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Show DIcfrcnchica tho Vctc-Sellcrs. ? Illinois is a State where bad politics reigns, but if other jurists in the land of suckers will follow the example Judge Harris of Bloomfield is setting there "will be a noticeable reform in things political. Ten men were disfranchised by Judge Harris for fourteen four-teen years , and declared incapable of holding any office of trust or profit for the same time. They were charged with having sold their votes last election elec-tion for 1 each. Each entered a plea of guilty. The November grand jury at Bloomfield returned more than. 400 indictments for vote selling and this is the first action. The same penalty awaits every mother's son of the 400. accused vote-sellers if proved guilty, it is announced. Judge Harris is a practical reformer. Such work as he is doing does more to promote clean politics than all the reform schemes advanced by learned professors and well-meaning well-meaning societies for the prevention of rice in politics. poli-tics. Such' a sentence as that imposed by Judge Harris strikes terror to the heart of the vote-seller, that most depraved of political renegades. But if such a law is enforced in other parts of Illinois, especially es-pecially that cesspool of . political infamy, Chicago, there will be a startling decrease in the vote cast in coming elections. But when these rote-sellers are disfranchised the future election will result in an honest expression of public opinion. |