The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-07-10
ELECTION FRAUDS
 ARE UNEARTHED French Colonies Present Re- { markable Art in Corruption MANY STREET ACCIDENTS M. Lepine, the FamOus Prefect of Po- lice of French Capital, May Re-
 sign Because of Differences
 With the Government
MANY STREET ACCIDENTS

| or voters and stealing of elections gener-
 ally the French colonies not only have
 nothing to learn of the most expert
 American expoIents of the shady side
 of politics, but in view of the disclosures in the examination of the returns from
 Guadeloupe, Martinique and La Reunion, just made by the chamber of deputies.
 these colonists could qualify as teachers
 to any aspirants who wish to learn the
 trick of carrying elections without votes. One result of the election was the un-
 seating of the negro deputy Legitimus, sfamous because he was absent so long
 during the last parliament that his exis- 1 tence was considered as myth by some,
 though he happens to be In Paris just I now. Another consequence may be to ! raise the whole question of the advisa- l bility of any parliamentary representa-
 tion for the coonies-at least, those of l the West Indies.
 \ Apparently no electoral campaign ever | takes place in Guadeloupe and Martin I ique unaccompanied by fire and slaugh- i ter. This year the proceedings were I comparatively mild, only a few planta-
 tions being burnt in Guadeloupe and "some persons killed, exact number un- l obtainable."
 [ Colonial elections also have their in I ,genuousy comic side. M. Legitimitus,
 for example, was beaten by his opponent
 by 2OO0 votes when three ballot boxes
 still remained to be opened. These were
 secreted somewhere for four days. When | they were opened whole bundles of pa- l pers for M. Legitimus poured out. and
 he caught up the 20Go. with 800 extra. | Hence his unseating.
 | In some colonial constituencies officers I at the polling booths calmly tore up the I papers bearing names they disliked. A \ candidate turning up suddenly during { such nsoperation, the officer, taken by 'l surprise, swallowed the paper he was Itgoing to throw away. It stuck in his | throat, and he nearly died
 A remarkable operation discovered dur l ing the parliamentary inquiry was as fol- | lows: A ballot box on the first count
 was found to contain S24 papers for A
 candidate and 127 for B. The box and
 the signed return were conveyed to the
 town hall.
 When it reached there the votes were | p for and 701 for B. A spurious cer- tificate of the returning officer had sim ! ply been substituted, with his signature N forged Under these circumstances does I.it really seem worth while to ask the
 colonies to send representatives to the home parliament?
 | | asked in the chamber and it Is regarded rsi as altogether probable that action will be taken modifying If not cutting off \ colonial representatives.
 \ Comparison is frequently made in ' 'IAmerica of the better manner in which f-street traffic Is regulated in London. E Paris and other great European cities k than in America.
 \ Once in while statements are pre- A thot ol- legged superiority of European cities is ! mythical
 N For example, a return just made to the I Paris Municipal council shows that there \ were 65S70 street accidents in Paris dur N ing 1909 in which S1 ,S6S vehicles were in II volved The same return shows there II are something less than half a mXiion ve- \ hicles in the city including 20,000 hand II carts and 5000 barrows. This would indi- Xeate that at least 16 per cent of the ve- fshcles of Paris were Involved in the acci- | dents during the year. I doubt if any | American city would show anything like | this proportion.
 M Lepine, the famous prefect of police | of Paris, may resign because of differ | ences with the government
 | One point of disagreement comes of the rule that all public administrations must accept a certain number of ex service men every year. Thanks to this. NM Lepine is asked to accept as policemen two ex-sodiers who have each served | a term of imprisonment He strongly i objects, and so do his men.
 Another point of difference arises over lthe fate of Liaboeuf, the human DOT pcupine," who put on collar and cuirass tstudded with nails, and then, sallying fsl forth, killed one policeman and wounded Eseveral others. He is lying under sen Itence of death, but a vehement agitation Ms on foot in revolutionary circles to ob- I Etain his reprieve. Such Is the feeling In bthe Paris police force against the mur lderer that if the agitation Is successful. ta number of important officials, including lin all probability M. Lepine himseff, lwould resign.
 Paris rather enjoyed the suit of M. De- Iyal manager of the Theatre de IAthenee, ' Iaganst Mile. Lanthelme for damages be- N Icause she refused to play the part for ' (which she was cast in an adaptation of l"Manon." The actresss defense was that
 ther part contained a situation which of-
 Ifended her sense of propriety.
 Inasmuch as Mile. Lanthelme had a
 Ishort time before appeared in play
 bcalled "Ie Circuit" when her role called
 Efor risque situations to which those in { 1.-the new play were mild. her defense was kooked on in the nature of a joke. The
 pcourt evidently took that view of it, as
 1.-the actress was ordered to pay the man.
 lager $2O0O damages.
 Italian anarchists have taken an ex-
 traordinary revenge a French soldier
 Iwho had exposed one of their plots.
 man named Beau deserted from the
 IFrench ramy, went to Italy, and got
 mixed up in an anarchist plot. He ex-
 bosed the conspiracy to the police, and
 the anarchists were arrested. Fearing khe anarchists vengeance Beau fled back J No France, and gave himself up to the military authorities, being condemned to
 The period of Imprisonment and ordered
 ko complete his term of service
 He thought he was safe in the army,
 but the anarchists were on his track,
 with a novel scheme of vengeance. One
 bf them, named Boschini, made friends
 with Beau, and, while the latter was II bn sentry-go at night at Cherbourg bat ! nery, induced him by the offer of big \ brbe to allow the anarchist to steal
 pieces of the breech lock of a certain
 kun. Boschini got clear away with the
 mechanism, and omitted to give the
 promised bribe to Beau, who has been
 Arrested on a charge of stealing the
 Breech lock parts. H It is announced that M. LeBargy, the | m distinguished actor, whose rupture with |
 he Comedie Francaise caused one-day |
 knsation in Paris recently will enter |
 Uhto partnership with Mme. Sarah Bern |
 nardt at the end of the year. As asso-
 Nat of ba Notf