The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-13
A srcKENING REVELATION.


discoveries in connection with the st.
Louis scandals. the more sickening do
they become. In New York and Penn
sylvania there have been scandals as
foul and more extensive. but we had
hoped that no one of the old Southern
States would be defiled and disgraced
by such matters. That hope Is shat
tered, for the st. Louis exposures show
conditions as bad as any that have exist
ed in any other section. That they have
not reached such proportions as they did
in other places Is because the interest
involved were not SO extensive or of such
magnitude.
That nineteen members of the munich
pal legislature of st. Louis should have
Joined themselves together in a secret as
ISOLATION. the object of which was to sell
their official influence and votes to a
corporation. was bad enough. but some OF
ing. Binding themselves by the most
solemn oaths to vote and act as the
combine demanded and swearing not to
reveal any of the secrets connected with
the combination. they add this para
graph:
And I do solemnly swear that in case
that l should reveal the fact that any
person in this combine has received
money. l hereby permit and authorize
forfeit of my life in such manner as they
may deem proper, and that my throat
may be cut, my tongue torn out and my
body cast into the Mississippi River.
Reading this the mind is carried back
to the bloody oaths and obligations of
the fictitious or real pirates and bril-
and we wonder how it is possible that
men Of such standing in community
that they could be elected to important
and responsible positions, could sink so
low as to enter into a secret and OATH
bound association to commit a crime.
mails Is plain. or they would not have
taken such pains to conceal their acts,
and that they knew they were subject
ing themselves to prosecution and pun
ishment is equally plain, when we con-
slider the fearful penalties they invoked
on themselves in case they proved traitors
to their comrades. 1t was such an
organization as could only be expected
from the lowest and most depraved strata
of the criminal population.
But we should not lay all the blame on
the men belonging to the combination,
nor should they bear all the punishment
1t is not to be supposed that this COM
bination originated with the men who
been formed without an assurance that
there were those who would be benefited
by their acts and who were willing to
pay for their villainy. These nineteen
men had nothing to sell unless they could
find a purchaser. and they were not Of
fering their wares in the open market.
They knew where they could sell their
honor and their influence. They knew
who were. or were to be. the purchasers,
and just what those purchasers expected
to get for their money. The corporations
which wanted certain laws passed of
which they were to be the beneficiaries,
and who knew that such legislation could
not be secured openly, are the principal
criminals In this altogether damnable af-
fair. They found men who could be
bought and they bought them. They
wanted certain laws or ordinances passed
and they bought enough lawmakers to
put their dirty work through.
What will be the result we cannot say.
The prosecuting attorney and the grand
jury are evidently doing their duty and
are apparently determined to convict and
punish the men who sold themselves, but
can they punish the purchasers? We
doubt it. There is money and power and
influence behind the primary criminals
which may save them from the felon's
stripes, more's the pity. If those who
originated the vile scheme, who did the
engineering and supplied the funds. can
be put in the docks along side their vic
Tins, 1t will furnish a spectacle which
will be edifying and encouraging to lovers
of equal and exact justice, and which
may act as a deterrent to others who
would go in for Doodle legislation. 1t is
a foul affair, in every way, and good
people everywhere will pray that justice
may triumph.