Confession of Ballot Box Stuffer in 1875

The New York Times, October 28, 1889, p. 5. The headline in bold print for this article was "BALTIMORE IS STIRRED UP". This political rally was in support of John K. Cowen, a Maryland Congressman who was making an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to unseat Senator Arthur Pue Gorman. His tactic was to paint Senator Gorman as the boss of a corrupt political machine, and he reopened old charges of irregularities in the governor's race of 1875. William F. Harrig was a former Confederate soldier in the 1st Regiment of Virginia Artillery and at the time of his confession, the holder of a minor political office he claimed was his reward for voter fraud and intimidation in both the governor's race of 1875 and the 1879 Senatorial race which Gorman won. Cowan, upon introducing Harrig, acknowledged that he had a criminal record of sixteen indictments.
The "Rasin" referred to is Isaac Freeman Rasin, the Democratic political boss of Baltimore. Considered the most powerful machine boss during his lifetime, it would have been impossible for John Lee Carroll to win the governor's election without his assistance. As a reward for his efforts in getting Grover Cleveland elected president, Rasin was given the lucrative post of Naval Officer of the Port of Baltimore.