The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-09
THE SHAME OF A GREAT STATE.

dtsreputable political conditions than eNist in Pennsylvania, as evidenced at and pre- ceding the late election. It is enough | to sicken and discourage a lover of good government, and to almost destroy faith in popular suffrage to read the detailed accounts of the rascalty practiced and of the extent to which it was carried.
 Weeks before the election the machinery was being laid in the city of Philadelphia
 to insure the defeat of Pattison. It was l known to the Quay machine that the Democratic candidate was strong in the country outside of Philadelphia. It was
 l;so we'll known that the vote in the coun- try could not be manipulated as it was | in the city. The voters were not so 1 easily reached nor were they so easily in- 1 luenced. To insure the election of Pen nypacker 1t was absolutely necessary to pile up large majority for him in the city, and a majority large enough for the purpose could not be honestly obtaiIi- ed.
 This, then, was the problem to be solved by the Quay machine and the only sure way of solving 1t was to make PhiladeI- phia's majority so large that there could
 he no danger of the result Padding the registration lists was the favorite method More than two months before the election it was known that at least So,ooO false l names had been placed on the registra- ton lists, and that all of them would | be counted for tho Republican ticket It was done in such a way that nothing could be done about 1t till the election | was over and then 1t was useless to ap- peal to the courts. Democrats had noth- | ing to expect from that source Gangs | of repeaters were brought from New York. New Jersey. Delaware and else where and kept busy. In the large negro wards of the city there were squads of | negro workers employed and organized | to- look after their own race, and they did their work faithfully. It is estimated
 by a moderate authority that not less
 than 100000 fraudulent votes were counted for the Republican ticket in the city of Philadelphia alone.
 There have been, it is true. efforts made
 to unearth and expose some of this vil-
 lainy. The "allied committee for good government" as it is styled, has done
 some good work. One method adopted by
 the chairman of the committee was to procure copies of the registration lists and send letters by carriers to the ad- dress given on those lists. The street and number of each voter. or alleged voters, was on the envelope so that the letter carriers would have no difficulty in iind- ing the parties. These letters were for personal delivery only and each was to
 be returned If the party was not found. This was practical and reliable method of ascertaining if the names appearing on
 the registration lists were bona fde citi- zens. The chairman of the committee,
 Mir. Blankenberg, states that 6 per cent
 of the letters were returned marked mot found.' There were no such persons
 at the addresses given. and the inference
 is plain that they were fraudulent Some specific cases are interesting. In one house where forty-four voters were ad-
 dressed by registered letters forty were not found. In another there were forty eight names and forty-one could not be | found. In still another house from which sixty-two voters were registered sixty one letters were returned not at home. ["
 These are a few of the instances where
 definite results were obtained. These voters who were shown by the registra- tion lists to be residents of certain houses either had never been there. or they were only there for the purpose of registering. But all their names appeared on the poll lists and were counted for the Republi- can candidate. This was one of the methods used to ohviate any danger Of
 Penny packers defeat. Against such
 villainous methods the Democrats were
 powerless. The machinery was controll-
 ed by the Republicans and protests were
 useless or unheeded. The triumph of the
 machine was assured with as much cer-
 tainty as that a mechanical engine will
 do certain work
 How people can continue to submit to
 this species of rascality is the problem.
 for this is no new thing. It has been
 practised before, but not perhaps to such
 an extent as was done on this occasion.
 There must come time when the really
 honest people of Pennsylvania, not only
 Democrats, but Republicans, will revolt
 and overthrow such enemies to good gov
 ernment, though the prospects now are
 not at all encouraging. It was hoped that the time had arrived when Mir. Pat
 tison was nominated for Governor by
 the Democrats. He was known to be q
 clean and well qualified man, who had
 once been Governor of his State. There
 had been loud pretensions made by
 prominent Republicans to the effect that
 they were sick of election scandals and
 would join in any effort to smash the
 machine and get rid of what had become
 most disgraceful condition.
 The result shows just what sincerity
 there was in these pretences or what
 chance honest men have against Repub-
 lican methods in that State. A Republi-
 can plurality of 150O0O or more doesn't
 look as if the reform element was very
 sincere. or else it is much weaker than
 had been claimed. How long such q dis
 credtable condition of affairs will he sub
 solve, but it will go on till the people,
 without regard to party lines or party
 affiliations, unite to overthrow the