, 1880-03-24

On tho 9Th OF April tho pcopto OF Indiana
will rote upon several proposed amendments to
their State Constitution. Ono of these proposed
amendments has reference 10 suffrage qualt1cu-
u0ns. It Ia rs follows:
IN ait nccstons not othorwlse provtdod for ~
thts Constitution, overy malo citizen OF tho
United Suites Of thg nEo Of y yca!H and upward,
whu slnl have reaf.le in tho stnte during tho
preceding such election, nni ovory male Of for
shnf ave r.c II tho y Unite s sates o
gear, and aha1l hive resided In this Btato during
tho eEx months. and In tho township, sixty days.
alntuly preceding sich election. md ssall hnro
.ec1arrl his intention to ltecomo citizen of tho
Une stnt"s IN tic seot q of m nSt,,rasaton, @ al @
HhAll l,e untitled to void IN THO township Or pro-
cinet wllnro be may realtle tf ho shall have been
dnty Registered according to Inv.
Thts changes the present provisions Of tho
Constitution by substituting tho torn "cycry
mato otttzon" In tho place OF "eyory Mhito malo
e!tizen." mud requiring iona ldo resltsesacc OF
Hlxty days III q township and Of thirty days In a
warsl or vntlng precinct. One would suppoao
that my honestly-disposcd and fntr-minded
rnan In 1ndinna would, without hesitation, sup-
port tha amendment, whosa sole object Is tn pro-
wont fraudulent md corrupt voting. 1t IL In
conceivable TINT thoro should be any objection
to thls amendment; md yet thoro Is. Tho Demo-
crattc lenders all over tho Btnte aro calling on
ttoir followers to turn out at tho apring election
md vote It down1 They confess TINT tho amend
ncnt will stop colonization from Kentucky ana
other asitnEning 3tatos,-tfnt it will reduce and
prevent mich fraudulent yoting-bnt st!it they
oppose It's adoption. They allege that tho 1lo-
publIcuns hnvo cheated moro than tho Demo-
Gratis heretofore at tho elections. by importing
voters, but strhnKu to Bay tho Republicans arc
all supporting tho amendment, whilo tho grcnt
bulk Of tho Democrats aro opposing It, hut nrc
unable to offer oven decent excuse for thelr
opposition.
Tho qualifications for electors In Indiana nre
much lower III tho proposed amendment than In
Illinois. Our Constitution prescribc8 that cyory
nlnn who bus resided In the stnto ono tear t1n-
dfana amendment, only six months is roqulrod)s
In the county ninety DAYS, lind In tho olootion
district thirty days Indiana amendment, Sixty
days In tho township md thirty In tho election
dtstrIct), and who Ia nntivc-born citizen, or has
been regularly natura1ized nfter flyo years resi-.
dcnce III tho United States, shall be enti-
tied to vote; wherena the Indiana amend-
ment only requires TINT tho foreigner
shnll have ioolarcl htH intention to BECOME Il
citizen OF tho United Statos. Honco thoro
cnu bo no objection to tho amendment
on tho scoro Of illiboralIty townrda nativo-
borns or ai!cns tho only objection IL, That it in
tcrferca with FREQ frauds, oolonixatlon, repeat
Ing, movable voting brlgAdcs, and other ras-
catlty carried on by corrupt partiaan seoundrols
to t1efeat tho popular will and fotst mon into
oillco who were not elected. Many Of our 1ndl-
ann Democratic exchanges aro calling franticaliy
on tholr readers to vote down tho amendment,
telling thom that II It DO adopted tho Republic
ans Will sweop tho stnte no1t fall md Mt nil snb-
scQuent elections. This Is n ptntn confession
thnt tho Democrats havo been carrying that
Statc, and hold possession Of 1t now. by frnudu-
lopt and corrupt voting, .nado easy by tho OK
listing loose md detective Election laws OF
1ndianal Is not this high and honorable POSI-
ton for great partyto occupy boforo tho coun-
4ry7