The Progressive West Virginian. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1911-1913, 1912-10-31
"a DELIBERATE INTENTION TO
COMMIT FRAUD is SUB.
STANCE OF FINDING.
CONDITIONS IN MCDOWELL coUN-
TY SCORED IN NON PARTL9
SAN OFFICIAL PAPER
CONDUCT OF ELECTION TO DE
NEITHER FAIR 4 OR HONEST,
CONGRESS is TOLD.

chine In that county, have become so
notorious that there is always joke
in the rest of the State near cleo
ton time as to what the returns
from Mcdowell will show. and
whether the vote will be held back
4 till 1t is known what majoritfes will
be required in the county. Probably
many persons have heard the old
Preference to the colossal frauds of
that county repeated till they have
ceased to consider tia serious mat
ter and regard 1t as a matter for lev
lily only.
But when the Congress of the Unit
ed State puts its stamp of disap-
lproval upon the political practices
pursued by the machine OF which
Dir. H. d. Hatfield is the head, it
lis time to give the matter serious
consideration and to begin the work
of publication
/ When a man is nominated for the
highest office in the State solely be-
cause he has demonstrated that he
can always produce large Republican
majorities in Mcdowell county; and
when the methods by which these ma
Ijorities are returned are found to be
as corrupt as was shown in the re-
Lport of conditions there by the cleo
subcommittee Of Congress- it is
then time for the friends of honest
politics and those who condemn cor
rupt practices in politics to stop and
think whether the right man has
been nominated for their governor
Ior not.
Congressman Solomon f. Prouty,
of Iowa; Charles Matthews, OF Penn
sylvania; and Frank b. Willis, of
Ohio, are the Republican members of
the committee on elections Of the
House Of Representatives which in.
vestigated conditions in y Mcdowell
and Mingo counties in connection
with the contest made by Rankin
Wiley for the seat of James A.
Hughes in Congress. They joined
with their Democratic colleagues in
an unanimous report to Congress,
Estatng that in the election of two
years ago the conduct of DR.. Hat
field raises a strong presumption
that the conduct of the election was
to be neithefstfair nor honest land
Il that the circumstances are all STRONG
las showing a)dehberatei intention to
a commit frauds in the interest of the
4 eontestee." esfn i;s 1 rae st
Official Report to Congress.
a The report made unanimously by
the elections committee to Congress
was as follows: II 4u 3f3
H THE Committee on Elections No
II, to which was referredq the con;
tested-election case in which Ranklin
Wiley is the contestant and James
A. Hughes is the contestee. respect
fully submits to- the House of Rep
lresentatives the following3 report;
aAccordingyto the returns duly, GER
/ titled by the proper officer of the
Estate OF West Virginia at the cleo
ton held in the Fifth Congressional
District Of West Virginia on the 9Th
day of November, 1910, in which Ran
kin Wiley, contestant, was the candi-
date of the Democratic party and
James A. Hughes, contestee, was can
didateN of the Republican party for
the office of Representative in the
Sixty-second Congress of the United
States, the contestee received on the
face of the returns a plurality Of 2,942
votes. The contestant, Rankin Wiley,
| in due time, served upon the contes-
tee, James A. Hughes, notice of in.
tention to contest the election, con.
! l ldlIll6 SAal $50 VI II duu, Will
and intimidation of voters, and con
tanning also an allegation that the
said James A. Hughes, the contes-
tee, is not citizen of the United
States.
ITO this notice the said James A.
Hughes, contestee, filed an exception
and also an answer charging certain
irregularities, which the contestee
claims resulted favorably, to the can.
didacy of the contestant in certain
counties of the Congressional district
: The issue was Joined upon the answer
u of the contestee, and large number
= of witnesses were called and exam
ined on the part of both the con.
i testant and cantestee The case
was fully argued by counsel for both
! ! sides, and it has been very carefully
!. considered by the committee.
! Negroes Voted by Postmaster.
: "The Fifth Congressional District is
= Icomposed of twelve counties, and no
: Question has been made with refer.
: ence to the returns from any~but
g Mingo and Mcdowell counties. The
= contestant specifically charges illegal
: and fraudulent voting and irregular
= ity in the conduct of the election in
: those counties, and in support OF
? these charges, particularly with ref
: erence to nine precincts in Mingc
, county, he shows that negro floaters
!. were voted by and under the direc.
!, ton of the postmaster of the town OF
! Williamson, Greenway Hatfield, and
{ other Republican officials. The coun
: sci for contestant and contestee in
!. their briefs and by oral agreement
! eliminated practically every question
i in the case with the exception of the
: charges of fraud in the nine precincts
I in Mingo county and nj Mcdowell
: county, and the question of the citi-
), zenship of the contestee, before the
! case was argued before the commit
!. tee.
+ During the course of the argument
Mingo county was eliminated as a
! factor in this case by the admission
of counsel for the contestee that fraud
7 was committed in that county n@the
2 interest of the contestee, and that II
) was so fragrant and outrageous that
> the returns from the nine precincts
: where the frauds were perpetrated
: ought to be excluded in counting the
! vote for the contestant and contestee.
! 7 Rlif Che fraud and corrisnfi9r Lyac NJ