The weekly clarion., 1882-04-26
4 STATEMENT.
BIZ TIE CONGRESSIONAL APPoRTIoNNEST
COMMITTEE
Meridian AIereury.l

Committee on congressional dlStFfctS, /
forming the Fifth district, calls for a
I, explanation on the part of the members c
G the committee residing in the district
The undersigned desire to submit 10 th
public statement of the facts in the case
The committee desired, in performing It
work, to make as many districts Democrati
{ as they could, and in executing this pur
pose they kept constantly before them
tabular statement of the white and colOre(
electors furnished each of them by tn
,# Secretary of State. In the committee, th,
districts were separately and consecutively
formed and agreed to, one by one, as they
are numbered in the bill that passed tht
Legislature, except the change OF Pontoto,
from the Second to the Fourth district
and of TaIIahatchie from the Third to the
Second, and perhaps some other minol
changes.
A large map was spread out on the fool
OF the committee room, and as each district
was proposed the mover indicated the coun-
4 ties to compose the district by placing bits
Of paper upon the counties upon the map
( When the committee arrived at the Fifth
/ district, Mr.. Noel, of Holmes, laid strips oI
paper upon the counties of Holmes, Yazoo,
Attala, Leake, Scott, Newton, Jasper and
Smith, and moved that these counties be
/ formed into the Fifth district. After Mr.
| Noel had explained his reasons for the dis
/ trct, Mr.. Jones, of Smith offered some
objections to it. Mr. Terrai also objected,
| that his county, Wayne and Lauderdale,
were about TO be taken from their present
and former association with the counties
west OF them, and to be placed in the Sixth
district running southwest to the Missis-
sippi river, with which they had
never been connected in a Congress
sonal district; and he further OBJ
jected, that it was unjust to the east Missis-
sippi counties named by Mr.. Noel, to place
them with counties forming a district in
which the colored electors had a decided
majority and upon his motion, Wayne,
Clarke, Lauderdale and Neshoba were added
to the counties proposed by Mr.. Noel for the
Fifth district. The district was then
agreed to and voted for by a decided maiori-
ty OF the committee.
Afterwards Mr.. Luse moved to add Mad
ison to the Fifth district, in exchange for
Wayne, to be added to the Sixth district,
but to make such change was to increase
the population to over 100000 and to give
the colored electors majority of about
1000 in the district; and it was not agreed
to for these reasons.
Mr.. Terral had submitted to the COM
mittee the plan contained in the bill intro
duced by him into the House, proposing to
place Noxubee, Winston, Leake, Nesh0ba,
kemper, Newton, Lauderdale, Scott, Smith,
Jasper Clarke and Wayne in the Fifth
district, and this proposition was favored by
the eastern members of the committee, on
the ground that the district would be of
adjacent, accessible and compact territory,
the people largely acquainted, and the pop
ulation safely Democratic. The placing of
Noxubee, Kemper, Winston and Neshoba
in the Fourth district had so far broken up
such an arrangement, that the members
from the east were solicitous in getting their
counties into the district with the adjacent
counties west of them, with which they had
been hitherto connected, and of seeing that
the white electors were in a majority in the
district. They worked for this purpose
without any regard to the prospects Of any
individual for Congressional honors, be- |
lieving their paramount duty to the State |
did not interfere with their wish of making |
as many of the districts democratic and the |
association of counties in the district as
nearly harmonious, as practicable
The duty of making seven districts out of
six, necessitated some change. 1t was i'm
possible to do work without forbearance and
from some quarter; and while
no district was entirely satisfactory to all
the representatives from the district, the re-
suit reached had a decided majority, and so
far rs We could judge, after protracted and
tedious consideration of the subject, it was
the only plan that could have been agreed
upon.
Our conviction of duty left US no alter
native but to perform this duty, and in per-
- i Il, I-.~E
stances and surroundings permitted Con-
;cious of no partiality for, or injustice to any
,ne, we submit to a candid public, the
,bove as plain recital of the facts in the
Ease.
Respectfully,
s. II. TEGRAL.
Representative from Clarke
l.. B. Brown,
Senator from Clarke and Lauderdale
w. III. Jones,
Representative from Smith.
[Members of Congressional apportion-
nent committee from the eastern counties
n the Fifth district.l
The following statement merits and re-
elves our cordial appreciation. /
THos KEITH, l
Senator from Jasper, Scott and Newton. 5
JOHN TERRY,
Senator from Neshoba and Kemper. G
T. L. COOPER &
Senator from Leake and Attala. t
II. d. CAMERON, I
THos II. WOODS, {
Representatives from Lauderdale. I
ALEX POWE, c
Representative from Wayne. '
d. T. CHAPMAN, f
Representative from Newton. (
J. G. MCBEATH, S
Representative from Neshoba. L
NJ. LYLE,
Representative from Scott, q
T. J. SAUNDERS, j
Representative from Leake. a
l was not member of the Congressional I
pportionment committee, though | believe s
hey acted in good faith to the State and Q
oted for the bill accordingly
JOE. BLANKENsHIP,
Representative from Jasper. =,