The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1913-08-28
O0tGCtaphOnG Rec
OrdS Tell Tale.
MEEKISOA WROTE OF PLOT
Explained How officeseekers Hoped
to Prevent Referendum On Warnes
Taxation Laws at November EIcc.
tion.

1
Taxation Laws at November EIcc.
| tion.
II the people of Ohio could read all
the detectaphcne records In the con.
Spiracy of taxspendsrs to get fat Jobs
for themselves and perpetrate fraud
on referendum petitions, there is no
doubt but that there would be an in.
sistent demand for the impeac achment
Of high officials.
So thoroughly did xhe detectaphone
do it's work that dozens of men who
participated in the conspiracy, or were
dragged into it, have made confessions
and explanations and are now asking
protection from the very people they
had tried to entange.
And the detectaphone reports alone
are not all the evidence at hand to
absolutely corroborate the charge that
an all-powerful and farreaching polit-
ical organization worked for weeks to
prevent the people from voting on
proposed laws.
In addition to the incontrovertible
evidence secured through the marvel
GUS detectaphones, confessions have
been made by prominent participants;
and from others come statements that
prove the truth of the one general
charge, THERE WAS A CONSPIR.
ACY ON THE PART OF TAXSPEND-
ERS AND JOB HUNTERS TO
THWART THE WILL OF THE PEO-
PIE.
These political conspirators, with
headquarters i'll the Capital City, re-
sorted to every possible means to
win their point They used every
known brand of political knavery--
they threatened, they dubbed, they
offered jobs and money, and the re.
suit is that the men are under arrest
charged with attempted burglary.
G. c. Meekison, auditor of Henry
county, charged with attempting bur-
glary on the offices of the Ohio Equity
association in Cleveland wrote letters
which absolutely prove the conspiracy
charge. Meekison has been bound
over to the Cuyahoga county grand
jury. He would not stand trial at this
time because confessions already
made public are so bullet proof that
he could see no hope in an immediate
hearing.
Below are printed excerpts from
letters written by Meekison and his
autograph signature in fac simile ac.
companies one of them. Under date
of July II, 1913, Napoleon, o., (his
home) Meekison writes to a fellow
conspiratnr. saying:
ain II. ast few days developments
have disclosed that the greatest fraud
In the history of this state has been
perpetrated upon the people of Ohio
And then under cover of words that
breathed plausibility and honesty, he
sprung the conspiracy in this Ian
Guage:
"our committee intends to make
every honorable and legitimate effort
In our power to defeat this rotten
piece Of work; and we feel that body
of honeat men with regulations for in
teIligence and integrity should surely
be able to outwt a bunch of paid
agents of rasca!s and crooks.
1--WE want you to give the utmost
publicity, personally and through
your papers, to the fact that gigantic
frauds have been perpetrated in Sc,
curing the Green bill referendum peti
tion."
But the animus Of the whole con-
spiracy is found in the next sentence
After mentioning the Green law
frauds" the letter plainly sets forth
that the Warnes law must not be per
mitted to go before the people. These
patriotic" politicians wanted Cover
nor Cox and his henchmen given au-
thority to name some four thousand
taxing officials, expecting, of course,
to be included among the appointees,
| The Warnes bill is nothing but big
step toward POLITICAL DESPOTISM
and, of course, the taxspenders and
the machinists in control of the part"
in power want it--while the people
| do not.
Realizing this fact, Meekison wrote
| as follows:
"This will serve to deter these
same men who may try to start peti-
tions on the Warnes bill. Gongwer
of the Ohio Equity association is the
man to watch. Look out for his paid
agents in every part Of your county.
He has started out with petitions and
we are hearing from them"
Then came the remarkable state.
ment over Meekison's signature:
"With some Of their paid men in
jail, and others fleeing from the JUS
tIce which must ultimately overtake
them, we can easily so discredlt the
efforts of the balance of them that we
can keep thcm out of the required
number of counties. But the commit
tee must be advised II we do effective
work. We must hear at once from
every man interested and from every
county in the state"
He closed his convincing and cen
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