The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1903-11-06
THE CRY OF FRAUD,

AS might have been expected, the
Bulletin attacks the integrity of the
late elections in the hope of doing
something for it's friends, the Home
Rulers. With mock expression of
political loyalty it declares that the
Republican party, standing for a free
! ballot and an honest count, cannot
pass over lightly" the wealth of char
ges pointing to corrupt practices in
handling the ballots" And it adds:
''The people are satisfied that up to
the day of the election every act in
dealing with the ballots was strictly
straightforward. The vital doubt is
connected with election day events
All this is mixture of humbug and
treachery, based upon desire to force
Republicans out of office if possible
and put Home Rulers in, who will give
their printing to the Bulletin. More
unfounded charges against Republican
methods were never made than those
which the Bulletin thinly wells as an
appeal to the conscience of the party.
Instead of wealth of accusation"
there is nothing but the usual acid
! blast of epithet from embittered and
perfectly irresponsible men. Ashford
was defeated hence Ashford yells
fraud. George Markham, with his
prophecies all estray, thinks there
must be something wrong" Jimmy
Boyd, with whom the Bulletin was
wont to divide, and whose career of
official blackness was whitewashed
daily by that paper in humble expecta-
tion of more printing favors, also de-
nounces Republican dishonesty"
Charley Wilcox is in the same frame
of mind, and John Wise, hand-in-giove
with the spy whom the Bulletin has
kept for years about Republican head
quarters, is sure that he was counted
out instead of being voted out, as he
was. And it is the empty billingsgate
of these soreheads which the Bulletin
describes as "a wealth of charges
pointing to corrupt practices in hand
ling the ballots Wealth" indeed!
LAS If anything valuable as testimony
exists in the windy naledictions Of a
corrupt and defeated hui, the principal
members of which have never succeed
ed in getting elected to anything and
who, when they run for Office, are al
ways passed along from toe to toe of
Republican boots until they vanish in
the valleys looking for mud to lie in
and then throw.
Since annexation the mere prospect
of defeat has started the cry of fraud.
When wilcox, the first time he ran,
found that he had lost Oahu, he dis
covered offhand that he had been
cheated out of his rights and announ-
ced, the next day, that he would make
contest. When he found that the
other islands had elected him he for
got all about fraud and never men
toned his important Developments
again. Last year it was the same way
and there was more talk of dishonesty
at the polls-a wealth" of hot air
disclosures as it were. Republicans
took no notice of what they regarded
the vaporing came to an end. Pre-
cisely the same phenomenon is occur
ring now, but the Bulletin alone, for
its own indecent purposes, tries to
dignity it into a legitimate complaint
of Republican methods. Nothing
would suit it better than to induce the
-fess that they suspected their own mo-
tives and practices by proceeding to
investigate them. That would be the
strongest kind of a card for the Home
Rulers to whom the Bulletin long ago
sold itself for dfrtier money than the
thirty pieces Of silver which corrupted
its patron saint.
II there is any investigating to be
done-and we are talking now to the
leaders of the Republican party-let !
it go to the Grand Jury where it be-
longs. And let those who make the
charges press them. 1t is not the
business of any Republican to do it,
for that would be an insult to the
party, to common sense and to the
principles of justice. Home Rulers
and their friend the Bulletin say there
has been fraud. Let them prove it, if
they can.
The Advertiser trusts that the re-
port about Judge Kepoikai's purpose to