A SAMPLE OF MUNICIPAL CORRUPTION.
READ the following from the Chicago Record-Herald of March 26, as to the condition of the municipal government of that city. The one who tells it, the editor declares, is a “business man of undoubted standing.” To the story below he makes affidavit:— “One Friday afternoon of last month I was in the Steuben County Wine Company’s restaurant. I have taken my lunch there for a long while, and know the bartenders and people in charge very well. On this Friday afternoon I happened to comment on the fact that while the place was supplied with three slot machines of the latest type, all of which were in running order, there was one machine in the place in a very prominent position which was old, dilapidated and seemingly entirely out of place. I asked the man why he gave that one house-room when he had three others so much more elaborate. ‘Why,’ he said, ‘we are going to be raided by the police this afternoon, and we got a tip this morning to get ready. There’s a man down town who buys up all the old machines just for such occasions, and sells them to the saloon-keepers for $4 and $5. This afternoon we will move the good machines into the back room; and when the police arrive, they will get the worthless one, which they will proceed to take over to the City Hall and destroy with great unction, and play to the galleries. The dealer in second-hand machines makes quite a good thing out of it, as we are all notified in plenty of time to do business with him before each raid.’” “I thought this a very candid statement. But the next morning when I picked up the Chicago Tribune, I found where the police had raided sixty-four slot machine operators. The names of the places were given, and first upon the list was the name of the Steuben County Wine Company. Feeling a little curious, the next day I went into the restaurant and found the old and worthless machine gone, but the three new ones in full running order and gathering in the nickels as of old. The same three machines were running there to-day when I dined at the restaurant.” We have no interest in the politics of the matter; we merely point out these facts as signs of the times. Conscience is hardening. Lucre is more than life with many.