Pocahontas star herald., 1926-08-19
CONDEMNS ISSUANCE
OF ILLEGAL BALLOTS
CONTINUED from preceding page)

Notwithstanding the fact that the
guilty had sufficient notice that 1t must
stOD. he had not done 1t. Made Dolu
by the success of his efforts OF lour
years ago. and made drunk by desire
for more plunder we find this polltical
boot-legger back on the job two years
ago. On this occasion he appears 10
have peddled them not only In lots Oh
one. two, five and ten but IN Dlochs
of 2J and 10, md we were told that ne
sent 100 to two other townships TO Two
different men. The attention OF thls
commlttee was called to this occurrahce
some members of the committee theh
and there volunteering the infO"ma-
tion that they had knowledge OF mem
coming into and being used in thclr
township. others telling the comml ee
that some of them had been sent ,iil9
their very homes. and that they "du
promptly ordered them returned 10 'ne
person who sent them. Several Oh us
declared for and urged an exam "a
tion into this disgraceful ana unlaWlul
thing, but nothing came OF II.
l hold in my hand for your lhspec
tion seyeHty-three of these unlaWLul
polls which are fraudulant upon olClr
very face. This fellow was not only
willing to set at naught your electioh
laws. but he was willing to compound
the crime by signifying his WILLINGNESS
To commit forgery, or have II upue'
These are some of the eggs he falleu 10
suck. these are some of the shells ne
failed to hide, they back-fired on thls
political scrape-gOat. While the DoN
from M the creek was making an nom
est campaign, pleading his cause DeIore
the yeomanry of this county, TINS lel-
low was going the rounds extending
the right hand of fellowship, wearing
look as pious as a preacher ana at
the same time carrying a bushel basket
fnll of these corrupt things up his leIJ
coat sleeve to buy and steal his way
into Office.
If makes no difference who sent
them. nor is it pertinent who received
them, il is irrevelent how they came
into my possession, but one thing IS
certain. one thing important, and the
one thing that is paramount to TINS
committee, is the fact they are fraud-
ulent, that they were intended to be
used unlawfully and for unlawful pur-
poses. DO you like to contemplate
your vote swimming around In cess
pool with these fraudulent ballots!
DO you like to know that your vote
has been nullified by hundreds of these
corrupt poll tax receipts? Don't you
think it is time this committee as
whole and as individuals was waking
up, and doing something to stop this
unlawful practice? The honest candi-
date is not only gagged and hogtied
by such methods but is defeated before
the race is started. Let this commit
tee give the honest candidate an equal
show with this fellow who does not
scruple to both stack the cards, as well
as deal from the bottom, by telling him
that in the future he must keep his
corrupt hands off of these poll tax re-
ceipts. 1t is possible that what was
supposed and appeared on the surface
to be a wonderful popularity, upon *
animation, would prove to be only mon
umental rascality?
This fellow is the "Sine Qua Nom
of deception, the arch-enemy of Demo
cracy, the political thief par-excellence.
He should either be banished from ,he
party with a request that he go to
PENNSYLVANIA where 1t takes three mil
lion dollars to decide a Republican
primary, or TO Patagonia where he may
exchange a few painted beads for all
the votes he is looking for. Such CON
duct as this does not win any 'dw
converts to the Democratic faith, and
only holds it up to attack and ridicule
of the common enemy.
There is a time honored maxim Of
law which says that he who seeks
equity must do equity, that he mnst
come into court with clean hands, and
contrite heart, and to prove to you
gentlemen of this committee, that | an
shooting square with the squirrel,
could have brought this subject before
this committee before instead of after
the election. | could have examined
the record and shouted his name rom
the house tops and thereby caused his
everlasting shame and defeat now and
for all time. This Committee could
now go into a body, the chairman
could draft few too and get his name
and expose him, but l am opposed to
IL for several reasons.
In the first place you cannot convict
anyone for q crime committed two
years ago: i'm the next place because
he has wallowed in political II
of his own making is no reason why
this committee should get into it and
wallow with him. because this vulture
has soiled his nest is not sufficient rea-
son why we should become defiled, and
the only purpose 1t could accomplish,
would be to satisfy our curiosity.
What would you sav if | were to tell
you that it has become necessary for
your sheriff to bring what poll tax re-
ceipts he has left on hand July list to
his bankers and have them locked Up
in burglar proof safe to prevent a
repetition of this damnable practice.
Have we reached the point in the his
tory of Randolph county where the
people no longer rule, and are no long
er the deciding factor in our elections,
but the spoils go to that fellow who
can buy, steal and distribute the great
est number of fraudulent poll tax re-
81. t.t a..