The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1873-08-02
TuE IMPORTANCE OF REGIsTRA-
TION TO THE DEMOCRATS OF Dali
Las COUNTY.

In all candor, let US say to every
man in Dallas county, who is opposed
to the expressions heaped upon us for
years past, by military and Radical
rule, you owe solemn duty to your
self, your family, your neighbors and
your country. That duty is plain,
simple and easy of performance. It's
for each of you, ut the appointed
times, in your own newly established
election precincts, to go forward and
be registered as voter, and on the "a
day OF December next to go to the
same place and vote for the men OF
your choice for the various State, dis
trict, county and precinct offices then
to be filed.
The County Court of Dallas county
has already divided the county into
sixteen election precincts, the metes
and bounds of which have already been
published in this paper. The same
court, on Monday next, will prob
ably establish another election precinct,
the voting place to be at Hutchins, to
which the good people of Lancaster
give ready assent. The law contem-
plates the convenience of the people
being the rule to govern the county
court, as it should do.
The district clerk, as chief registrer
of the county, has already published
his notice, by board bill and in the
Dallas News, of the times and place at
which registration is to take place. We
think he has made serious error in
not fixing the same days in each pre-
cinct throughout the county, and in
not publishing the boundaries of the
precincts with his notice, so as to let
every man know where he belonged as
q voter. BY prolonging the period of
registration in some of the pre-
cincts beyond the ninety days after
the passage Of the registration act,
he has left open the door for contested
elections. That error should yet be
corrected, and the registration books
be opened in every election precinct
some time in the period between sixty
and ninety days after the passage of
the registration law, which was the
18th Of May, 1s73-or, in other words,
between the l4th of July and the 18th
day of August, 1878, for the law ex-
pressly provides, in the proviso to the
third section, that the first general reg
istration under the provisions of this
section shall commence "not less than
sixty nor more than ninety days from
and after the passage of this act"
Registration in precincts commenc-
ing more than ninety days after the
passage of the act, may well be set up |
by defeated candidates as grounds for
contest. Mr.. Laws, our District Clerk,
should revise and republish his notice,
so that registration in all the precincts
shall commence before the expiration
of the ninety days, which will be on
the 18th of August next.
There is plenty Of time to make the |
correction and give the ten days no
tice required by the law. The people
of this State have been too long tram
pied unuer the heel of oppression to
feel easy under anything but strict
compliance with law so deeply affect
ing their rights as freemen. In the !
name of the people we call upon Mr..
Laws to correct this error-to revive |
and republish his notice in relation to
every precinct wherein he has provid-
ed for registration to commence (com-
mence is the language Of the law after |
the 18th OF August, which is the nine
tieth day after the passage Of the act.
We want no let-up, no gpess-work,
no gaps left open for Radicals to seize
upon; but strict compliance with the |
law, that the voice of the people may |
be legally expressed and heard, and the
men of their choice elected without
contested elections.