New-York tribune., 1910-12-31
|OH|O WOMEN AGGR|EVED
Deny They Instigated Vote Sell.
ing to Get City Finery.
INDICTMENTS NUMBER 1.247
Last Two Political Leaders Pay
Up - Adams County Now
Purged of Political Jobbery.
rBv re,erraph TO The Tribune. !

West Union, Ohio, Dec 30.-The women
of West Union are claiming the credit :o'
the work Of cleansing Adams County poll
tics. Up to date there have been indicted
in this county 1.247 men, either for the sale
of their votes or for the purchase of votes
The women OF West Union and the sur
rounding country are indignant over q re-
port that they had urged the men to take
money for votes in order to provide money
to buy them the ineries possessed by city
women.
I'VE have worked long and hard, in fact,
for the last ten years to purge Adams
County of this corruption" said Mrs Mel
lie Plummer, president of the West Union
Womens Christian Temperance Union, TINS
evening And now that our hope has come
true. now that the ballots will be counted
in the future without any ta1nt or th1s
money business, / and my sister workers
are very happy women. We have lons
kept our husbands away from the booths,
that is, those Of US who had any lnnuence
with them, and had intended to keep them
away until such an investigation came
Each Of us has for years been a speciai
committee of one to protest against this
sale of the ballot"
Come UNLIMITED and Unindieted.
When Judge Blair opened court to-day
dozen men tramped into the courtroom ana
without the slightest evidence of shame
confessed that they had sold their votes
for trifing sums. Forty other men. unin-
vited and unindicted, have come to the
courthouse to enter guilty pleas. not know
ing whether or not the grand jury had re-
ported their names and not wishing to take
any chances at appearing dilatory. They
simply wished to clear their skirts.
Judge Blair said to-day that the investi-
CATION was going to continue, and that 1t
might be two or sthree months before 1t
was concluded. Although the county will
have a new prosecutor in Frank Shively
the first of the year. 1t was announced that
the present corps of attorneys would con-
tinue in charge Of the investigation. A few
men, knowing that the court has the
goods on them," have left the county. If
they are caught 1t is expected 1t will go
hard with them.
courthouse to plead guilty?" was asked of
one of the vote sellers.
There are two reasons" was the an
swer. In the first place, we know the
court has the goods on us. In the second
man of his word. If he says we will get
immunity we know we will get it. We have
had experience with him before
Judge Blair has adopted a uniform scale
in dealing with those who plead guilty. He
assesses a fine of s25, and Immediately sus-
pends $40 Of the fine, to be held over the
head Of the accused person for any future
offence. He also hands out a six months
workhouse sentence. which is also suspend
ed. The third section of the penalty or the
court is five years disfranchisement
The following notice was ordered inserted
to-day in every paper in Adams county by
Judge Blair and Prosecutor Stephenson, in
their effort to Investigate the election
frauds further:
We ask all citizens who have knowledge
OF any persons who received money at the
last election and who are not coming in,
or who know of any persons who bought
votes and who has not been in court. or
ceived money at the last election, to let the
undersigned know at once. We will keep
your names in strict confidence and you
will greatly facilitate our work.
ALBION c. BLAIR, Judge.
WILL P. STEPHENSON, Prosecutor.
Adams County may have been shown
up. but it holds the distinction of being
the only county in the state which has been
cleaning house with a vengeance" said
Lucien J. Fenton. foreman of the grand
jury. in commenting on the fact that this
is the only county in the country which is
free of political leaders now. Every one
of these men who made politics their busi-
ness has been fined and disenfranchised; ;
Adams County is SO clean of politicians
that you can't find one in 1t.
I'VE have made especial efforts to get all
of them, and this afternoon the last two
were fined and their votes taken away for
five years. We shall soon have a new
bunch of political workers, but they will be
men who will leave the dollar alone and
seek influence through their friends as
friends"
Evangelist Billy Sunday will come to
Portsmouth on Sunday to conduct a special
series of services, and will come to West
Union to hold meetings in the churches
He will probably make the most of his
opportunity.
Traffic in Votes for Fifty Years.
man ffty-seven years old, who was
fined to-day after pleading guilty, said that
vote-buying conditions have existed in
Adams County since he was boy. Judge
Blair tonight. after a two weeks investi-
Sauon. expressed the opinion that there was
a systematicc arrangement for vote buying
by both the Republican and Democratic
party managers. OF all the voters who
have been before the judge each one said
that he had never been approached by more
than one or two precinct workers. thus IN
dicating that each one had his own list To
look after.
A T1ftin township voter, aged eighty-three
years. admitted to-day that he had sold
his vote for Sill. John Sopher negro
who was among the first to plead not guilty.
and who demanded a trial by jury, admitted
his guilt to-day, paid s5 and costs and was
disfranchised for five years. When frs,
accused. Sopher was extremely indignant
He said that he had voted the straight Re-
publican ticket for years, and had never
been asked to vote for any other ticket
He wept when he found that he had tenn.
porarily lost his citizenship John McNov
a prominent farmer, pleaded not guilty to-
day and demanded a jury trial On his
way home. however, after having gone
about ten miles, he changed his mind re.
turned. pleaded guilty and was fined s1E
and Il liSfr ycbie