The daily gazette., 1881-05-09


the General Postoffice Department.
THE MAJORITY THAT GOVERNS
SHOULD NOT BE SuAM.-Mr. Dawes
and the Republican Senators who
unite with him in claiming the right
to rule, know very well that the Sen,
ate is representative body, and that
its majority, under strict construc-
ton of the constitution, should repre-
sent a majority of the people. But it
does not represent a majority of the
people, because in all the Northern
States the Republican party has SO
gerrymandered the Legislative dis
tricts as we'll as the CongI essional dis
tricts as to make it almost impossible
for the Democrats in any of those
States to secure majority in both
branches of the State Legislatures +; and
although the Democrats may elect a
Governor, as in New York, by twenty
thousand majority, they cannot secure
the Legislature nor can they secure
majority of Congressman although
they may have. so, 600 majority on the
popular vote.
1t was never the intention of the
trainers of this government that MI
nority of the votes cast should give the
right to govern ; much less was 1t inc
tended that such majority should be
obtained by the forms of law enacted
to destroy the power of majority and
to place the power in the hands of
minority. The Senate of the United
States, including the vote of Malone,
renegade Democracy, elected as
Democrat by Democratic votes, and
the vote Of the Vice esident, has
majority of one in favor of Republican
party measures. But that majority
represents a minority of the people and
not majority at all. Setting aside
the people who elected Malone and
still the Republican Senators would
represent minority Of the voters Of
their States, and in this light their
right to govern might well be chal-
lenged were it necessary to do SO, but
this is just one of the cases where
is better to suffer the wrong than to
undertake to right it.
We perceive that the PeRinsuldT
Nssos, in its last issue, undertakes to
charge the GAZETTE with denouncing
gerrymanderers in the North and yet
is silent when that paper calls upon us
to join it "iR condemnlng the system
in the Southern States by winch 81
Democratic members of Congress art
elected out of 106, while that party
cast less than three-fifths of the tota
vote in that section at the last election. ,
The article in the Netos OF the previous
week escaped our attention. We die
MT see it, nor have we yet seen it ant
this must be our apology for what to
the Neios may have seemed a neglect
to reply.
In the article to which the Neao
takes exception, the GAZETTE charged
if We remember correctly, that the Re
publican partlsans in Massachusetts
Connecticut and Rhode Island, by leg
islative enacuments rendered it impos
sible for great part of the white mel
in those States to vote. There a MAJ
to vote must own property or be abb
to read and write. Those laws wer
made to prevent foreigners from vot
ing and to exclude the Catholic Irisl
and German voters. Now, the poin
we made was, that while those MOI their
Senators were clamoring for universe
suffrage they actually held thei
seats in the Senate by curtailing th
votes Of the white men in their oyl
States. This is a fact which the Neu
must acknowledge and at once per
ceive how wide the contrast whe
compared with the free and univers;
suffrage of Delaware and the Stat,
south of US. No such restrictions {
the ownership of property or the abil
ty to read and write are placed on IL
voters south of Mason's and Dixon
line. All may vote by the payment
light tax. II they do not value SUI
frage, from the lack of intelligence ,
other cause and do not vote, it is The
fault, and the majority of those WI
do vote are rightfully entitled to 90,
ern. The NesoS will perceive there is
great difference and this difference
just This: in the North the Democra
are preluded by Legislative enactmen
while in the South the Republicans
disguised the people with bad Cover
ment under the carpet-bag Governor
that such as are not Democrats do n
care 10 vote at all, preferring The Der
OcratIe party rule to that of their ow