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the inquiry, declared that similar conditions prevailed in other parts of Ohio and in 

 neighbouring states. In the same year, 1911, detectives employed by a citizens' com- 

 mittee found evidence which led. to the indictment of nineteen members of the Ohio 

 legislature on charges of accepting bribes, and up to the end of 1912 the sergeant-at- 

 arms and one senator had been convicted. In Illinois (q.v.) the confession of several 

 members of the legislature indicated that William Lorimer had been elected to the 

 United States Senate in 1909 by the use of bribery; and for over two years progressives 

 of both the leading parties made a determined effort to have the election invalidated. 

 The Senate first decided in March, 1911, that there was no evidence to connect Lorimer 

 with the bribery, and that, even without the votes known to be tainted, he had been 

 elected by the proper majority. This decision was generally regarded as a set-back for 

 the cause of clean government. In deference to public protests and in view of the dis- 

 closure of new evidence the case was reopened. In May, 1912, the investigating com- 

 mittee reported once more in favour of Lorimer; but two months later the Senate voted 

 to unseat him. Senator Stephenson of Wisconsin (q.v.), who admitted spending more 

 than $100,000 in his primary campaign, was allowed to keep his place. Instances of 

 municipal corruption have been revealed in Detroit, Pittsburg, New York, and other 

 cities. In New York (see NEW YORK), the murder of a gambler who was about to 

 expose the system of police graft led to the indictment of four " gunmen " for the actual 

 shooting, and of a police lieutenant named Charles Becker as the instigator of the crime. 

 In trials which were remarkable for the absence of the usual delays and technical 

 rulings, Becker was convicted in October, 1912, and the four gunmen in November. 

 An investigation of the police administration, conducted by the board of aldermen, 

 disclosed some facts of a disquieting nature; and the mayor, by way of a counterblast, 

 charged members of the board with corruption in the granting of licences. 



While the probity of judges is not 'often impugned in the American press, it is well 

 enough known that they sometimes pay large sums for their nomination, and 

 that their decisions sometimes show a tender regard for corporations. 

 Corruption Recently the courts have been criticised with unusual freedom. Mr. Roosevelt 

 antfs/n/n^" has k een chiefly instrumental in directing public sentiment against the 

 this warts. corrupt or merely obscurantist action of certain courts in erecting constitu- 

 tional barriers to the enactment of necessary social legislation. Surely it is 

 pertinent to ask why the court of appeals in New York should be allowed to prevent 

 the legislature from enacting an employers' liability law such as the Supreme Court 

 of the United States has declared valid under the " due process of law " clause of the 

 Federal Constitution. In 1912 two Federal judges were involved in scandals. The 

 House of Representatives presented to the Senate, in July, articles of impeachment 

 against Judge Robert W. Archbald (b. 1848) of the commerce court, the charges relating 

 generally to business transactions with railroad companies at times when the companies 

 were litigants before his court or the Interstate Commerce Commission. The trial 

 before the Senate began in December 1912 and he was found guilty early in 1913. The 

 House also investigated the conduct of Cornelius Hanford, a district judge in the state 

 of Washington, who was charged with " a long series of corrupt and unlawful decisions " 

 and with being guilty of intemperance. Threatened with impeachment, he resigned. 

 The public are also showing increasing impatience with the delays of justice and the 

 technicalities of procedure. The widespread recognition of this evil will undoubtedly 

 bring substantial reforms within the next few years. Congress, however, has as yet 

 made no response to the demands which the President has frequently made for legisla- 

 tion upon this subject. Late in 1912 the- Federal Supreme Court made important 

 changes in its rules of procedure. 



The existence of corruption is coming to be recognised as one of the chief obstacles 

 to social and political advancement. The men who have felt this most strongly, believ- 

 ing that the sinister alliance between business and politics must be terminated and 

 that the people must resume control of the government, have been styled " progressives." 

 There have been progressives within both the Republican and Democratic parties; 



