The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-29
HARRISON SPEAKS IN DUNKIRK
ODELLISM AND HOOKERTSM
RELENTLESSLY EXPOSED.
He Recites the Scandals In ChautauauA
County and in the State which Gave
Birth TO the Two wards, and Said Only
Cure Was to Defeat Them NJ Polls.

county and In the state Wnlcn Oefo
Birth to the Two wards, and Said Only
Cure Was to Defeat Them nj Polls.
DUNKIRK, Oct. 2s-An indictment Of
Odellism, based on Hookerism-this Is
what the good people who gathered to listen
to Congressman Francis Burton Harrison,
Citizens candidate for Lieutenant Governor.
heard tonight in form which kept them
alternately thrilling with indignation and
shouting for the punishment of the ring.
When Mr.. Harrison finished the story OF
the Governors stony refusal to give hear
ing to the good men and true who have
begged him to take cognizance Of the Hooker
scandals. there was tenseness and grim
ness about the applause and cheering
mind on election evening
The meeting was in Nelson's Opera House.
The capacity OF the house Is I,50o. Before
County Chairman Walter H. Edison escorted
Mr.. Harrison out upon the stage there was
not standing room left anywhere in the
place. Crowds were fighting outside to
get in. Two bands and a fireworks COM
mittee we're trying in in to make a counter
attraction to stop the crush. T. p. Hef-
fernan, who presided, summoned MIR. Har-
rison forward in storm OF cheering and
applause the like Of which is seldom seen
outside the great cities OF the State.
After outlining the Democratic national
issues and explaining many of the State
issues, Mr.. Harrison came to the general
subject OF commercialism in politics. He
said in conclusion:
This commercialism takes the form Of
wastefulness and extravaganza at Wash
ngton. In this State we have vast num-
Der Of instances where 1t takes tho form Of
wanton rccklessne S. which as a candidate
may not supplement with a more serious
accusation. The condition is described
by a word not OF Democratic coinage,
word first uttered by Republicans with
ing in the grip OF machine which they
believed was destined to pervert and crush
their historic party in this State-tho word
is Odelism. IApplause.l Elsewhere sim
liar conditions have been described as
commercialism in politics. Laugh ter.l 1t
is name easily derived in this State from
the name OF Governor who promised to
the State a business administration and
kept that promise In his own peculiar and
berehcent way. Laughter and applause.l
Il have been all over this State In the
last few weeks. have hardly been In a
county which has not been suffering under
some manifestation of the civic disease
which we are now seeking to root out. In
some counties It has been canal corruption,
In others It has been that peculiar dis
pensation OF providence known as the
Highwayman Manual deal, in others it
has been the fsh net certificate forgeries
and in others the abuse Of power over the
pauper sick and insane wards of the State
Here in Chautauqua county you have
your own manifestation OF the disease,
and you suffer under 1t most grievously.
do not come here to formulate charges
against any citizen Of otficeholder Of Chau-
tauqua county; you are far more familiar
with the state OF things here than am
The facts which rehearse here are mat
tors CT public record In the archives Of the
State and nation.
THE report Of the Third Assistant Post
master-General, Republican--an honest
Republican, and not OF type OF which l
have nothing to say llau ghterl-has In it
a most interesting passage concerning the
results of an investigation in Chautauqua
county. After recounting the facts regard
ing the padding Of the payrolls in various
post offices by the entering upon them Of
tools and relatives Of instruments of the
Republican machine Of this, State and
going with some detail into the facts re-
garding the lease Of the post office build
ing here to the Government at an excess
sive rental, which was made more and
more excessive every few months there
after, Mr.. Bristow says: 1t will be OBJ
served that instead Of using the authority
given by Congress to make long term
leases to secure better buildin gs for less
money, 1t has been used for the benefit
of grafters, who seek to pilage the reve-
nue.
who are the grafters2 The word is not
mine. Like that other word, Odellism,
it is Republican word. Mr.. Bristow
names Lester F. Stearns as the principal
beneficiary OF the lease. IJeersl Steans
is Gov. Odell's Tax Commissioner Tho
Brooklyn Eagle a conservative newspaper
after an exhaustive investigation charged
this same Stearns with havirg used his
office to discriminate against certain cor
porations which were in competition with
former clients Of Mr.. Steans. The New
York Tribune, a steadfast Republican organ
reproduced the charges and called on Gov
Odell to take cognizance Of the charges.
But there has been no attention paid to the
plea.
-Bristow said 'grafters,' not CRATER.
Who were the others3 l will leave that
to the record of the mass meeting held
at jamestown and to the charges of the
jamestown Bar Association against Warren
B. Hooker. lJeers and applause.l This
mass meeting and the bar association
afterward charged Warren B. Hooker with
being the partner of Stearns in the post
Office deal and charged that relatives and
debtors OF Mr.. Hooker were carried on
the post office rolls without rendering
service. In those resolutions occurs the
following paragraph QRemember again
that the men who passed these resolutions
were not Democratic politicians seeking
to make partisan issue):
"Resolred. That we will neither recognize
nor follow the leadership Of the said Benjamin
b. Odell. or any other man who stands sponsor
for the system of grating represented by the
said Warren b. Hooker and the said Lester
B. Stearns.
1.-THE resolutions also recite that these
charges were repeatedly brought to the
attention Of the Governor and that he