The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-01-13
BR|BED THE TENANT FARMER
Renters Furnished Much of the Adams County,
Ohio, Election Corruption

man, who is said to be worth SAC, 600
Hardin contracted to sell the votes
of himself, his two sons, Alfred and
Hiram, and his son-in-law, Walter Ed
ensfield. Hardin was fined 800. Al
fred and Hiram $25 each and Edens-
field $50.
Then there is the case Of John y
Mccoy of Franklin township. Mccoy
Is the big man in that township. In
answer to summons from court, he
pleaded not guilty. Judge Blair set
the trial indefinitely. Mccoy left the
court room and started for home in
his buggy After he had driven ff-
teen miles he suddenly saw the con
temptible side of his action. turned
about, drove back TO court and con
fcssed. His fine was SO.
All of these fines include a sus-
pended sentence Of siy months in the
vofhbo9ss and abs0mic aiet@uchiae.
mont lOr Ase years,
A Penalty For Not confessing
The heaviest fine imposed since the
probe began was to John Cooper OF
Brush creek Cooper received only
S2 for his vote, but drew a fine of
$3.50 and costs, together with the sus.
pended sentence and disfranchist-
rent He was one of the stragglers
men who were indicted early in the
investigation but ignored the notices
sent to him.
An interesting feature of the Coop
er case was that the sheriffs sum-
moned a wrong John Cooper, a dis
tant kinsman and name axe of the
man who was indicted There have
been many mistakes in the service of
summons because the deputies are so
overwhelmed with work
We beg your pardon Judge Blair
said to the wrong Cooper when he ap.
peared in court
That's all right, judge" said
Cooper. u may as well come clean,
too. | have sold my vote ever since
| have been able to sell it. What's the
fine?"
The penalty was $5 and costs and
isfranchisement.
Four women recently came to West
Union from small farms near Man
chester to confess having sold the
votes of their sons.
Six preachers Pleaded Guilty
Six pastors Of Adams county
churches, also, have been caught in
the drag net Their names have been
kept secret by Judge Blair The min
lsters importuncd him to assess the
fines and let them dc part without
publicity. They feared they would
lose their pulpits because of the
change Of sentiment in the county re-
gardlng the vote selling.
And the sentiment is changing.
The Farmers institute of Adams
county has, through it's directors,
praised the work of Judge Blair
Quite number of Civil war vet
Grams have pleaded guilty to vote sell
ing.
There was one of the old veterans
who lives in Wrightsville who was
unable to appear before Judge Blair
because he Is confined in bed with
an illness that doctors say will cause
his death within the next few weeks.
This dying veteran is Alexander
a ANAhAi1' ilC oCll Hio 81 dDuoOiiJ
Jesse, to court for him. Jesse told
Judge Blair that his grandfather
wished to make his peace with God
before death, wanted to be given some
punishment while chd lived. sa 2a
There we're no fines or sentences in
3His veterans ease q But the penalty
that was assessed must have hurt--a
five years Acknowledgement
After appearing for his grandfath-
er Jesse made admission of his own
ignominy. A first voter, he had ac-
cepted SIS at the last election for his
ballot. His punishment was the
same as was meted out to the grand,
father.
Few Admit Buying Votes
SO far there have been only few
admissions Of vote buying. and these
confessors have been held over with