Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-02-26
SHOES TRADED FOR VOTES.
Didn't Gall That Bribery Out in Old
 Missouri.

A~HNAA SHA' AAAl oAiDSAS oot All oSS
 Missouri.
 In the middle of the~ last century the dreadful word bribery" was not used with the horror that 1t is in -Ais- souri now. Candidates thought noth. ing of putting a barrel of whiskey at some convenient point for the voters, or even lending them a few dollars. Major Tom Moody of Macon county tells of an election in 1854 in which a candidate won his way into the state legislature by a judicious distribution of plough shoes.
 "William E. Moberly and John Hall stead were the rival candidates" said Major Moody. 'Blooming on, the county seat, was the only voting place. It made long trip for some of the voters, and they were not to be blam- ed for failing to exercise their right of suffrage unless the men who received their votes made it worth while.
 "Moberly was a whig and Halstead an ardent democrat. I was helping Moberly. The day before election we had a long and earnest consultation as to the best way of getting the re- mote voters to the polls. The indica- tions were the vote would be close. Both candidates were popular and they had made a thorough canvass.
 Ut happened that when l first came here located in the eastern part of the county and knew a number of men there. That is where We looked for the greatest apathy on account of the distance from Bloomington. But they would be willing to vote for either candidate who would furnish the way to get to the polls.
 ''In those days most of the farmers worked in tneir bare. feet ill W erm wea tber, but of course they wouldn' t go to town that way. That gave us an idea. Gold weather would soon be on, and the farmers would be needing shoes.
 ''Moberly went to general mer' chandise store and bought a sack of the red leather variety. They cost GO cents pair and were daisies as shoes went then. They were assorted sizes, but all large To make the campaign complete I took along couple of horses for the more decrepit to ride.
 T started so as to be on hand at daybreak. First I sent four men over to Bloomington on the horses, ri ling double. with instructions to get back in time for another trip. Of course they understood they were indebted to Moberly's munificence for trip to town. y
 'Then I shouldered my sack and circled through the country. The red leather shoes did the business. When I'd strike a member of the advance guard of civilization he'd hail me.
 "'What ye got in tn sack, neigh borY
 '' 'Kickers.'
 ".Naw! Snllin' 'emT
 "'Giving 'em awayv
 "'Honest? Let's take look
 'Td drop the sack. and after he'd cleaned the dirt off his feet he'd try on a pair about his size and strut around in them. f.-s
 ''Like 'em? I'd ask.
 "'Ye bet
 " they're your'n if you'll take lit tie walk
 I'm yours. Where do I go?'
 Bloomington "#
 "Then he'd whistle for ill some cases it meant from thirty forty miles to the round trip. As he hesitated I'd tell hnn what time they were hay ing there; all the bands were out, speeches were being made and at night they'd have a bonfire. All he had to do was. to walk over and vote for Mo- berly and the shoes were his-b"si 'es having a gay old time at the county seat with notl6ng to pay for it.
 Tt fetched em in every instance. No other guarantee of the performance of the contract was required than the simple word Of the voters to be, and not man went back on his barrain. Their consciences were entirely clear in the deal.
 Before the afternoon came l found men that would fit every pair of sh1 es in the sack. and a line of ratr'ots was strung out all the way from Salt River to Bloomington to cast their ha lots for the man with an i7ea that was bet ter than giving whskey or tobacco
 ''AIoberlv was elected by majority that exactly fitted the gift shoe d'stri- button. There was a celebration ana everybody was hanpy-Inore especially the unfettered voters with the snoes. Nobody would have dreamed of calling that bribery. I think the term aD- piled to it in those days was lection eering."