Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-07-05


the fee system as far as practicable.
The first plank in this platform Is
the great issue in Mississippi and upon
that Greenbickcrs, Republicans and
| independents are thoroughly united.
Every man in Mississippi openly
processes to be In favor of u free ballot
and fair count, and those whose
secret practices are in violation of their
! public profession will privately admit
that they do not wish TO see their chill.
dren educated - become bailot-boX
suffers.
We now offer a test Of their since
rity. II the Democratic party IL in
favor of fair elections, let u law he
enacted that will compel it. Let each
party have fair representation in the
officers OF election. Put stop to the
unfair appointment OF opposition com.
missioners aud inspectors of election
on the recommendation of Democrats
and against the recommendation OF
opposition men themselves Aud
above all puta stop t. the miserable
aud disreputable pfacticeof appointing
as inspectors Ignorant colored men,
| who not only cannot read or write,
! but who in one case was as blind as a
| moon-eycd horse, and too deaf to hear
have been held by a committee of con
| gress priGaa .fdcie evidence OF an in
tenton to practice fraud in the count,
and it has been held by Judge Hill to
/ be Il crime against the election laws.
The second plank of this platform rs
to biennial elections. conmend5 itself
to all who desire 10 secure economy in
state affairs, and to all who are tired of
the annual autumnal conflicts which
disturb the business interests of the
country. But the Democracy who OPP
pose it place their opposition upon the
ground that federal supervisors should
| have no supervision of state elections.
These United States supervisors of
elections are at last Mississippians, and
they must by law be voters at the pre-
cincts where they act as supervisors.
Ii is mere rwaddle therefore to call
| them foreign spies. But if gentlemcn
! will give US state law to secure fair
election of officers and state super Vi
ors with the same power give y
United States supervisors no ma II w
ask for United States supervisor an
longer.
The third plank of this platform, an
elective judiciary, is the assertion 81
/, old time Democratic doctrine in Mis-
SiSSs IHi, W iitNti wac. tilt lllFI stutt III
the union to adopt it. 1t is not only
right in itself, but it takes the spoil is
system out of state politics. 1t takes
away the temptation from judges to
control political conventions to secure
the reelection of their governor and
their own re-appointment. 1t takes
from the governor the power to reward
I personal friends for political services,
and it removes the danger of n combi-
nation between the executive and the
judiciary to override the people. And,
above all, it leaves judges freer to de-
eide questions before them without
reference TO the opinion or the action
of the chief executive OF the state
But there is no necessity for me or
any one else to make argument in favor
of this principle. The judicial antics
of one Warren Cowan, appointed "a
Judge at Vicksburg 10y GOV. Lowry, is
doing more to convert the people of
Mississippi on this question than al
the speeches of all the politicians in
the state could do.
The Barksdaie wing of the DeInoc.
racy claim that this is Democratic doc
trine, and that they will carry it out;
but the Lamar wing have opposed il
as dangerous policy. in view of the
large number of negro voters in the
state. and they defeated it at the last
Legislature; that legislature which re-
turned Mr.. Lamar to the Senate. The
peol lie cannot afford to trust their
lights in the hands ofsuch men again.
The fourth plank of this platform,
~ to railroad supervision, is the one
that has created most dlssension in
the Democratic camp, and the oppos.
ing advocates are to-day bitterly ar
rayed against each other.
The Demotratic platform of Missis-
sippi has declared since 1877 that cor
porations ard snpervisable by the leg
islature within constitutional limits in
the interest and for the protection OF
the people. !" Skhe leaders VI the La
mar Democracy have hung upon the
words within constitutional limits y
and have insisted that the railroads in
| Mississippi were protected from legis-
lative supervision by their charters,
and that any attempt to supervise
them would be void, because such leg
islation would not be within cons;i-
tutional limits
Upon this ground Governor Stone
pocketed the Barry bill and this was
the attitude of affairs when the egisa-
ture mt which was controlled 10y the
Lamar Democrats. In this legislature
"a bill to create railroad commission
was voted down and when the char
ter of the Canton, Aberdeen Il Nash
vile road was pendingan amendment
giving the legislature powerto super
wise ii in almost the exact language of
the Democratic platform was voted
down by n vote OF GO against IS. And
now comes a leading Democratic jour
nal edited by IL c)ntidential friend, and
at one time private secretary of Sena-
tor Lamar, and makes the startling
announcement that this was done 10y
design and upon the demand of Il dis
tinguished railroad magnate. He says
on June LIST:
THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
AND THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL
RAILROAD CASES.
1--WE print this morning the only
full report of the above decision that
has appeared in any paper in the
United States, and it will doubtless he
read with interest hy members of the
bar and many others, and will be seen
to sustain the views recently express
cd by the Examiner in regard to the
bomb proof charters granted by the
Mississippi legislature last year. In
fact, the primary decisions in these
cases inspired the action OF the able
representative of the Illinois Central
railroad. when he appeared at the bar
of our legislature asking and obtaining
the charter for the Canton Aberdeen