National Republican., 1881-12-03
The shocstring District.

from the tennessee 10 lnc LOulsluUd lluc, |
q distance of more than five hundred |
miles, and at some points is not more
than dozen miles wide. A Democratic
Legislature, governed solely by partisan
considerations, gerrymandered" the
State and created this long and narrow
district lhence the name Shoestring),
with view to including therein, so far
rs possible, the colored voters of the State.
The bottom lands of these counties are
unequaled for productiveness, and here
cotton grown in the greatest abundance
and perfection therefore most inviting
field is presented to the industrious
colored laborers, who constitute almost
the entire population of the district. The
colored voters therein exceed the white
by at least fifteen thousand
The Democratic legislators well under
stood this, and the district, when formed,
was known and conceded by them to be
"hopelessy Republican"
The object of making such congress
sional district is apparent. 1t was simply
to consolidate the colored vote into one
for the purpose of affording the Demo-
cratic minority better opportunities in
others. Fraud and violence were soon
after inaugurated at elections and prac-
! ticed with such marked success us con-
trolling elements that General James
| X. Chalmers was most unexpectedly
returned as Congressman-elect from
that Republican district, and was seated
| bya Democratic House of Representatives
in 1877. Claiming to have been again
elected, he was admitted to q seat in the
| Forty-sixth Congress, and he has there
fore served four years in that body. No
unprcjudiced, disintcrested, and well-in-
formed person will presume to assert that
he was ever elected by the free expression
at the ballot-box of the voters he falsely
claims to represent.
Public discussion has prior to the late
election been absolutely prohibited in
his district; terrorism has prevailed from
one end of it to the other and the most
glaring and outrageous frauds have been
Systematically perpetrated in the Bour-
bon interest At the risk of being charged
with shaking the bloody shirt" we beg
leave to remind the present House of
Representatives that widowsand orphans
mourn the lossof husbands and fathers
who were cruelty sacrificed for opinions
sake in the Bourbon manipulation of the
"Shoestring District"
Chalmers again, with unexcelled eff
frontery, presents himself rs the men,
Der from that district, notwithstanding
the fact that Hon. John II. Lynch re-
ceived large majority of the votes octu-
dliy cast and counted ut the congressional
election in 1880. Bulldozing and fraud
having proved inadequate in this in
stance, he now claims seat on
the most flimsy of technicalities-so
flimsy, indeed, that many of his
hitherto Democratic supporters re-
fuse to sustain him in his preposterous
pretensions. The Vicksburg Herald, the
leading Democratic paper of Mississippi,
frankly acknowledges that Mr.. Lynch
was fairly elected, and that he ought to
be promptly seated. The Memphis AUa-
lanche and appeal and New Orleans Times
take the same ground.
As an indication of the political COM
plexion of the district referred to we in
,i.---.'v"1'--- a. A." danlared result OF
the late State election in the counties ol
which it is composed.
With the election machinery all in the
hands of the Democrats and ingeniously
arranged in such manner as to enable
them to return majorities to suit their
own purposes, the official returns, pro-
claimed by Democratic secretary Of
state, show that King, the Republican
nominee for Governor, received Il ma.
jority of about twenty-five hundred ovel
Lowry, the Democratic candidate
and that King carried seven o.
the twelve counties. Many bal
lot boxes were thrown out on
: various pretenses, all save one in Bolivar
County, and Kings rightful majority was
by this and other unlawful means, greatly
reduced but even Democratic effrontery
was not equal to setting up q claim tina
the district was carried by that party
1t will be remembered that the fimsl
pretext upon which Chalmers now
I. claims seat in Congress is baseC
solely on the undsputed fact tha
upon some of the tickets voted for Mr.
Lynch plain printers dashes appeared
between the names of candidates. Thes,
simple dashes, placed there by the prnte
as matter of taste, it is falsely pretended
were "dcvices" and contrary to Stat,
, law; and therefore over two thousanC
votes cast for Mr.. Lynch in Warrci
County alone were arbitrarily thrown on
after they had been counted, thus re
, versing the result known to have beer
reached. Upon this palpable fraud Chal
} mers bases his claim.
, We are fully persuaded that the Hous
| ought to and will make quick disposition
of the matter and promptly award MI
Lynch the seat TO which he is clearly en-
titled.
c Is the Republican Party Too Large ?
A negative answer to this question
honestly and understandingly given
|, would give a quietus to all factious dis
s turbances within the Republican ranks
7 If the party is not too large, then al
4 a ~