The Candidate and the Embezzlement Allegations
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Henry J. Snively defends his past against accusations of financial misconduct and abandoning his legal wards.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mr. Henry J. Snively, Democratic candidate for governor of Washington, telegraphs to the Tacoma News an answer to the statements concerning him which were published in the Post-Intelligencer. Snively claims his flight from West Virginia was in consequence of an ordinary business failure. However, critics point to his actions involving the children of the late Mrs. Fallon, for whom he was guardian. Despite his claims of having paid them, sworn statements from Mrs. Fallon indicate he held money rightfully belonging to her orphan children, refused to pay it, and moved his property into others' names to avoid creditors. The Post-Intelligencer maintains that Snively’s own defense is a confession of moral failure, highlighting his unpaid debts to laborers and his failure to return money belonging to those he was entrusted to protect.
“Are we to believe Henry J. Snively, the embezzler and absconder, or Mary F. Fallon, the widow whose orphan children he robbed?”
Political character assassination and 'opposition research' were as common in 1892 as they are today. While modern candidates navigate digital hit-pieces, this 1892 scrap highlights the era's reliance on published affidavits and letters-to-the-editor to sway voters on character issues before a general election.
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