Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-12-04

have one, and have had for nearly twenty years,
but whether we shall have an effective law.
The present law stops just short Of effective.
all control over the certiication which
establishes the prima facie right to Q
seat in the House of Representatives. This
ssntation and the parity of the electors must
be maintained, or everything that is valuable
in our system of government is lost. The quail
1hcations of all elector must be sought in tho
law, not in the opinions, prejudices, or fears Of
any class, however powerful. The path of the
elector to the ballot-box must oe free from the
ambush of fear and the enticements of fraud;
the count so true and open that none shall
gainsay it. Such law should be absolutely
non-partisan and impartial. 1t should give
the advantage to honesty and the control
to maiorities. Surely there is nothing
sectional about this creed, and if it shall hap
pen that the penalties OF laws intended to en-
force these rights fall here and not there,
it is not because the law is sectional, but be-
cause. happily, crime is local and not
that every law whether relating to elections or
to any other subject, whether enacted by the
State or by the nation, has force behind it. The
courts, the marshal or constable the posse
conIitaGus. the prison, are all and always be-
hind the law
One can not Justly be charged with unfriend-
illness to any section or class who seeks only to
restrain violation of law and of personal right
No community will find lawlessne profitable.
No community can afford to have it known that
the officers who are charged with the preserve
Gon of the public peace and the restraint of the
criminal classes are them selves the product Of
fraud or violence. The magistrate is then with
out Spect and the law without sanction. The
Hoods of lawlessness cannot be leveed and made
TO run in one channel. The killing of q United
States Marshal carrying a writ of arrest for an
election otfense is full of prompting and sugges.
ucn to men who are pursued by CITY Marshal
for crime against life and property But
it is said that this legislation will revive
animositieS, and some have even sug-
gested thai when the peaceful methods o.
fraud are made impossible they may be sup.
plemented by Intimidation and violence If the
proposed law gives to any qualified elector,
by hairs weight, more than his
equal infnsnce, or detracts by so much
fatally impeached But if the law is equal and
the animosities it is to evoke grow out of the
fact that some electors have been accustomed
to exercise the franchise for others as well as
for themselves then these auimosiies ought
not to be confessed without shame and
cannot be given any weight in the discussion
without dIshonor No choice is left TO me but
to enforce with vigor all laws intended to secure
to the citizen his constitutional rights, and to
recommend that the inadequacies of such laws
be promptly remedied.
If to promote with zeal and ready interest
every project for the development of its ma
terial interests, its rivers, harbors, mines and
factories, and the intelligence and peace and
security under the law of it's communities
and its homes, is not accept ed as sufficient
evidence of friendliness to any State or section,
can not add connivance at election practices
that not only disturb local results but rob the
electors of other States and sections of their
most priceless political rights.
appropriation Bills.
The rel aration of the general appropriation
bills thould be conducted with the greatest care
and closest scrutiny of expenditures. Appro-
priations should be adequate to the needs of the
public service but they should be absolutely
free from lrodigality.
1 venture again to remind you that the brief
time remaining for the consideration of the
important legislation now awaiting your at
tent1on offers no margin for waste. If
the present duty is discharged with diligence,
fidelity and courage, the work of the Fifty-frst
Congress may be confidently submitted to the
conslderate Judgment of the people.
BENJAMIN HARRISON
EXECUTIVE MANSION Dec l, 1890.