Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-09-04
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.

Efforts OF the Vicious Political Element
to Break Down the Precinct Registers.
{. The Board Of Supervisors met Yesterday
commencing the September session.
A report was received from the public
school district recently established at High
land Park, just south of the Y-slreet levee,
TO the effect that 5000 had been voted by
the people of said district for the purpose
of building new school house. 1t was ex.
planned, however, that as most of the pres
| ent Improvements on lots and tracts in the
/ district had been made since the present
| tax levy took effect on the first Monday of
/ March last, the tax would have to be borne
! largely by few property-owners. On this
account, William Curtis, a resident
/ OF the district, stated that he. in
connection with few otberl
would advance the necessary funds
| to build the scbool-house. and wait for pav
until the next years levy has been made
! and collected, by which means a more
/ equitable distribution of the cost for the
! building would be laid upon the residents
of the district. The matter was referred To
the District Attorney for an opinion in the
premises.
c. 81. ProdgFr appeared before the Board
in the interest of children COMMITTEES 20 the
Boys and Gills' Aid Society Association
| and urged that the appropriation of S25, as
provided by law, for each child so COM
nitted by the Police Court be allowed
without the stigma of being so committed
F.! by said Court, as frequently there is no
| blame attached TO the child, but the com
initial Is in the interest of humanity, as re-
/ lievlng the child from abuse or neglect of
drunken parents, etc The matter was re-
ferred to the District Attorney for his opin-
ION as TO the power Of the Board to make
such appropriations in that manner
The matter of enforcing the recent order
OF the Board for preparing and publishing
precint registers was informally considered.
by reason OF The discussion which has been
had Of the subject since the order was
made by the Board. Ii may be said in this
connection that no order of the Board has
ever received such hearty and unanimous
approval from the better class of citizens of
the county. as the one establishing precinct
registers. In it the end of ballot-box stuff
ing and election frauds, which have so
cursed the good name of Sacramento. were
seen to have their doom. and the main
strength of bossism iii politics to be effect
lyely broken. For this very reason the |
class that perpetrates election frauds and
those who profit by them, at once
raised hue and cry against pre-
clnct registers, but seeing that the
people demanded these registers
TO stop the criminal outrages of this verv
class, they evolved the proposition that the
precinct registers would disfranchise those
who change their residence after registra- |
non. There was seeming plausibility in |
this, and many too innocent to observe
from what source this objection came, be- |
gan to question whether or not a grievous |
Wa fnn oh 20 r. l.
body who had had their residence on |
wheels since they registered. In this they |
failed TO discern the fact that the very ones |
who raised this objection-as they would |
nave 1t believed-to prevent any of the |
dear people from being disfranchised. |
from baving changed their residences, |
were operating from the sole mo- |
tive OF defeating the precinct regis |
ters so they could continue the work |
OF carrying elections, according to cut and /
drled methods, by stuffing ballot boxes |
and voting abSenteeS and dead men,
Fortunately however, the Board of Su- !
pervisors do not propose to leave this loop |
hole for illegal election work hereafter, and |
precinct registers lcM be prepared and |
printed. AS result of the consideration |
or hearing given yesterday by the Board to |
the objections that have been raised. and |
the suggestion made by a member of the |
Board, as there was little opportunity for |
fraud being committed in the country, and |
that consolidated register for the precincts |
IN the country, with separate register for |
each OF the city precincts would properly |
guard the purity of elections, the matter |
was held over until to- day to obtain the |
opinion of Judge W. II. Beatty, Judge Nc |
hune and others, as TO the power OF the |
Board to have separate registers for the CITY |
precincts and consolidated one to include |
all the precincts outside the city. The |
Board then adjourned.