282 
Gregonj—Political Corruption. 
Canadians, who do not at first consider their duties as voters 
seriously, and adds that very few Irish voters can be bought, 
and that most of the venal voters are broken down and degen¬ 
erate New Englanders of pure American descent. He says he 
knew a New Hampshire man who sold his vote for $25. The 
man had considerable property and soon after applied for a loan 
at the bank. The bank president was one of the leaders of the 
party which bought the vote and replied: “No, he sold us his 
vote the other day; he can have no accommodations at this 
bank, ” and that it is a rule that those who buy votes despise 
those who sell them. I may add that I have had several inter¬ 
esting letters from Mr. Harrison lately telling me that he has 
brought on a general discussion and agitation of the matter in 
his state by this showing, and I learn that a Corrupt Practice 
act is contemplation. 
Prof. J. J. McCook, in The Forum , on tabulated statements 
which seem fair and are certainly persuasive, finds about six¬ 
teen per cent, of the voters of Connecticut purchasable. In our 
own state, I do not believe so large a per cent, susceptible to 
financial persuasion, but I have known $15,000 spent on the 
municipal election of a small city, and we are still in the old 
way summoned on our allegiance to contribute considerable 
sums to various political committees which engulf everything 
and account for nothing. As at the den of the beast of prey of 
which Horace sings Vestigia nulla retrorsum , there are no returns. 
Having served four years on the Democratic congressional com¬ 
mittee of this district, I recall two families of Dane county 
farmers where fathers and sons were understood to try to sell 
out to the committees of both parties in every campaign, and 
that the law for biennial elections seemed to them to most un¬ 
justly curtail the financial opportunities of the citizen. 
Every candidate is taught that he must hire the local band to pa¬ 
rade in a wagon bearing his sign, or the bass drum and the trom¬ 
bone and the whole army of harmony will vote against him. 
Every knock-kneed horse and rattling trap must be hired to carry 
voters to the polls, or the owners will take sweet revenge at 
the ballot box; and the candidate, even for judicial place, must 
visit the saloons and “set it up” for the crowd or the crowd 
