The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1871-01-24
The Proposed Registry system for
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rhe Proposed Registry system for
Ohio.
A bin is pending in our State Eegisla-
urc the Object of whicIi-is 10 require all
voters to register as condition prece-
lent to voting. it provides for q regis
try Office to be opened aboutthroe weeks
prior TO each April, ,0etober and. .Novcm
Der election, and te continue open from
one 10 four days. Every person not
willing to be disfAsaehised at the sue
ceedins election Is forced tosprescnt him
self to the registrar, anil subscribe 10 a
which shall show the appli-
cant's name, the'name OF his last precc
ding place Of residence, the precinct or
Kasd il, which he expects 70 vote. the
place of his residence therein, The date
of llis removal thereto, his age, and
whether married or unmarried.
The biif proposes several other b'ng-
Iine ameadmtnss to the election laws,
but it is only to The registry provision
tlIat VIC, at present, invite attention.
OF course, this hill is demonstrated a
measure s'to protect the paritysM eicc-
tions" Every ,lisfranchising ahomina-
ton OF the last ten years hassreoeivcd
the same baptismsl boost. ns
That registration does not ssprescrve,
or in any degree contribute to s'the pu-
rity of elections is overwhelmingly
proved by the experience Of every State
that has tried it. Where have the gigan-
tic election frauds Of the past teW n years
been pefpctrated9 Witlisut anoted ex-
ception, in the States equiring registry.
Reconstruction established registry
throughout the South, and yetitis conce-
ded hy every Body that the frauds there
have been simply hdonstrous!! It was
under registry system that women ve-
ted as proxies for their husbands who
were too lazy or too drunk to get to the
polls. II was under the same system
that swarmsof Negro boys throhged the
polling places early, assumed the names
Of registered whites, and voted: so that
when TIE. genuine yoicr appeared, he
found his name checked off the registry
list, and himself disfranchised.
New York City. which has furnished
the Radicals with their only little mole
hill of. an Offset against their mountain
of frauds in the South, has a more rigid
registry law than any other Northern
State. z
Ohio has already gone to thcvery
outer limits of prudence in hedging ant
restricting the right of suffrage So ex
cessively rigid have our Legislators been
that more than once our Supreme Cour
has been compelled to apply the pruning
knife of the Constitution to well mean
safe guards.
Under these laws great frauds hav'
been far from common. and it is quit
certain that no general system Of fraut
prevails; the most noted heretofore hay
ling been the admission Of negro votes
before the adoption Of the, fifteenth
amendment. And there is not the slight
est reason to believe that. registration
would have prevented any of them.
But aside from the utter uselessnes
of such measure, here exist Strong
positive objections to ITS adoption.
II not only involves additiohall ex
pense in the enploymentof officers, ba
lie necessitates the waste OF moresthai
double the amount Of tipcs nowsIdst i
attending two or three elections annually
While this may not average more tha
flour or five hours to each voter, it sggre
Egates an enormous amount inthe9 96v
Hundred thousand voters Of the entir
IState.
But still more Formidable ohjectio
Ito the system, is that It will keep man
lvoters from the polls on account Of th
|tspable as well as loss that, It involve
58lany persons who would once journe
from four to ten miles to evil los
their votes rather than make such q joul
ney twice. Especially would this be tt
case in large townships. Its effect Woul
therefore be to give the cities andwiil'
lges a. still greater influence than the
Inow have in controlling elections. e
And as q sequence to this If woul
largely increase the. relative strength
the negro vote much the larger rpropo
ltion of negroes living in the cities an
towns, convenient to the voting place
Even admitting negro suffrage to be
J national blessing, it can hardly be mai
tanned that the relative power Of the n
! grocs shoule exceed their relative nur
Ebers.
In addition to all these the bill has
1 H.. a.
multitude Of minor defects. It's bu
J glingly drawn, ,cumberso,ne and upyield
and reads somewhat as IL ifitsmishts ha'
been modelled on AKE9MANs Georg
bill. :. - 8, a,,.,
seventy.Five MIiiIons Or gSlias
The Union Pacific Railroads Compar
,|is offering for sale 12,ooo,eW acres
land at prices ranging from - so to s.
per acre. These lands, the ownefsssa
are the best farming and mineral lan'
in america.
AT SO a5per acre. which is iheave
age price, these. lands are worth sevcnt
five millions of dollars.
q i