Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-11-03
VOTE FOR THE CONSTITUTION.

~
ments would be usen against the Con.
stitution and have so far found bllttwC
that are pressed with any degree of
earnestness: LIST, That the plan for
taxing property is not such rs it should
he, and End. That the election of next
Tuesday is to be held without any 9TH
er previous legislation than that of the
convention held at Sioux Falls. Sept. 4
-22, 1883.
For years the people of Dakota have
been declaring both in the public prints
n in private conversation that they
are fitted mentally, morally, physically.
and financially for attending to their
affairs and are in every way as ca
pable of assuming the duties and res
possibilities of statehood as any of the
common wealths of the east. Now on
the eve of the election we are met With
the argument that because this. elec-
ton is not held in pursuance o., Az az:
OF Congress or of the Legisslosne-
therefore the people are act ayaa1ied
to assemble at the polls. ami declare bv
their ballots their de sire ss hs, governed
by officers of then SELVES and selected
from themselves.. There is an old say
ing that" a n.,sn's wishes direct his
.H'ugh's' duG ssgair, that "as a man
snlhKs so is tse." The natural conclu-
aiol VI this srsstter then is, the parties
"ho shs's argue lose sight of the fact
hif Il tie population of Dakota is COM
4F1sed Of men-men of honor, men of
principle men who do right because it
As right and not because they are COM
pelled to-and wish that the Constitu-
ton may be defeated by reason Of the
%1neanness and unprincipled action of
the voters; this wish has led to a train
OF thought that now breaks forth in
positive statements that such and such
things will surely come to pass. Out
upon such manhood Shame on such
suspicious of the purity Of mans in
intentions. Did it ever occur to these
parties that d law almost identical With
this schedule and ordinance was passed
by the Legislature last winter and fail
ed of becoming a law simply because
Ordway refused to sign it? Then NOR
;tlly considered what is thelaw? When
the great incubus who has nothing in
common with us fails to sign a bill
passed by the representatives of the
people elected by Them are we to con-
slider that he is the law? No. The
people will assemble at the polls next
Tuesday i'll a peaceable, orderly man
ner and as this election is to be held
upon honor, the man who attempts by
influence on example to make such
election void by attempting to stuff the
ballot box had better emigrate from
south of the 10th parallel if he wishes
political recognition in the future.
As to the other proposition in regard
to taxation we will quote the language
OF Ex-Governor Pennington who quotes
the section and then says: .Now this
is plain, straightforward and iptelligi-
bic and is rigid enough to meet the
views Of the most fanatical granger or
ranting anti monopolist. 1t provides
for the taxation CT railroads according
to value and is fully up with the most
advanced a~hti-monopoly constitutions
in that respect. The law Of 1SSO-S1.
taxing railroads ON their gross earn
lngs, is in my opinion, d good law and
better for the people than any tax to be
levied On valuation, cash or actual; but
this constitution establishing q funda-
mental principle, that the legislature
shall forever tax the property of all
corporations, and all other property, acz
cording to value, and this should salts
fy the most captious stickler for vnlua-
ton taxation. And this being SO, why
all this clamor of the opposition. Ger
tainly not in the interest of the people.
Remember, fellow citizens, a vote
against the constitution is a vote
against division and admission. wheth=
er you so mean it or not, and your vote
will be SO regarded by congress; l am
heartily in favor OF the admission of
southern Dakota as a state. and sin
cerely trust the vote in favor Of the
constitution may be large and decisivet
Last week an item was published
stating that the civil rights bill had
been declared Unconstitutional SO far
rs relates to The States. Attirst glance
- *cu.t seem that the fourteenth
A4tet}dment to the Constitution had
been in fact annulled-but such is not
the case; the only question settled by
this decision is this: The court decid-
ed that the amendment refers to legal
rights and not to social rights. In 9TH
er words, that because Il man has the
right to hold property and use the COM
mon means OF conveyance and be as
secure as though he were white: it does
not compel white people to associate
with colored people unless they so de-
,.- >.---