The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1882-05-17
NUMBER 20
ASTATEHEST THAT WAS MIsCALLED
"a Statement BY the Congressional An.
portionment Committee.
Lexington Adyertiser.l

portionment Committee
Lexington Advertiser.
| Extensive publication has been made O,
q statement which by its head lines pur.
ports 10 be A Statement Of the Congres-
sional Apportionment Committee That
committee as at first appointed was large.
and members were afterwards added 70 it
until the House OF Representatives had
/ twenty and the Senate fourteen. The Sen
ate and House Committees met and acted
together rs one committee and had a total
membership of thirty-four. "The "state-
ment' referred to was signed by three of
| those thirty-four members. and certainly
cannot be taken as the Statement" of the
other thirty-One members who probably
never saw or heard of it, until il was pub
| llshed {; and it cannot therefore be said to
| be the statement of that committee. rs
| seven members of that committee were from
| the former 4th Congressional District, SIX
| Of whom are in the present 9TH District,
and the Statement referred to having only
| received the Endorsement of three of these
members it cannot properly be called the
statement of the members of that COM
mittee from any district, but only the state
ment Of three members OF the committee
indorsed by some members of the Legisla
ture who do not even claim to know what
transpired in the committee room.
To persons who are at all conyersant
with the action of that committee the state
ment' referred to must read like a tale
that is not half told and as such it would
have passed over unnoticed but for the in
justice, probably unintentional, which it
does Dir, Noel, one of the Representatives
from Holmes county, by placing upon him
the responsibility of leaving Madison coun- /
tv out Of the 9TH District, when ia fact he |
made the most earnest and strenuous exer-
tions to have Madison placed there, as /
majority of that committee will attest.
There were two plans of re-distrieting the .
State submitted to the committee which /
plans were known by the names OF their re- I
spectiye authors who were AIessrs. Terrall |
and Noel. In both plans, in point Of popu- /
lati0n the districts were nearly uniform no .
district having more than 10000 people, |
nor less than 10000. The Terrall plan
was framed on the idea that in re-dstrict-
ing, the color line should alone be consid-
cred and that in order to insure five Demo
cratic Districts in this State, two should be
given to the Republicans, the five Demo
cratic Districts having each an average
majority of 5000 white voters, and one OF
Il
Of Is 900 cOored voters, and the other l5-
coo Yazoo and Madison counties were in
the latter Republican District, and Holmes
was in the 4th, Il white district.
The Noel plan was constructed on the
theory that not only the color line but the
manner in which counties and districts had
voted since 1879, should be taken into con-
;ideratioH in making up the new districts. +.
La this plan the worst Republican counties :
we're placed in one district which had a !
majority Of 10000 colored voters. The re '
naIHder of the State was divided into six v
districts each Of which it was calculated O
would go Democratic by from 1000 to l5,-
40 majority, if the elections of the past Il
even years furnished any index as to what II
he result of future elections would be. Mr.. u
N0e submitted several plans, each slightly
ifiaring from the other, all based on the u
anne theory Of making six Democratic
Districts but his chief advocacy was given a
o the plan in which Madison was placed q
Il the 9TH District and LaudcrdaIe, Clark Il
nd Wayne were left out. s'
The committee took up the districts one o
t 4 time, commencing with the first. aud tl
the districts somewhat different oI
rom either Of the plans first submitted
" the time the 4th District was completed, II
erral's plan was completely demolished d
roeI then moved that Yazoo Holmes Mad h
.on. Atlala T,eake Newton' Scott smith a
nd Jasper counties compose the 9th Dis sd
-ict Mr.. Terral offered a substitute for 9,
his motion the exact nature Of which is not
amembered, but the substitute did not in a'
lude Madison in the proposed 9th District. +"
heated controversy followed in which al
ies5rs. Terrall and jones contended that g
tn District would he comnIefelv coTsrcI
n bv and would nor consent TO he attached
J, the three LARGE western colored counties
Tr. Noel maintained that the proposed 5,h CO..,
,igt-io+ a,,,t,,;,,,,I y, ,,rt ii,atlI, - 81
r colo2ed vote than the farmer 4fb Distrirt ~ ~
ON which II was chiefly constructed and ~
bicb had nroved itself one of tbe most ra- T.
able Democratic Districts in the State.
ba disaussion and VOTING IN III, question
hich showed the committee was nretf,, n
,enIv divided on il was carried an tbraucI
.veraI meetings. several slirht changes and
nandmants beinr off.rad bV norb LA ma
aci.iya result hnino reached Co1 SinoIo. 70
ms particular friends incIudipg bis -
.otbarlin-Iow Mr. Uapd,. ~ NTa1isn, "a
tied for the Noel nrnnosition or,
One evening shortly before the close Of II
70 sassion of tho coponoittao NJ Had, a,
Iprested that ifalI tbat fhe snnoorfers nf mr.
.e TerralJ nlan wanted was tbat tho eost- or
n connties sbouIJ ho 3ttacLeJ 70 hut t,,o g.
the Iargo western coiornJ counties tbat he
e matter migbt he satisfactoriIv adjusted al
, uniting Madison in the 5tb D;sfrict and mi
lttjnr Holmes elsaWhare This idea was 81
dorsed by another one of Col. Singleton's be
lends who had been voting for Noels prop NJ.
ition. As the 4th District was already tht
IL l. ~