The Forrest City times., 1898-07-15
The Presidency was Stolen.

- ~" ua9 ago IOf the pur
pose OF nominating several candi-
dates for state Offices, the tariff
and free silver declarations of the
Chicago platform were reaffirmed.
and William Jennings Bryan was
recognized as the ''leading expo
nent OF the principles of our party.
Something of a sensation was
created when in strong speech
Gov. AltgeId charged that the
presidency had been stolen from
Mr.. Bryan in 1896, and offered the
following facts in support of his
assertion:
When the election returns came
they were against us. The reports
from the polls show that the re.
publican party had been supported,
first, by the negroes; second, by
the very ignorant foreign vote,
which could be controlled by
bosses; third, that all the pur-
chased votes were gwen to that
ticket, for there was no fund on
the other side; fourth, that all the
fraudulent voting had been done
in favor OF that side; fifth, that
every laboring man that could pos
sibly be coerced or frightened by
his employer had voted that tick ct;
sixth, that the entire hanging-on
class, which has forever chung to
the skirts of wealth, had voted for
that party. But even then it APP
peared that thirty thousand more
votes properly distributed would
have changed the result. When
the facts came more completely to
light, then it appeared that glgan-
tic frauds and crimes against the
ballot had been committed.
For example, Mr. Cleveland had
carried Kentucky in 1892 by 10000
majority. In 1896 our candidate
tor the presidency received nearly
$4,000 more votes than Mr.. Cleve-
land received, yet the state counted
for Mckinley. Mr.. Cleveland car
ried Indiana by 1000. Our candi-
date in 1896 received 43 900 more
votes than did Cleveland, yet the
state was counted for Mckinley.
Ia Ohio there were apparently
80, 600 more votes returned than she
had male inhabitants over 81 cars
of age. A year later, in 1897, in
the senatorial contest in that state
the campaign was one of the most
intense ever held and there had
been one years increase Of popu-
lation, yet there were 10000 less
votes polled than had been re-
turned in 1896 in that state. And
the same conditions were found TO
exist in some of the other states,
which made It conclusive that had
there been an honest counting the
results would have been better.
In this city of Springfield, prior to
the election, there was such a
heavy registration as to lead to
the conviction that fraud was con-
templated, yet in the Second pre-
cinct Of the First ward there were
on election day 1872 men sworn in
whose names had never been reg
istercd. These mch were nearly
all negroes. Nobody knew any
thing about them. Their votes
were challenged but the repubIi-
can officials simply laughed at tie
challenges and accepted the votes
Of these strangers. At how many
other precincts In the city they
voted ! do not know. When the
election was over they disappeared.
Six months after the election there
was census made of the popula-
lion Of this city, and it was found
that they lacked 1900 of having rs
many legal voters as there had
been votes returned at the previ-
GUS election. From nearly all Sec
tons of the state came reports
showing that every conceivable
method of fraud had been practiced
at the polls. In Chicago alone
there were upwards of 10000
votes returned that were never
legally cast. No honest man can
examine the reports of that elec-
ton without being convinced that
our candidate was actually elected.
A practice has grown up in Chi
cago and in counties where repub-
licans control the selection Of
grand juries and the prosecuting
machinery, of bribing election
fficials in certain precincts and
promising protection against prose
cution, and thus getting false
counts by which certain eandi-
dates. are given from twenty TO