The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-07-08
Cen Walkers EFort to Gust Judge W.
7. Rhea.

Virginia makes 0,0UO pages. ~ II
being printed. The case bids fair to
be cause celebre 10 the history of
Virginia politics.
If the allegations made on both
s des are true, very remarkall
condition Of alf must exist in the
Ninth District. The charges include
bribery and all other methods OF
corruption, votes cast snd not count
ed and vice versa, ballo,-b0x stnif
ing, threats, prosecutions, and delIb.
crate intimidation. Gen. Walkers ;
summing up the frauds which he al
leges We're prsctlced comprises no
less than twenty seven printed
pages, small type. There is not a
county in the district, and scarcly a
precinct. in which he has not found
ground fer complaint. The district
seems to have been gone over, in
fact, with u fne-tooth comb,
SOME OF THE CHARGES.
Gen. Walkers specifications are
twenty. seven in number. lie first
recites the official vote by couuties,
by which Ruea is given = llu-slity
of 7l9 votes. al charge he says,
in hls first count, that the election
was carried for you by 4 concerted
and presrrsnged system of outrage
Gus frauds, never exceeded in the
history OF contested election eases. "
Aftor this general statement be pro-.
ceeds TO particularize. asserting that
be can prove the refusal Of D5mo-
cratic election Ulcers to register sew
ersl hugdred Republican voters, and
that many more hundreds who had
reg.s cred "were bindred, intimidat-
ed, i'm peded, DISTRACTED, assaulted. f..
arrested. imprisoned. and prevented
IN various ways and by various de
vices and stratsgoms from casting
their ballots for me by partisan, un-
scrupulous mocrstIc election Off
GERS, who were appointed because OF
their intense psrtisanship, and be-
cause Of their well-knOwn friendship
for you."
Gen. Walker further charges that
uearly all the election officers were
Democrats, and that where Republl-
cans were appointed they were per-
sons who we're uufriendly to him, or
s. old ard decrepit that their serviC Q
was farce. lie says that the Dem
ocrsts "procured, hired and corrupt
ly induced tWo negroes to announce
themselves as candidates for Con
gress" IN the district, the purpose
being, Of course, to divide the Re
publican vote. II is charged that
one of these candidates was Thad-
deus L. Harris. who is alleged to
have been given bribe of $500 and
expenses. The other candidate, a
negro name Watkins. was never
heard of until his name appeared on
the ticket, and only after the most
dligent Inquiry was he located as
the head waiter at boarding
SCHOOL,
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS MADE.
Gen. Walkers charges against
the Democratic managers in the dis
triet are very severe. He says that
they deliberately and knowingly vio-
lated the law; that many were inellg'
ible; that others were not sworn, and
that in one instance the ballot box
was kept secretly hidden. He says
that many boys under twenty-one
years of age were allowed to vote,
aud that the polls we're opened and
closed at the sweet will of election
officers. he adds, too, that Demo-
cratic officials intimidated voters bV
threats of prosecution or bribed them
with promises Of employment
threats and promises which, he says,
were faithfully kept.
10 the city of Bristol, according to
Gen. Walker, the registrar, James
A. Stone, "a bitter and INSCRIPTIONS
partisan of Rhea's refused TO allow
the registration books to be seen ard
examined. "The very fact that this
man Stone. registrar and clerk"
comments Gen. Walker, "conces Is
aud hides these. public records in def
auce of the express language of the
statute and of the decisions OF the
Supreme Court of Appeals of Virgin
IA, is prims fscie, if not conclusive,
t vidence that he is conscious of guilt,
aud seeks to protect his evil deeds
from the scrutiny OF the public"
Gen. WelItr cites large number Of
serious charges against Stone, not
the least being that he hired twenty
five men to impersonate registered
voters who were dead. Mr.. Stone,
when be went upon the stand, denied
these charges.
Ia conclusion, Gen. Walker claims
that the plurality of 740 for Rhea
ought to be 600 plurality for
Walker. He cites IN detail the votes
which, being east for Rhea. should
not be counted, or which, having
been cast for Walker, were not count
ed at all. At one precinct in Buch'
anan county, he charges, the Dem
ocrats threatened to kill any man
who voted the Republican ticket,
while in Craig county a Democratic
registrar spent The day buying votes.
In Dickinson county no returns were
give from Willis precinct. although
an election was held there, while in
Giles county " one Republican negro
voter was shot and arrested and i'm
prisoned without warrant" and after
being kept under arrest for several
hours was set free without any charge
against him. la Scott county one Of
the Democratic Judges was con-
victed moonshiner, while at q pre-
cinct in this county there was riot
in which the Republican judges were
shot and badly injured. According
to Gen. Walker, the Democratic
Judges then took possession OF the
polls, hourished their pistols, ana
drove 100 Republicans away.
JUDGE RHEA's DENIALs
The dentists entered by Judge Rhea
to tbsse charges are wholesale in