Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1906-10-05


or honesty OF the claim. 1t would seen
that this is about what Col. Slemp did
IN the o9th congress-, since the record
shows that he introduced FORTY
EIGHT SUCH BILLS of which numb.
or ONLY NINE WERE PASSED. and
the presumption Is at least pp,N,
FAcIE, that THIRTY-NINE OF them
were either dishonest or without merit
ana represented ATTEMPTED graft on Tn,
part OF the intended beneflciarics As
has been stated above, Col. Slemp's
activity in the matter of private bills
ana cia'ms against the treasury, was
not solely for the benefit OF others Inn,
ne had MIR. Brownlow, OF Tenn. 10 nj
Tempt To pass such "A hin "to pay
campbell Siemp $1,000 for legal ex.
pehses alleged to have been incurred
IN an alleged election contest with VIM
+. khea. The facts about this nlleoed
contest are of record i'm the Sunrcn,c
Court OF Richmond, and have been
carefully examined 10y the writer. There
were two cases. both petitions for
i'i'hdamuF, one against the "Com-
'h'ssloners OF Election" of Washington
county, seeking TO compel them In
leconVene and include the retu,ns or
1he Judges OF election OF "Mendota
Precinct in the vote of that county
(which said Commissioners hnd nre-
viously excludedD; and the other cose
was against the same officers OF Rms
sell county, and sought the same
remedy as to four precincts In that
county; both cases involved only 237
Slemp votes, the object of each WINS
merely to compel the Commissioners
OF Election Of the two counties to I'm.
clude the votes OF these precincts os
they were returned 20 them NV tbo|
Judges of election OF the said precincts
The cases were not defended either,
py the commis sioners or Mr.. Rbeo
ana no answer was put In by any one.
No dispositions were needed or tol,en
ana the case was decided upon Col
SIemp's own petition and the exhibits
COL Slemp's counsel only fled one
brief in the two cases and this wos NOT
quite one and half pages. The print
cot record OF both cases is only 81 pages
ana this includes all the exhibits. the
latter being the returns OF the iudges
of election OF the five precincts includ-
ing the names OF all the voters who
voted Mt those precincts at TINT cleo
ton. As stated above there WIS no
real controversy in either case, and the
legal questions involved We're 80 piain
and simple as to have required little
labor or investigation. Col. SIemn
was represented by four law firms who
signed as his counsel, but Il Is believed
that only two of them actually acted
or did any work in the case or made
any charge for work
Now, these are the cold facts OF
record as To this alleged contest" for
which Col. Slemp sought TO have con-
gress allow him 81 800. IL is not be-
lieved to be possible that this "contest"
could haye cost Col. Slemp i'm actuaI
"eXpenses" as much as $500. III il did
he can doubtless show 1t. 1t was an
illegal demand even If he had actually
expended the whole 81 800, (see Revis-
ed Statute OF u. S. Sec. 1901 and as
such WAS TURNED DOWN BY HIS
OWN POLITICAL COLLEAGUES. If
he asked for $1,000 when he had
actually expended or had become
BONA FIDE and legally liable for
LESS AMOUNT, THEN 1T WAS A
PIECE OF ATTEMPTED GRAFT
pure and simple. Will Col. Slemp ex.
plain how he managed to spend 81 800
In these cases, and if he cannot. then
why he attempted to recover $1,000
from the government
There are political partizans and
parasites in the ranks OF both parties
who will always support their party
platform no matter how vicious. and
their NOMINEES, no matter how unfit or
disreputable he may be, and to such
as these there is no higher law than
the party whip, especially when the
party boss is standing behind a bar
gain counter; but it is believed that
large majority OF the voters OF this
district, without regard to party afriH-
ations) are men Of character, intelli-
gence, courage and independence, 1.-THE
four ear-marks Of imperial manhoodl
who will never mortgage their right to
think nor dclega the duties they owe
themselves and their fellow citizens. TO
any political organization. TO men of
this type it is not sufficient TO point. las