Methods of Reform. 
281 
reputable neighbor of mine, lately resident in New York 
state, talking with me in my office, told me that he had 
been chairman of the republican committee of his old town in 
New York and at other times served on the town committee; 
that the town had about 900 voters; that one year he saw at 
the republican headquarters the list of voters and the price paid 
for those who were bought, and was the same year shown the 
like democratic list by the democratic chairman. Out of the 
900 voters 446 were bought and paid for. The price averaged 
about $3 apiece but ranged from $1 to $10, and the buying was 
about equally done by both parties. 
The system was for the workers to hold up their fingers to in¬ 
timate the number of dollars they would give for a vote and say 
“I will make it all right for you. ” The different workers had dif¬ 
ferently colored cards and gave each bought voter a card with 
the number of dollars he was to have. The bought voter then 
called at the headquarters of the party and handed in this tick¬ 
et over the shoulder of the paymaster who paid back the sum in¬ 
dicated over his shoulder without looking so that he could not 
identify the voter bribed. My informant said one year when he 
was on the town committee the tw r o committees agreed to buy 
no votes and lived up to the agreement. Large numbers of the 
voters accustomed to be bought, came to tow T n on election day 
and lay about all day for sale, and finally went home without 
voting, as they were not bought. He said further that a judge 
of the supreme court of New York residing in Plattsburg told 
him that at the last election held before the Australian ballot 
was adopted a voter at the polls in that city got on a chair and 
publicly offered his vote for sale to the highest bidder, and after 
a spirited bidding was paid $35 for it; which illustrates the 
advantage of sale by auction. 
In Rhode Island the bought vote has been estimated at about 
ten per cent. In an open letter in the Century Magazine of Novem¬ 
ber, 1893, Mr. Harrison, of New Hampshire, estimates the bought 
vote in his state also at ten per cent., though he says men best 
acquainted with the facts think this too low an estimate. He 
says further that the number of purchasable voters is increas¬ 
ing largely through the coming into the state of young French 
