The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1907-10-31
C2oTRERs IN HIS OWN BalLIWicK
Charged With Being a Party to Crook
ed Primaries.

Charged With Being Party to Crook
ed Primaries.
The Baltimore News of Wednesday
devoted nearly seven columns on the
last page to a recital of the many and
varied political trickeries Judge austin
L. CrOthers, the Democratic nominee
for Governor, is alleged to have been
playing in Cecil county, since he has
been the accredited leader there. The
article tells of the crooked primaries in
Cecil county in 1903, when many more
Democrats are alleged to have voted
at the primary than were registered in
Cecil county; how Crothers is said to
have controlled the granting of liquor
licenses. charging fee for his services;
how cases against liquor men were
smothered in court; how Crothers is al
legged TO have been mixed in all kinds of
bribery at elections. The News also
charges Crothers with having mixed in
politics since he has been upon the
bench and that he favored the famous
measure in the interest of the Octoraro
Va r and Power Company, a supposed
sui Diary corporation of the Pennsyl-
van railroad, whereby all streams in
the tate could be condemned and the
wa, used and diverted for any purpose
by aid company.
The last great fight between the Gro
theirs and the anti-Crothers factions of
the Democratic party was in 1908, when
Republicans and minors and non-rcsi-
dents wele voted by the Crothers people
in open daylight, when the primaries in
Elkton We're held in Crothers' own office,
when money flowed as it never had be
fore in the county, and when the Gro
theirs people had the window" 1t is
not necessary to produce confessions
from ine nIem who bought or sold votes
on that occasion, because the figures of
the election themselves, shows how
there were more votes cast in that pri-
mary than there were Democrats in the
count
Here are the figures:
For the CrOthers machine ....... 1879
Against the Crothers machine. .... 1880
Total ........ NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1853
AT the election of the proceeding
year, when the Democrats carried the
county by plurality Of 146, the figures
were as follows:
Democrats NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1859
Republicans .....................2 1S4
Total OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 43l4
Here is remarkable increase Of more
than so per cent. in the Democratic
vote. On the basis Of the primary vote,
the Democratic majority in the county
the year before, instead Of the LAG actu-
ally obtained, should have been about
11Z9.
In Elkton, Mr.. Crothers' own town,
where his office was the polling place
the vote polled at the primary of 1903
was SAB, while the Democratic vote
polled at the preceding election was
only 4G6, an astonishing increase Of
more than 80 per cent
In the following election in Elkton,
when Warfeld carried Cecil county
by a majority Of 478, at which an ex-
traoQin&ry 1uil vote was cast, the Dem
ocratic vote was only 634, or 2l3 less
than cast at that primary.
Further, although it is known that
number Of Democrats did not vote in
that primary, although the normal Dem
ocratic majority in the county is not
more than 300, and although there is a
pretty good representation there Of Pro
bitionists and people who never vote in
primaries, the total vote polled in the
primary was more than half Of the total
registered vote Of the connty-white
and black, Republican, Prohibition and
everything else combined.
There is only one explanation Of these
figures, and that is that fraudulent votes
were cast IL that primary Ard tney
could have been cast on counted only by
the Crothers people, for they had the
window they named The election
officials. Their opponents could not
have committed the fraud, if they had
wanted to.
In the securing Of liquor icenes in
Cecil county Mr.. Crothers is alleged to
have played quite an important role.
Mr.. Bayard wanted to get liquor IL
cense in order to open hotel at North
East. Ee got signatures to his petition
in due form and presented his applica-
ton to the Liquor License Commission
ers. Then he, too, was told that he
would have to see Crothers.
81 went to see Mr.. Crothere," said
Mr.. Bayard, ''and his first question
was How much money have your
Il told him l had enough money to
pay the license charge.
" That won't touch 1t, he said.
Akin to this is the matter Of the