The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1911-05-19
Have Promptly Met legiSla-
tive Bribery Charges
To Punish. Gullty..Ands Vindi-
cate the Innocent
No One To Be Protected As
Republicans Have Done

Columbus, o., May 1S-The ticket
which the Ohio Democracy nominated
at the Dayton convention last year
and which was endorsed by the people
last November includes Judson Har-
mon, Governor; David S. Creamer,
state treasurer; Charles III. Graves,
secretary of state; Timothy s. Hogan,
attorney general; Maurice H. Donahue
and James Johnson, Jr., Supreme
court judges; Frank E. Mexican, SUI
preme court clerk; s. e. Strobe, dairy
and food commissioner; Frank w.
Miller, commissioner of common
schools, and ]. A. States, member of
state board of public works. Against
these men there has never been even
a rumor of wrong-doing since they
were elected to Office. They are Civ
ing Ohioans an efficient, economical
and honest dministration-one of the
best the state ever had.
There have been charges made
against members of the general as
sembly-a body of men not chosen in
either state convention but by the peo-
pie directly. True, only one side of
the case against these men has been
presented, but it was sufficient to call
for prompt action. The men on the
above ticket have promptly demon
strated their fitness to cope with all
thejgreat problems of state. Instead
of following precedent set by Re-
publicans, who always put up a screen
to hide wrong-doers, these Democrats
in the good old-fashioned Democratic
way promptly declared an impartial
investigation should be made of the
bribery charges to the end that the
innocent be vindicated and the guilty
be punished.
This is not the first time that there
have been rumors of bribery circulat-
ed about members of the general as
sembly Heretofore, a strong man
and fearless state administration
was lacking to bring these charges
to the public view.
Charles S. Gongwer, Republican
and news writer who travelled with
Warren G. Harding when that gentle
man stumped the state last fall, con-
firms this in an article in this weeks
Ohio Journal of Commerce about
bribery and the Legislature"
Whether the present bribery scan
dal in Columbus results in the convic-
tion of any bribe receiver or any bride
giver it has made for clearing of
the atmosphere that can result only in
good-great good, even though, unfOr-
tunately, the regulations of some in
nocent men rlay srfer. There never
was a legislature in Ohio, probably
that was made up of all honest men.
In every general assembly there have
been individual members suspected
of dishonesty. There were such men
in the last one, there were such men
in the one before that, and the one be-
fore that, and on back to the first;
and there are such men in this gen.
eral assembly. But 1t is doubtful if
there are more in this than there were
in the last or the others that went be-
fore; there merely seems to be be-
cause exposure has come for one or
more And it is so easy to say that
this is the rottenest legislature Ohio
has ever known. 1t isn't true. This
is no more rotten and no less rotten
than the other"
A. p. Sandles pays this tribute to
the present general assembly: More
consideration has been given to the de-
tails of legislation than ever before
Two score and more bills of tremend-
ous Importance have been deliberated
upon. Haste would have been waste
Committees have worked long and pa
tiently, without either the advice OF
consent of the lobby. No Legislature
in recent years has been confronted
with one-half the problems of such
vital importance as the present one.
But in spite of the harping of crit
ics in spite Of the slander and libel
in spite of the traps and snares; In
spite of the sleuths and the cure; and
in spite of all the burdens it carries
IL win demonstrate its fitness to cope
with all the great problems of state