Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-28
MORE FRAUDSFOUND
Grand Jury Accuses Baltimore
Election Officials.
80 NEW PRESENTMENTS
Six Ballot Boxes Out of Eight
Found to Be Tainted.
OPPOSE AN EXTRA SESSION
Foreman Dobson and States Attor-
ney Owens Do Not Want Leg
islature to Interfere.
OPPOSE AN EXTRA SESSION

BALTIMORE. September 2>.-Plunging
their hands down deep into the core of
politics in Baltimore. Foreman Dobson of
the grand jury and states Attorney
Ovens walked out of the grand jury
room at $40 o'clock last night, and filed
with Judge Duffy thirty presentments
against officials who served in five pre-
cincts at the primary election of Au-
gust %
Concentrating their entire efforts upon
those precincts where fraud was actu-
ally suspected, and disregarding any reg
ular plan OF recounting the wards in Sc
duence. they took into their locked room
eight ballot boxes. and came out nearly
eight hours later. having found six of
them tainted with fraud.
This was the body blow " hich Foreman
Dobson and Mr.. Owens had hoped, when
they sent for the precincts. they could de-
liver against the suggested extra session
OF the legislature. They do not want it.
and will fight II 10 the end. Until the
sergeant-at arms of the House Of Dele
gates. IL IL does meet in extraordinary
session. formally demands the ballot
boxes, they will continue their recount.
Mr. Dobson characterized an extra SEES
sion as preposterous' and said he would
fight it ''as he would the devil" When
the thirty presentments had been found
the foreman hoped he had killed the pro-
posed session.
Germans Friends Worried.
1t is believed that tho presentments will
have the opposite effect. Friends of Sen
ator Arthur P. German see in the large
number of presentments plan to in
fiuence the public mind. They arc OK
pected to strengthen their arguments now
with the assertion that the grand jury,
by finding such a large number of pre-
sentiments, is causing the impression that
the average discovery Of each day will
be as bad.
Tney say that even should the jury
continue this week to find tainted pre-
cincts there will be a long period there
alter, when the people will be awaiting
the outcome of the secret sessions of the
jury, Suspecting and anticipating fraud
that day after day no statement may be
given out until each ward is counted, and
that the people in that way will not know
for weeks what the real situation is or
how many precincts of the 500 or more
were bad and how many were honest.
Most serious to the campaign is the
recounting of the ballots. While Fore
man Dobson gave out an interview yes
terday in which he said he feared the
ballots would be tempered with at the
meeting of the legislature. and be use
less to the jury investigation. the demo-
cratic leaders are willing to let him stick
10 his stand until the ballots are counted
They plan to have the recount with re-
publicans at every box. with wide-open
publicity, and with such system as will
not allow even a shadow OF criticism or
suspician to rest upon 1t.
Examining Other Precincts.
Following the rule OF yesterday the jury
10 examining more of the suspected pre-
cincts today, and. while Foreman Dobson
expects to ask Judge Duffy to sign a gen.
eral order today compelling the police de-
pertinent to deliver to the jury all the
boxes used in the city at the primary, 1t
will continue TO seek for fraud where 1t
suspects 1t before taking the warns in
their regular sequence.
The crookednesS found yesterday was
not quite great as that in the eighth
precinct of the twenty third ward, as
general rule, but IL is understood that the
major portion of it was almost as bad,
and all of 1t glaring enough to show un-
mistakable evidence of wrongdoing.
Every differentiation candidate in
every one of the five precincts. except
in a few cases of individual candidates,
had been robbed of votes. Citizens who
had gone into the polling place and with
care marked out the preference on the
ballot and departed with the idea that
they were participating in the govern
ment had been fooled.
Political .-iixers" had apparently taken
charge of the situation as soon as the
po.is closed and then gave in the re-
turns as they would nave liked to have
had the voters do, and not as the voters
actually cast their ballots.
Bungied in One Precinct.
in the eighth precinct of the seventh
ward it is understood that there were
more ballots in the box than there were
REGISTERED voters in the precinct. This
was d plain case of unchecked jealous
ness along the crooked row to a practi-
ca way OF winning a political fight.
This was the only precinct where this
glaring error of unethical and bungling
crookednesS is said to have been found
In the other precincts the work Is said
to have been OF higher order.
In these there We're just many bal
lots found I'm the box as the returns
said there had been voters who cast bal
lots but from top to bottom Of the
ticket it was found that votes had been
switched from the name of the man in
tended TO receive the vote to the name
of the man the voter was voting against.
Ihe alleged cheating showed, it is unoer-
stood that the fraud perpetrated by the
nxcrs in the overzealous interest Of Sem
ator German was about OF the same aver
age as was shown in the twenty-third
ward He was given between ten ana
twelve more votes than he should have re-
ceived.
German Not Sighted.
AS in the case in the twenty-third ward.