding that the ballot boxes should
be brought into the court. This was a
purely ex-post facto measure so far as
the Martin-Dickey contest was con-
cerned, but the condition of the Super
ior Court of this county was such then
that no Republican could have secured
justice in it in political case, and SO
the contest was abandoned.
Taat fraud was committed has since
been established by the evidence Of at
least two Democrats, both well-known
and responsible men, who have repeat
edly declared that not a Democrat on
the ticket in the county had been
elected, but that all of them were
counted in." These men are ex-
Levy Court Commissioner Henry D.
Hickman, leading business man as
well as Democrat Of this city, and
Albert G. Osborne. ex-Deputy Clerk OF
the Peace Of this county, whose pro-
tests against the frauds of Neary,
Dickey and Gray were SO loud and per-
sistent that the latter finally secured
him 3 place as special agent Of the
Department Of Justice with duties in
California.
THE MINORITY ROBBED.
The narrowdess OF their plurality in
1892. which was only 504 against a
majority Of 443 in 1890, made the
Democrats desperate, and the proved
usefulness of a few dishonest or in
competent Republican inspectors gave
them thd cue what to do. Under the
act Of May 18th, 1891, placing the
state and county elections for this city
under commission Of two Democrats
and one Republican, the minority party
was continued with its own inspectors;
bud aby an arbitrary misconstruction of |
that act the majority OF the commission
named one Republican ispector in all
those. districts where the minority party
was given majority Of the inspectors.
and it was in these districs, twenty-five
of them, where The frauds we're perpe-
trated, But greater fraud was neces-
sary to hold the State in 1894, and
hence it Was esssntial that moro Re-
publican inspections should BE- subject
totheir appointment, and 80 by = sim
pie amendment to strike ont. passed
with dozen others Of little OF no inn
port On April 18th. 1898. the actof 1891 |
was stripped Of that provision which
gave the minority member of fhe |
elections commission power % name
aay of the minority inspectors. So |
quietly and aecretly was this change ID |
! fpndamenhl law Of tia Sts{e msde |
that no onss except those il tue con-
apirncy. knew Of y until after Is pub
ljoatiop of the lava, thFeo d foslr /
months sfter the sajournmant Il fke /
m |I6lature That b paaaed hrouaI I
tho - 5isIature unddk : masa5 lsbSnz
slpn 6eEs . n|o doubt 56F there 616