The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-10-19
Lake City Rsporssr. October lssh.l
Tee Late.

RoAAo w t4to U139t So1osOesS " sAsS ~~'A~->s -
race, do mot hesitate to denounce their
Democratic opponents for enforcing the
laws, and even 90 80 far, in a bull-dosing
sort of way, to threaten with prosecutions
in the United States Court al inspectors
of election or other persons who may par
ticipate in excluding convicted thieves
from the elective franchise. Il would
seem from the manner in which the sub
ject is treated by them that they regard
the great bulk of their followers % crimi-
mails, and fear that the honest enforcement
of the criminal laws of the State would be
fatal in its results to the success Of their
party. Hence the recent Nominations
against the opinion of Attorney General
Raney and the address of the Executive
Committee of the Second Congressional
District. But we hope that none of our
people will be driven from their duty by
threats Of the iron grasp of the United
States Court. The time has passed when
that court could be made the vehicle Of
party malice for the oppression of their
political opponents; when members of the
Legislature could be arrested on frivolous
charges to change the majority in that
body, and juriea packed to secure the con-
viction of innocent men.
The Constitution of this State, article
XIV, section 4, reads as follows:
The Legislature ah0H h0Ce pOsoer and shall en-
act the necessary laws to exclude from any Office
of honor, pOweFstFust or profit, civil or military,
within the State, and from as right Of suffrage,
all persons convicted Of bribery perjury larceny,
or Of infamous crime, or who shall make or
become, directly or indirectly, Interested in any
bet or wager, the result of which shall depend on
any election; or who shall hereafter fight duel
or send or accept q challenge TO fight, or who
shall lie q second to either party be the bearer
OF such challenge or acceptance; but the legal
disability shall not accrue until after trial and
conviction by due form Of law"
This embraces every grade of larceny,
and the verbage of the section is plain
and ineligible, without ambiguity, so
that it admits of no doubtful construction
and 80 with the act of the Legislature
carrying out the command of the Consti-
tuition, and which will be found in the
acts of 1868, chapter 1925, section 6. It
reads as follows:
The following classes of persons shall not be
entitled to vote:
l. Persons under guardianship;
II. Persons who are insane or idiotic;
III. rs0Ds hereafter cOppiced Of fbkGnY, 6yitery,
perjury, larceny, or other infamous crime.
Nv. Persons convicted Of fighting duel with
deadly weapons, or sending accepting a cllal-
lenge to fight duel, or of knowingly being the
bearer of challenge TO fight duel with deadly
weapons or of the acceptance of such challenge
V. Persons convicted of making, or becoming
directly or indirectly interested in any bet or
wager, the result of which shall depend upon
any eleciion but this prohibition shall cease
after the expiration OF two years from the COM
mission Of the offence.
Thus it will be seen and understood by
the most unsophisticated that conviction
in any court having Jurisdiction of the
person and subject matter, whether 1t be
the Circuit Court or the Justices Court,
will efectually create the disability and
disfranchise the culprit, and there is no
statute of the United States which con-
fers any jurisdiction upon the United
States Court to interfere and punish a
State officer for the faithful and honest
performance of his duty in enforcing the
law. 1t Is true that In the dark days of
reconstruction, when Southern white
man was regarded as having no rights
which carpet-bagger was bound 10 re-
spect, the political VAMPIRES who then
flooded the county succeeded in securing,
through the fundamentally of the pres
cot Radical candidate for Congress from
this district, who was then the prescott.
ing officer of the government, and his
willing abettors, the iron-clad Grand Ju-
rors, bill of indictment against State
Judge for performing his swern duty un-
der the State law, and in matter exclu-
sively within his jurisdiction, and one
against respectable citizen of our coun-
ty for doing what Judge Fraser said in
his charge to the Petit Jury "every Amer
lean citizen had right to do" Yet even
then, in those dark days, with packed
juries, wholly inimical to the accused, an
intelligent aud upright Judge blocked the
games and prevented the preparation of
such outrages upon the name of Justice
as the conviction Of these men, We can
scarcely believe or expect less from the
present learned judge who succeeded
Fraser than that he will frown down any
attempt to make bis court the "institu-
ton - to secure the election of defeated
candidates, or TO punish their successful
rivals.
A circular has been recently issued
anonymously, it is true, but it speaks as
from authority-tOr the purpose of bull
doing the registration and election off,
GERS by threatening to prosecute, in the
United States Court, those who will not
illegally register and allow to vote per-
sons convicted of petit larceny. And then
comes the Sun and Press in lengthy
article defending the right of petit thieves
to register and vote the Republican ticket,
though ostensibly an attack on Mr.. St.
Clsir-Abrams, and uses the following
language:
Let 1t be remembered also that the election