The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-02-11
THE REIGN OF DOODLE AND THE
RAPE OE BALLOT IN ST. LOUIS
The Mania for Millions the Desire to Get Something for
the People of Liberty AS Well AS Material Wealth
in The Arana

be returned to Mr.. Turner; they de-
clared they had been bribed to vote
for certain ordinance; they had done
this; that this ordinance proved de-
fective was not their fault; the Subur-
ban roads attorneys had drawn up the
franchise; if the franchise was de-
fective that was the lawyers fault,
not the boodlers'; they had given their
votes according to contract, conse-
quehtly they insisted on having their
position as this offered little chance Of
friendly adjustment and when the
boodlers' clamor grew too loud, when
they threatened to make a leak" as
to the safety-vault box with it's
precious package of thousand-dollar
bills, Mr.. Turner took fright and re-
solved to make the leak" himself; it
became a race to the Circuit-Attor-
ney's office to see which side should
turn states evidence first, and Turner
won the race. 1t was despicable role,
that of informer as we'll as self-con-
fessed briber and would-be receiver of
stolen goods, but Mr.. Turner thought
that even that role was better than to
wear felons stripes, so he told
Joseph w. Folk what he knew.
The story of how Circuit-Attorney
Folk produced in court the box with
it's $4,000, how member after member
Of the House of Delegates and the City
Council was tried, and convicted, how
millionaire boodlers like Wainwright
fled to Egypt to escape prosecution,
how boodlers worth only few hundred
thousand dollars, like Kratz and MUIR
rell, fled to Mexico, how Folk secured
an amendment to the Extradition
Treaty with Mexico and caused the
boodlers to be returned, tried and con-
victed-all this has been told to the
world, but it is not so well known how
these startling revelations aroused
honest men on the one hand, while
on the other hand they frightened the
whole brood of political vultures and
drove them in their effort to ruin Folk
and drive him out of public life.
In the outset of the contest the hood
lers started with every odd in their
favor; for a generation men like Char
les H. Turner who amass fortunes by
getting for nothing franchises worth
| millions of dollars had been entrench-
| ing themselves behind a series OF
breast-Works and Notifications. Their
| fortunes being due to rotten legisla-
ton, they tried to see to it that the
! peoples hands were tied so tight as to
| make it impossible for them to undo
the crooked laws that enabled ring
Of "prominent citizens' to rob St.
Louis more mercilessly than the barons
of the Rhine robbed the peasants of
France and Germany. Manifestly, the
best way to accomplish this desire was
to deprive the people of self-govern-
ment of the power to make good laws
and to repeal bad ones. And this the
respectable boodlers-not the petty
thieves satisfied with a paltry $135, 0OC
to be divided by twenty or more men,
bers of city legislature-but the
Charles H. Turner's who wanted $4,000
900 at single ~instalment have done
in st. Louis. st. Louis, the fourth
city of the. Union in population, wealth
commerce and industrial Importance
is to-day as devoid of self-government
at any rate, so far as primary elections
and the choosing Of party candidates
are concerned, as Moscow or Constan-
tinople. True, it's citizens have a. right
to cast ballot in the primary cleo.
ton, but their ballots are cast unde,
the shadow Of policeman's club and
they are counted if at all, by the tools
of one faction of one political party
And that faction is owned body and
soul by prominent citizens of the
Turner stripe who have amassed mil.
lions through Doodle and stolen fran.
chises.
In April, 1901, when the people Of St
Louis arose in what amounted to 6
political revolution and repudiateC
both of the two boss-ridden machines
and elected Public-Ownership ticket
on a platform pledged to the operation
Of street-railways, telephones and Other
public utilities in the interest of thu
people instead of in the interest O.
owners of watered stocks and bonds
the tools of the "Prominent-C Citizen
Ring were entrenched in the Election
Commissioners office; the election
Commissioners and the election Judge!
and clerks had the counting of tn,
peoples ballots and they calmly wrot,
down that their ticket was elected ant
that the craftsmanship ticket wa
defeated. So open? so notorious wa
it that the independent party had won
many of the hired agents of tn
"Prominent-Citize Ring who rape,
the ballot and murdered self-govern
ment in st. Louis did not even tax
the trouble to conceal or to deny thei
methods. One of the minor agent
Of these respectable millionaire receiv
ers of stolen franchises was a certai
Robert Carroll, now Justice Of tn
:. Peace, but formerly a paid employee
and Jealous satellite of the noted Boss
, Col. Edward Butler. Speaking Of tn
, mayoralty election Of 1901, this MI
} Carroll said to the writer: 1--WE had n
{ idea your people amounted to any
, thing, but the votes came in so fas
the boys had to work overtime t
: throw them out For instance, in on
, precinct where we didn't expect an
public-ownership votes to- speak G
there were several hundred. OF cours,
: the boys couldn't stand for that s
, they just threw out the whole lot an