The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-04-02
Charges Dry Leaders Were
HOOted on Streets and the
+ Misuse of Money" Made
to Win Fight.
ATTACKS PROSECUTOR
Reller's Decision to Await
Grand Jury Action De-
scribed As Greatly Handi-
Gaping ''Dry" Forces.

That high-class citizens have been
insulted and hooted at on the street
of Richmond, since the local option
election, is the allegation made in an
article in this weeks issue of the
American Friend, the editor OF which
is S. Edgar Nicholson, secretary of
the National Anti-Saloon League. The
article says that this is the reaping OF
a natural harvest.
In the same article, the writer al
leges that reports of the misuse OF
money were rife, the expenditure by
the liquor interests reaching fabulous
sums, and that it is believed hundreds
of votes were influenced in this way"
Testimony to this effect, says the
writer, was ready to be put in the form
of affidavits and evidence of law vio-
latiohs in other directions was placed
before the prosecutor, who decided not
to approve any affidavits ii made to
the court, but to wait for a grand jury
investigation after the election was
over
Drys Handicapped.
Thus" continues the article, the
Temperance forces we're handicapped
on election day, and opportunities for
fraud were made use Of" 1t is be-
Hot0u, Lut WllICA says CAA1c Wv - 80
hundred illegal votes were cast by per-
sons who were brought in for that
purpose. and who had no legal resi-
dence in the city.
An excerpt of the article in the
Friend.is appended:
The campaign was undertaken FOL
lowing a great religious awakening as
the result of tabernacle revival cam
paign, which closed on February first
with more than sixteen hundred pro-
fessed conversions. Five years ago
Richmond had voted wet in county
option campaign by 1869 majority, a
result which staggered the temperance
element and brought lasting discour-
agement.
This year when the religious con-
science of the city had been awakened.
the first manifestation was an appar-
ent universal demand among the bet
ter citizenship for another chance to
vote on the saloon question. After
careful investigation. the temperance
forces decided to bring on vote by
petition, and arrangements we're made
to keep the tabernacle for the public
meetings These were a feature Of
the campaign, the people gathering by
the thousands to hear some of the best
temperance speakers on the Ameri-
can platform.
Bring Back Gordon.
THE liquor interests sent to Iowa
and brought back to Richmond for
mer local editor to conduct their pub
licity campaign. The vets held no
meetings, and had nothing to say
throughout the campaign except
through their paid writer. who in ad-
vertisements put forth the boldest
claims of obedience to the law on the
part Of the fffty-six saloons of the
city.
The temperance people endeavored
succeeded in taking two polls Of the
city, which proved more or less mac
curate, because as the sequel showed,
hundreds Of men said one thing and
voted another. The machinery. of an
ideal organization was perfected,
which was later handicapped by the
lack OF enough men to do the per-
sonal work required.
"A more formidable organization
was developed, however, than the re-
turns would indicate, especially on
election day, but for which the ma
jorfty for the liquor interests would
have been much larger. 1t was evil
dent from the start that the liquor
men would spare no expense to win
the election, and this good old So
called Quaker City has been humin-
ated by the evidences of the grossest
corruption. About ninety foreigners,
mostly Italians, were hurriedly natur-
allied, and in certain instances there
is testimony that the law had been
violated
With few exceptions so far as is
known, the Friends of Richmond
threw themselves wholeheartedly into
the campaign to make this a better
city. They were prominent in organi-
zation work and refused to yield to
the intimidation that was practiced
upon the business interests of the city
with brazen effrontery"
Stomach Trouble Cured.
Mrs. H. G. Cleveland, Arnold Pa,
writes. For some time l suffered from
stomach trouble I would have sOur