Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-24

| names of all citizens. which have been used
4 at the polls instead of registration lists
| a. In other cities These lists are made OUT
/ by precincts, with the residence OF each
/ voter, and furnished few days previous to
l each election to the judges of election. who
| have the right to assume that they are ac-
| curate and that every man whose name ap-
| pears is entitled to vote.
| LAS a fact, however almost everybody
| in Philadelphia knows that these lists have
| been padded with anywhere from sixty to
| seyenty-five thousand fictitious names.
| These names were furnished to the assess
| ors by the division (precincD captains OF
| The Organization who retained copies and
| assigned men to vote under them whenever
| there was any doubt about the result or
| an election. Each repeater was furnished
| with list of the names he should vote
| under, with their fictitious places of resi-
| dence and such other information as would
| allow him to answer questions which might
be asked at the polls. Many of the names
are those of dead men. taken from the
tombstones in the cemeteries; many more
were taken from hotel registers, .others
| from directories of neighboring cities: while
some Were purely imaginative. Occasion
ally you can find glimpse of humor in
the prosaic lists. such as Thomas Gait
Hittam Again, b. E. Gorrah and others.
These phantoms were given residences in
the different precincts at the houses Of
rich men, and where women lived, IL
they were servants. Nearly every one of
the large residences in the fashionable quar-
ter is given the home of six or eight
fictitious voters. Others were located In
tenement houses, lodging houses houses of
i'll fame, stables, saloons, barber shops,
cigar stores and every other possible place.
Six men were registered from a little grave
yard down in the business part of the city.
and their names were actually taken from
the tombstones. This assignment of RESI-
dences was often done very boldly. A
small house at S03 Race street was put
down as the residence of 122 voters. Hun
dreds were voted from the hotels. In the
hotel districts half the names on the lists
were fictitious or were those OF strangers
taken from the registers.
Need Of the Phantom Voters.
''The judges Of election two republicans
and one democrat always selected by the
gang) were trained men, familiar with the
system They have been in practice SO
long. and the repeaters SO familiar with
their duties that everything has gone
smoothly. The police were also familiar
with the methods and assisted whenever
their services were required. They owed
their appointments to the republicen leaders
and knew what was expected OF them.
why did they need .ntse padoeu listS?'
asked. Philadelphia has always been
republican city; It has always given
big majority for the republican ticket:
why was 1t necessary to use fraud and en-
ploy repeaters to roll up a big vote?''
SO that the good people of the city might
realize continually that 1t would be Lse-
less for them to overthrow the gang" said
MIR. Barrett. philadelphia is a very con-
sentative city. Large numbers of our
people take little interest in politics and sell
dom go to the polls. This class OF citizens
has grown larger, year by year, because
they have become convinced that the gang
Is all-powerful and that it Is indeed useless
for them to oppose 1t. To emphasize and
encourage that phase of public opinion the
gang have rolled UP the votes and have
offered prizes to ward clubs and district
leaders for the biggest majoritles.
ha mo nhf Ina. hos
affair" continued Mr.. Barrett 1T has
been a matter of business as we'll as poll
tics. The leaders have had control of the
city treasury and all the city business, and
one after another have gotten rich from
those sources and retired from active par
ticipation in politics. To make themselves
secure, to keep the control of the elections
to prevent the success of the spasmodio
revolutions that are occurring from time to
time, 1t has been necessary for them to
maintain their organization and machinery
and keep their men in training
Nearly 10000 Illegal Voters.
How many names have been stricken off
the voting lists? ' I asked.
About thirty-eight thousand"
How have you done it?"
we have made a door to-door canvass
with the assessors lists in our hands We
nave nrst asked the names Of the adult &C.
cuDants of the house. Then we have in
Ara
on the 1sts as living at those houses The
largest number of the fictitious voters were
unknown at the places where they were said
to reside Between seven and eight hundred
proved TO be former residents of the houses
given, but they were either dead or had
moved away. Some of them had been dead
Tor ten and twenty years. Thus when our
canvass Is complete, we will have an accu-
rate list or all the lawful voters in Phila-
dephia, but the county commissioners who
under the laws, have authority to prepare
| the voting lists, have refused TO Strike off
th9usands OF names which we have fur
nIshed them as phantoms. One of the mem
| pers or the board is Mr. Donnelly a demo-
| cratic leader. who was chairman of the con-
vention that indorsed the city ticket and We
are cohndent that he Will do the fair thing
as far as he Is able. Another member is
hugh Black. He belongs to the gang. but
| is an honest man, except In politics. The
| third Is Jake Widermere a gangster of the
worst sort. These men will make I'm the
| voting lists for the use Of the Judges Of eler-
| ton on the 7th Of November, but we have
the right OF challenge and will use II I'm
every case.
Will Watch the Polls.
We shall have watchers at every nolI
with lists of names Of fictitious voters oh
talneo Dy our canyaSsers, and every man
VINO attempts to vote on one of those names
Will have trouble. We have also applied
TO the courts for official overseers. The con-
stitution Of Pennsylvania gives the courts
OF common pleas authority to appoint two
ope sIst tor each election district upon the
application OF five lawful voters, who take
oath mat they believe that fraud Is intend
ca. ihese overseers are the official repre-
sentatiVes or the court. and are required TO
report every attempt at fraud and the
name or every voter whose right of fran
chise Is questioned. These reports are made
the OASIS OF proceedings in case the legality
or an election Is questioned
IN this way we are trying to get an
ZONES! eiectioh. We make no secret of
the gang VIII use their customary methods
ana show their well-known shrewdness
hey ,. they will be cautious, and their
tools and agents In the different a 'stricts
reailze the danger of violating the laws
rive district leaders of the gang have re-
eehtiy oeeh sent to the penitentiary. Twelve
OF fifteen more are under Indictment and
awaiting trial One Of the convicted gang
STEERS was Barney Strauss. a notorious char
aeter OF New York city. who was Imported
Tor special reasons at the last eIectInn