The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-08-14
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
Arp Talks About Bribery.
atlanta Constitution.

SS''S~'N-'
The number of men and women who
get a living by 'ways that are dark
and tricks that are vain is rapidly
increasing in the South. Every day
the papers tell of new schemes and
frauds and shortcuts whereby to get
money without working honestly for
it, and most of them by persons who
have good manners, good education
and who wear good clothes. Diamond
Charley is very much of a gentleman,
and is smart enough to make a fortune
at any reputable profession. If he
would turn his wits that way he could
succeed as politician and 60 to Con-
gress-what perversity of nature it is
that inclines such men to prefer dis
honest and dangerous methods we
cannot tell. AS rule, these swind:
lers are not malicious. They would
not rob nor do personal violence, but
will commit forgery or perjury or en-
bezzlement or larceny with an easy
conscience and all on the principle
that justified cook we used to have
-''You all don't miss what takes"
The State, the government, the rail
roads and the rich are considered by
some very respectable people as legiti-
mate subjects for plunder. The
methods Of plunder differ only in
kind. It may be done by tricks OF
law in the Court House or by bribery
in the Legislature. I was talking to
a friend-a man of affairs-about this
thing of bribery, and said I wondered
how it was done; that [ would be
afraid the first man approached with
a bribe would haul away and knock
me down. "Oh," said he, cit must
not be done that way. Professional
lobbyists know how to approach a
man. In the first place they are good
Judges of human nature, and soon
have a mans weak point, his blind
side, as it were. IF he is under a
cloud of debt they find it out aud work
on his financial embarrassment. Some
times there is woman in the case;
sometimes it is Office the fellow wants
for his son, and the lobbyist shows
him how he can accomplish his de-
sires. I have been in Washington
great deal and watched these big
schemers, who want their bills put
through the committee. I knew a
millionaire who didn't mind spending
$4,000 a session for promoting his
measures. I have known him to lose
a thousand dollars night at poker
while playing with United States
Senator. knew the Senator who
won $4,000 from him in two weeks,
and yet he was a far better player
than the Senator. He let him win so
as to place him under an unconscious
obligation, for no generous-hearted
man would keep his money and vote
against his bill. The Senator was
brainy, gifted, eloquent man who
stood high in the nation and does yet,
but he was poor and needed the money
to keep up his extravagant family.
OF course it wouldn't do to approach
such a man with direct offer Of
money for his vote. -
This was a revelation to me. l
read not long ago an account of the
death of John A. Morris, the lottery
king, in which his biographer, who
was his friend, said that he was a
most philosophic judge Of human ma
ture and did not hesitate to buy juries
and judges and lawyers and legisla.
lures and members of Congress, and
that the only tribunal he never dared
to tackle was the Supreme Court Of
the United States. And yet he was
big-hearted and generous and gave
away in charity not less than half a
million dollars a year and made no
noise about it; that when he died he
was educating and supporting in gen.
erous, lavish style dozen or more
orphan girls and among them were
two daughters of General John B.
Hood.
Another way of bribing man is to
make him liberal gift for the use Of
his name to some big booming scheme,
as promoting new town. If money
is not given it may be stock in the
scheme. Just so patent medicines
are promoted by first convincing man
that the medicine is no humbug, but
is real honest specific. Of course,
he is easy to convince if he has any
malady Himself and there is any profit
in sight, and SO we see preachers
names figure more frequently in patent
medicine certificates than any other
class. Their certificates are worth
more to convince credulous public,
for, as rule, preachers are above sus-
picion. A block of stock in popu-
lar medicine is right good thing to
have in the family. Many Georgians
remember certificate of well-known
citizen that was published for months
in the Atlanta papers certifying that
a certain medicine had cured him of a
malignant cancerous affection. In
year or so he died Of that same can
Ger, but the certificate went on. l
have been told that certain patent
medicine men up North will get up
pamphlet that is for circulation in
Texas and Arkansas and have lots of
certificates from people in North Caro-
lima and other Eastern States, and get
up another pamphlet for the Eastern
States with certificates from Texas
and Kansas and Missouri. They are
very careful about mixing things in a
promiscuous manner. don't know
whether our medicine men have learn
cd this trick or not
Credulity is the easiest prey that
man can set trap for, and there is no
law against setting the trap. The
New York World tells about a spider
farm in New Jersey, the only one on
this continent, where the FIenchman
openly breeds spiders and sells them
at so cents apiece to dealers in old
wines and brandics. They put hun
dred or so in their wine cellars and
the spiders spin their webs all over
the bottles and give them an ancient
appearance and they have on them old
musty labels marked vintage Of 1900,
or 1920, or 1880, and when an old sea