Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1911-08-17

the party in power. and those thai
were favorable to the new candidate
Ircde ntally, nothing that he could
have said or done could have SO IN.
creased the business of his store!
| His business rivals and associates in.
| deed suggested and the suggestion
was quickly seized upon by the adj
ministration papers, that the whole
| thing was a clever advertising dodge,
and that Gormly was simply using his
candidacy to boom his business There
was no satisfactory answer to this
argument, which was one OF the best
that could have been devised by the
opposition, and it was harped upon
immensely, although their leader was
vigorously justified from this charge
by his army Of fighters.
The expenses of the campaign were
enormous. Not one cent was paid out
for bribery or for the purpose@of in
fiuencing votes in any improper way.
but the hiring of halls, the payment
of the expenses of meetings, organiza-
ton, transportation, printing, salaries
and so on aggregated an extraordinary
sum. Even Gormly himself had not
realized how great these expenses
would be; but he paid them without
blenching. His resources were vast.
He put at the disposal of his candi-
dacy all the accommodations and earn
ings Of twenty-five years. He saw
that by the time the vote was taken,
his ready money would be expended.
Of course, he would still have his
great business, which would be entire
ly unencumbered; but everything else
would go.
He still kept to his plan of printing
every week sworn statements of his
expenses, challenging the other party
to do the same. The reason the So
ciety did not publish it's expense ac-
count was not because it was ashamed
of the amount, for 1t was vastly great
err than what Gormly expended They
had nearly as many expenses as he,
except for the newspaper advertising,
which they got free, and in addition
they disbursed an immense bribery
and corruption fund through Liffey,
Cornell, Habberley and Benson.
Again and again were Haldane and
his associates called upon for remit
tances, which were invariably forth
coming. There was no possibility Of
refusal. Failure to win a victory
would mean financial ruin to many of
them. Fortunately for him, it did not
mean SO much to Haldane, although
his great fortune would be seriously
impaired by defeat. Most of the
others, however, had turned over
everything that they possessed, and
pledged their credit as well, to the
vast syndicate of which he was the
head. Indeed, he and Van Slyke would
be the only ones not totally ruined
by the election of Gormly. Conse-
quently they paid and paid and paid,
protesting in their hearts but shutting
their teeth grimly and handing out
the cash, which was disbursed to the
best advantage by Liffey and Benson.
Gormly himself spoke every night
somewhere, and the crowds that greet
ed him were enormous. Meanwhile
every detective in the employ of the
city, and all others who could be
suborned, were concentrating their
efforts on Gormly's past and present.
his Office without being Swallowed. II
was not difficult for spies to mingle
with the crowd of buyers in his store
and scrutinize every person who en-
tered his private room. They had
so far discovered nothing. Gormly
had lived an absolutely clean, upright,
honest, handwriting life since he
landed in New York. They did not
find out where he came from or even
where he was born. The only possible
clue they had was the statement that
he had once been in the west, with
which Haldane had supplied them.
Men had secured the principal cities
Of the west; but nothing had been
learned. Cornell was in despair. He
and Liffey and Benson had again and
again been on the eve of determining
upon the manufacture Of some degrad'
ing or discriminating story which
would at least serve their purpose. 1t
would not be difficult to get witnesses
to such an endeavor; but 1t would be
highly dangerous to resort to such an
expedient and they were still hesi'
tating and undecided.
About this time the disputed fran
chise expired. A resolution was i'm
mediately introduced in the board OF
aldermen at the city hall granting a
renewal Of It to the Gotham Freight
Traction company. Every move in
the game was watched and the reso-
luton had scarcely been read and re-
ferred to a committee when 1t was
communicated to Gormly. The next
day the Gormly papers rang with the
charge that the city fathers intended
to give away its most valuable remain
ing public franchise to the Gotham
Freight Traction company.
At the next meeting, despite the
furious protests of the Gormly party.
the resolution was put upon its pas
sage Gormly here played his great