Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-05-23
FOR CAMPAIGN SLANDERERS
A Move Against a Vicious
Calumniator.
ENGLAND TO TAKE HIM IN HAND
This Country Might Well Fol-
low the Example.


-
New York Evening Post, May is
The British Parliament is about to nlaSs
the circulating of campaign ISLANDERS
criminal offence, punishable by fine aud
loss of citizenship for stated period. An
amendment to the corrupt practices act Of
1883 is now pending which includes
among illegal practices the dissemination
of slanderous statements as to the personal
character or conduct OF candidate. the
penalty being a fine of el00 and disauali.
| iication as an elector for five years Il is
| stipulated that if the slanderer can prove
that he had just grounds for believing the
| charges to be true, he shall be relieved
| from punishment. The amendment was
made the subject of a long, free and very In.
terestlnG debate n few days ago in which
members of all parties Joined III its support,
| the only objection raised being tolts appar.
! ent lack of stringeney. Several members
| expressed fear that slanderers would get
of too easily under it, but all were agreed
| that something ought to be done to puts
stop to the practice at which il was aimed
In the course of the discussion ona
| member after another detailed his per.
snnal experience with the campaign SLAM
derer, and ii is impossible to read the re.
ports without being struck with the SINH.
larity between these English campaign
lies and our own product. All agreed that
| the practice was "a growing one, and thutit
was frequently used with deadly effect,
especially when the lilo was so well tuned
that it could not be refuted till too late 10
save the victim from its consequences at
the polls. One member said that he was
charged just before election with being
"dlscreditably mixed up in n divorce
case" aud was only able to save himself
from defeat by inducing his wife 70 come
on the platform and take prominent
part in the election. Another member
was accused of having us a magistrate
sentenced poor man to months I'M
prisonment at hard labor for simply taking
u handful of oats for his children TO feed
To their rabbits. As a further proof Of tie
candidates hardheartedneSs and general
lack Of sympathy with common people, 1t
was added that while colonel in tho
army in India he had a man fleggcd, and
that he gave his agricultural laborers only
eight shillinss week. There was no
truth i'll the first charge the only truth
there was in the second was thatthe candi-
date had once been for q few hours in an
Indian port, but had never held COM
mand there, and the fact about the last
charge was that he paid pension Of eight
shillings a week to an old laborer who had
been on his estate for 40 years.
One member said that while standing
for an Argye3hire constituency he WAS
charged BY "A local paper two days before
the poll with having been found on SUM
day with the crew Of his yacht pOachihg
with net in the river for salmon. This
charge was made, he said, in community
composed OF strict Sabbatarans VINO
shared the belief common III that section
that the salmon III the rivers OF the north
was holy thing, and was calculated to do
him the greatest possible amount OF
injury. In fact, he said, if the editor had
charged him with sending the men OF his
yacht to carry OFF half.a-dozcn of the
lairds' wives, and taking them away with
; him, the people would have thought i i
J less heinutls offence. Another member
: standing in church-going constituency
: was charged with having favored horse
! racing, deUauGhery, and murder on sun
day. Another had to refute formally ,
/ charge that at former period OF his III
he had been pirate, and had sunk Eng
, fish ships and had mnTooned their crews
/ Another had to prove circumstamtiall!
that he was not, as charged seen drunk OIL
/ a certain day in certain street; anothe
/ that he had not been seen on Sunda,
morning coming from a billiaTd-roon
/ hanging drunk on the arm Of his char
mans coachman. a very frequent form
of Islander is hardship or injustice to I'll
: laboring class. One member was accuse
, of killing the rabbits OH the farms whlc
: he let ana making $500 "a year by sellin
, them, when AS d matter of tact no neve
killed or sold a rabbit in his life. Anothe
. WAS accused OF having Il close relation VIII
had reduced his laborers' wages, when th
+ truth was that he had raised them. On
: had been defeated by false charge on VI
+ eve Of an election that he was membt
a OF cooperative store.
i There was complete unanimity in fave
!, of the amendment, and also compile
!, unanlmity in praise OF the corrupt pra
b tees act OF 1883. Nobody in England Que
tons the benctcent influence of that &C
or opposes any proposition that is made
strengthen it, THIS is very different spiI
:, from that which our lawmakers display
= this country. ~ bill carefully modelled upt
= the English act was greeted with shouts
laughter by the Assembly at Albany IA fe
weeks ago and fairly hooted out of Il
!, house. We have been unable for sever
a years to get our present very inadequa
Q New York act amended by having cal
i paign committees included in the requir
nent of sworn publication of receipts II
g expenditures. We have in the country
d large a half dozen socalled corrupt pra
n tices laws, but of these only two--those
a California and Missouri-are what til,
N should be, and these are very inadequate
enforced Public sentiment is not y
Il sufficiently aroused to compel either ii
" enactment OF such laws generally, or the
5, enforcement even in the isolated instanc
RS in which they have been enacted.
il, AS Tor the amendment which Parliame
is considering, we suggested law of tn
N kind for this country in the campaign
IL 1885, when Mcssrs Plummer, Thurber nj
Io Others were circulating forged Britt
IN press extracts and other ISLANDERS design
10 to influence the election. We took d
IN ground then that to influence q mans W
by forgery is just Us serious an offence
to influence it by bribery, and as rich
deserves the penitentiary, The Engli
penalty of fine and temporary loss of ci
ne zenship is one which could probably
al enforced more easily than one of imnr
unment for men are always reluctant
send their neighbors to jail, and it wou
Es. be an excellent thing for American 20
tics if we could have it provided by statu
here, especially for the clerical sandert
VINO so abound in Presidential campaign
"Youns Critic" Arrested.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa, May 2l.-Alb,
Griffith, more Familiarity known as "You