The Van Buren press., 1897-02-27
8LrGELD SPEAKS OUT.
Thinks Bryan Had a Majority Of LIE.
gitImate Vote. Abnormal ILL.,
erease Of Voters.

Mr. Altgeld reply Is mainly based OF
the theory that the poting population o
Illinois and other states is one fifth o
the total population, that the vote cas-
10 1896 was much in excess of the nor
maj one fifth, and that there is evidencI
Of actual fraud. A number Of instance
Of alleged frauds Of local nature ar
cited Mr. Altgeld repeats his asser
tion that there were frauds in Chicago
aud gives figures as TO the vote which ht
thinks sustain his allegations. Takins
4 the entire state Of Illinois together, Mr.
/ Altgeld reaches these conclusion:
First That in those precincts
where the greatest Republican gain
were made and IN those precincts wher'
there was an astonishing increase in th'
+ vote, the Republicans absolutely con
trolled the whole machinery ry-not only
the election machinery, but the prose
cutting machinery.
Seeond-That there appears to have
been a system in the method of perpe
trating frauds, as there were at leas
five distinct methods practiced in differ
ent sections Of the state.
Third-That ont Of the 217 900 in
creased vote in our state in 1896 ovel
that of 1892 only about so, 600 wert
legitimate and legal, and that oyei
1 154 900 have not been explained anc
can neither be explained nor located
AS this letter is already much too long
| will only glance at few Of the othel
states.
In Ohio the vote returned in 1877
was nearly 200 600 more than that re-
+ turned in 1892, indicating an increase IL
the population of about | 900, 600 people
/ in four years whereas, prior TO that
/ time ii had taken the state three quar-
+ ters of a century to gain 4 900, 900.
Manifestly there is something wrong
here. Several things at once become
apparent on examination.
First That IN the agricultural sec
! tions of the state and In those cities
where there is not large ignorant vote,
the increase in population is only the
normal increase and the Democrats
made great gains.
Second d-rhat the Republican gains
and abnormal increase in vote was re-
I ported from those precincts and counties
In which the Republicans had the entire
machinery in their hands.
'Third-That the great Republican
gains and abnormal increase In the vote
were along the Ohio river and in those
manufacturing and other centres where
there was large colored and ignorant
/ foreign population.
1t appears that there were many
thousands of Fins and other foreign
born men who were brought over to this
country to displace American workmen
and who are not legal voters, most oi
whom had not been in this country long
enough to secure their naturalization
papers. | am informed that in one
precinct in Ashtabula seventy five oi
these men, who were not legal voters
tried to vote. but the Republicans die
not have control of the machinery IL
that precinct and their votes were re-
jected. The same class Of men voted
in hundreds OF other precincts in the
state and their votes were received.
Examination of the facts forces the con
clusion that Bryan carried Ohio by oyei
40 900 votes.
"A similar state of affairs exists In
Indiana, Kentucky, and in California
in fact, in every state that Mr. Hanna
made strong effort TO carry. Where
ever you find state, North or South
where there is an enormous increase in
the vote, you will find that Mr.. Hanna {
agents We're operating there. In all OF
the remainder of the states Of this Union
the increase in the vote is normal and
harmonizes with the present population
and with the experience of the past FoI
while Mr.. Hanna expected to carry
Texas and Missouri, and made some
efforts at number of points in these
states, and it was exactly at those places
where there was an astonishing increase
in the vote. In all other places the in
crease was normal.
"An examination of the figures
shows that a majority Of the legitimate
vote of the country went for Mr.. Bryan.
IN 1892 Mr.. Cleveland carried Illinois
about q 900 plurality. In 1898 Mr..
Bryan received 3s, 900 more votes in
Illinois than Mr. Cleveland did. Mr..
Cleveland lost Ohio by about 900
Mr. Bryan received 70, 900 more votes
than Mr.. Cleveland received, showing
that almost the entire legitimate in
Mr.. Bryan. Mr.. Cleveland carried
Indiana by 7 900. Mr. Bryan received
43 600 more votes than Mr.. Cleveland
did.
I'm Kentucky Mr. Cleveland re-
ceiyed plurality Of 10 600 Mr.. Bryan
received 43 600 more votes than Mr.
Cleveland did. and yet it is claimed he
lost the state. The more the matter is
examined the more glaring the frauds
appear. | am informed by people living
in the South that it has recently devel
oped that during the campaign thou
sands of negroes were taken from diff
ferent places of the South and distrib-
uted in Kentucky West Virginia, Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois.
Il know Mr. Mckinley will be
seated, and so great is the suffering of
our people and SO strong the cry for
relief, that | not only hope that this
administration will be success, but |
most fervently hope that he may be able
to deliver the good times and the pros p
perity that were promised, No matter
how | might otherwise feel about it,,
when nation is in distress and crying
for relief no political jealousy can be
tolerated for a moment. On the other
hand, If our institutions are 10 endure
then steps must be taken TO make it i'm
possible to repeat the work Of last fall
II corruption and crime can control the
elections of America, then the flag has
been robbed Of its glory, the doom OF
the toiler is sealed, and the future gen
erations will simply be born in
sorrow.