The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1901-04-19
HOW ST. LOUIS
WENT FOR WELLS.


From the Political Review.
We wandered down to one Of
the precincts In the Fourth ward
In the afternoon. Around
the corner from the polling place
stood two express wagons Allied
with rude seats constructed Of
pieces Of board and some boxes.
"wherc are the occupantsf" We
asked one Of the drivers. "Around
the ccrncr voting" he said. We
approached the polling place to
find . line Of 20 or Is men waiting
to be voted.
During the interval a carriage
rolls up to the curb; on Its back 1t
bears a placard Jefferson Clubs"
a burly negro and a tough ward
heclcr step out. ''Is all ready"
he says; sis the gang herep" An
Affirmative answer IL given. He
approaches the door and grcets the
police oficer stand there. Enter
ing the booth for a moment or two
he energies with slips Of paper In
his hands. "Boys, come In and
have a drink" he says. The
"boys" are ready and willing to
respond. Seldom In their lives
are such opportunities offered.
Such wealth displayed, such q
chance to have q good time. We
enter into conversation with one
Of them, n slim built young man.
He says:
"This Is the twenty-sixth time /
have voted to-day. This Is a snap;
no trouble at all. ] am onl, 10
years OF age, but l get 81 for the
days word, and a drink at every
polling place."
"What Is the METHOD" we ask
him.
"why, 1t is dead easy" he says.
"You see we are all registered
from a certain house; for instance
In this precinct we are all register
cd from this saloon. The leader
hands US slip Of paper bearing the
name We are to vote and all we
have to do Is to say we are John
Jones' or William Brown or any
other name that happens to be on
the slip, and they have to vote
US"
After refreshing ourselves we go
back to the polling place, Every
thing Is ready the police push the
respectable citizen aside to permit
the Indians" 10 vote, because
there Is necessity for haste. "This
Is u large city and we have to make
the rounds" the leaders say. All
ter witnessing the voting here we
are invited to enter the carriage
and pr cecd to the next polling
place, where the same methods are
used. We finally draw up front of
dad" Jack Williams own pre-
cinct polls. Here everything is
quiet. The ''Indians" are voted
without any protest whatever and
orders are giving to drive to a dis
tant portion of the city.
Why was not a protest make,
you say9 What for, to have your
brains beaten out by a gang OF
toughs who had orders to kill, II
necessary, and who were assured
that II Rolla Wells was elected
they would not be prosecuted. We
appeal to the police. The CHIEF
sends out detectives, but the "In.
dians" have gained such a start or
us that we fail to find them. We
give II up In disgust and return to
headquarters, wondering II there
Is any law and justice In this great
city. Whether there Is any Ameri-
canism left to our people; and We
also wonder how long they will
tolerate such work.
"Is this the only method YOU
have uscdp" we ask one leader
during the rounds. "No," he re.
piled, sin wards where we hav,
Republican judges and clerks, and
where there Is a large Republican
vote polled, we have stuffed tn,
ballot boxes. You remember, we
were told that in certain precincts
the poll books and boxes were to
be given to the Democratic judges
twenty-four hours before the poll.
opened. What vas easier thar
placing the proper number of bal
lots in the box before the polls
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