People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1896 — Were the Ballot Boxes Stuffed and Bryan Robbed Of His Victory? [ARTICLE]

Were the Ballot Boxes Stuffed and Bryan Robbed Of His Victory?

Senator Buttler’s Paper Gives Startling * # Figures.

More Votes #■ R Reported Cast Than Existed In Several States.

The public will remember that when the press reports of the late election were stating that McKinley had swept all the doubtful central western States by big majorities, that Chairman Butler would _hot McKinley’s election even after other campaign {managers had given up. He stated that he had reliable information showing that Bryan had made gains in States .like Indiana, Ohio, lowa, Minnesota, California and other States big enough to give him the electoral votes of these States by good majorities. Jfiven when the State chairmen in these States conceded that McKinley had carried them Chairman Butler said that he could not understand it and insisted that there was something^wrong. The official count of the vote in these States is now coming out and they throw much light on the matter. The vote taubulated in Ohio, lowa, Minnesota and Indiana shows that there is something not only wrong but very rotten. In Indiana the following are the complete | figures -as taken from the official returns: Democratic and Peoples, 305,425; Republican, 323,82 b; Prohibitionist, 3,056; Gold Standard, 2,146; National, 2,268; Socialist Labor, 323. McKinley’s plurality, 18,403; McKinley’s majority, 9,610. Total vote cast, 637,046.

In 1892 the same totals showed the following vote: Democratic, 262,740; Republican, 255,615; Prohibitionist, 13,050; Popuiist, 22,208. Total vote, 553,613. This shows an increase of 83,433 votes since the last Presidential election. This is an unreasonable increase, when we consider that the last Republican candidate was Mr. Harrison and that he lives in Indiana. It was claimed in 1892 that Harrison brought out a remarkably full vote. Therefore there was little stay at home vote to swell this tremendous increased vote. The increased vote would indicate that the population of that State had increased a half million since the last election, and this is unreasonable. Another thing that proves that this increased vote is not straight is that nearly the whole of it is counted for McKinley. Just think of it, Bryan this year got 50,000 more votes in Indiana than Harrison got in 1892. Now a man who could gain 50,000 of the votes that were cast for Harrison in 1892, would certainly get at least half of the increased vote if it was not bogus. It is clear that the gold Hng bought up election officers and stuffed the ballot bores or made this insrease in some other unlawful way and counted it all for McKinley. Now let us look at Ohio. That State this year gave 4.75,000 votes for Bryan. This is 70,000 more than it gave Cleveland four years ago, when the vote was so close that one of the Cleveland electors was elected, and is the largest vote ever hitherto given by that State to any candidate, Democratic or Republican. It is

170,000 more than Campbell received last year, and 48,000 more than Bushnell, the present Governor of the State received. The biggest vote ever received by any Republican candidate up to 1896 was Bushnell’s vote in 1895, and that was 427,000. This years .Bryan beat Bushnell’s vote by 48,000, and yet is reported as defeated by, say 50,000 majority. How was it done? The returns show that the total vote of that State this yekr is 259,784 votes more than was cast last year (1895). The contest in that State last year for Governor was a very exciting one, and the vote was 100,000 larger than ever cast before in the State. The Republicans tried to explain the great increase then by saying that every vote in the State was cast then for the first time. On the other hand the Democrats charged that votes were imported and that ballot boxes were stuffed. They showed that the population of the State was 3,825,000, and that counting oue voter of every five of the population that the total vote could not be over 765,000 while the returns showed 840,506 votes. Now here comes a Presidential election only one year later and the total vote is 259,444 laeger than it was last year. There is something very rotten there. No one can claim that the population of Ohio has increased over a million in one year, and it would take such an increase of population to explain this increase of vote even if the election was honest in 1895. In short comparing the population and the total- vote in Ohio this year, it would show that nearly one person out of Wery three of population (counting women, children, convicts and insane) voted. This is absurd. It is impossible. /es there is something rotten in Ohio, and if it can be investigated and the truth arrived at, it would show that Bryan carried the State.

“In 1892 Kentucky’s total vote was 340,848. Cleveland received 175,461 and Harrison 135,441. In 1895 Kentucky’s total . vote was 3t)7,057. In 1896 Kentucky’s total vote was 406,000. Of these Bryan received about 202,981, McKinley about 203,410. In Kentucky Bryan received at least 27,000 more votes than Cleveland received in 1892, and at least 30,000 more votes than the successful candidate for governor received in Kentucky in 1895. But Kentucky’s vote increased about 50,000 in one year. Where did they all come from? Next let us look at lowa. In 1892 the combined Cleveland and Weaver vote in lowa was 216,* 000; Harrison’s.vote was 219,000; total vote, 435,000. The total vote this year was 512,000; of which Bryan received 223,000, McKinley 289,000. This was a gain in four years of 77,000 votes. Of this gain Bryan received 7,000 aud McKinley 70,000. This was a gain of 770 votes in each of the 100 counties of the State. Counting live inhabitants

to each vote, we have an increase of population in lowa in four years of 3,850 to the county, a total of 385,000! The census of 1890 gives lowa 1,911,000 population. The State census, taken last year, gives .the population .as 2,058,0Qp, a gain in four years of 147,000. If the vote this year was honest, and the census of 1890 and 1895 correct, then lowa has gained 238,000 souls during the hard times of the past year, whereas she gained but 147,000 during the four subsequent years! Could such a thing as this happen? It is absurd and shows that there is something rotten in lowa also. Another most remarkable phenomena. of ttie lowa vote is found in the fact that nine-tenths of the 70,000 new voters voted

for McKinley. This phenomena was also witnessed in Minnesota, where every one of the 50,000 new voters of that State voted the Repuplican ticket; and again in Indiana, which increased its vote 80,000, McKinley receiving 67,000, of the increase. In an interview the other day Mr. Hanna said: Our first poll of lowa showed the Republicans 600 in the minority.” In our opinion, the population of lowa began to increase from the date of the discovery of this condition. If during she past year of hard times lowa has had such a transcendent boom in population, gaining 238,000 souls, what possibilities await the State if we should ever again have good times? When the returns from other doubtful States iu the West and Northwest are ready no doubt the evidence of crookedness will appear. Had it not been for the frauds in the States mentioned above, it is almost certain that the electoral vote of each would to-day be in the Bryan column, which would give Bryan 235 electoral votes or 11 more than enough to elect. This matter should not be allowed to pass without an official investigation. If it was done by buying up election officers, the amount of the fraud will be difficult to determine, but it should be investigated by all means.— The Caucasian, Raleigh, N. C.