The Savannah morning news., 1901-03-17
LOST [ BY A TRICK
oval SUPPORTERS OF McALPIN
DISCUSS HIS DEFEAT.
HEELERS SOLD HIM OUT.
OPPOSITION SPENT HIS MONEY ron
sCREVEN VOTES.

of Both Sides Agree That Some Me-
Amin Heelers Sold Out TO the OPP
,.osition and That They Landed
votes for Screven and Paid for
Them with Orders Upon the Nc
Amin Treasury-Trick Not Suspect
al Until AFTER Polls Were Closed.
same LnuEhabIe Stories of the
Election Day.
COON. deep and black, brooded yester-
dav over that section Of Capt. McAlpin's
snnport which had been loyal to him
during the election. Those who were
sa,d to have sold him out made what
,retense they could of being stricken
with sorrow by reason of his defeat.
v,om this distance and in the light cast
rnon past circumstances by more recent
events and the statements of partici-
,ants. 1t is easy to see that both Meal
,,n and Wells were sold out by the heel
ers of the two opposing parties. With the
number of votes that were counted on
for McAlpln it is impossible to account
for the size of Screven's majority save
nv the supposition that some of the men
smnIoyed to get votes for McAlpin, used
tbe wherewithal for the other side.
Bv the leaders of both factions this is
said to be the true explanation. When
a voter. who had been Influenced" had
cast his vote, under the eye Of the heller
who had made the deal, he would be given
nm order for what he was to receive,
which would be paid him at the head
quarters of the candidate for whom he
had cast his ballot. This was the plan,
usual at all elections, and was pursued
by both sides
It now seems that some Of the men
who were loudest in their praises of Nc
Alpin and apparently most anxious that
he should be elected had been secured by
the opposition. They kept in the Meal
pin ranks and landed votes as rapidly as
they could. The only change was that,
instead of getting votes for McAlpin, they
were TO get them for Screven, and give
orders upon the McAlpin treasury.
When they had made arrangements for
vote, they would hand the voter fold
ed ticket, which he would be instructed
to deliver to the managers. Confident that
he was voting for the right man, he would
stalk up to the polls and hand in the
still folded ticket. The twice-subsidized
worker, Of course, had seen 20 1t
that the vote was for Screven
for ordinary. All the tickets
used were of exactly the same
size and shape, and the plan worked
like a charm. The managers representing
McAlpin at the boxes did not seem to
suspect the trick, which indeed was not
suspected at all until after the polls were
closed, and therefore were blissfully un-
conscious of what was happening Not
until they began to count the votes did
they realize that the ballots for which
McAlpin money had been paid bore Screw
en- 5 name.
The plain truth of the matter is that
nobody ABOUT che POLLS save those friends
Of Screven sufficiently high in the coun-
ellis Of the faction, thought, at the close Of
the polls, that Screven had been elected
by more than very small majority. That
his majority was 3Sl was almost as mucn
Of SUI prise to his friends, save the
small number who were in the secret, as
it was to his opponents.
The causes of Mr.. Wells defeat were
discussed at length in yesterdays Morn
ing News and there is little to add to
what was then said. Mr. Wells himself
said that the Morning News explanation
OF the hgnt for the tax cOllectOrShip was
in his opinion exactly correct. AS one
of his friends sa d, for man to be fur
nishing the money which the heelers
whom he employed used to buy votes for
his opponent, is too much of a load for
man to carry. What was true Of Nc
Alpin was true of Wells; the only differ
ence was that the McAlpin heelers betray-
ed him for money and the Wells heelers
betrayed him because he had excited
their anger by opposing the legislation
they favored.
One of the laughable stories that are
being told. with infinite gusto. is of a
raid made on the McAlpin headquarters
by the Screven heelers. They jumped
through the open door, headed by three
or four of their number. who were par
tcularly- active, cleaned out those in
charge OF the room and captured the
books of accounts. The McAlpln leaders
appealed to the police for protection. and
Lieut. Reilly, with a squad of men. clear
ed the room, and then turned it over to
its propretors. The books of accounts,
however, were retained by the Screven
heelers who captured them, and some of
them were being exh bited around on the
streets yesterday. One of these is said
to have showed the expenditure of more
than $1,000
The knowing ones ascribe the incidents
or the election, which were to the adj
vantage of Screven, to the superior
knowledge of his Campaign Committee OF
the game of politics. The humorous sile
OF the situation is the only one which
appeals to them with any degree of force
with these incidents they point the con-
eiuslon that politics is the most uncertain