Blue-grass blade., 1890-09-20
Tho Fedora, E,lc,ion niuI.

The North American Review Mr..
Lodges famous natioaal election bill,
Mr.. Lodge says his bill simply provides
for the appointmcnt ofiUnitsd States Of
ficers, selected from tlI' two leading po
litical parties. 20 watch over md report
upon naturalization, 7registration, the
conduct of the cong essional election,
the count OF the ballotA and the ccrtifca-
ton of the members. ,Phesc officers have
no power to interfcrc. Their only duty
is to protect the honcsS voter, secure evi.
dence to punish wrong docrs and make
public every fact in cpnnectiDn with the
election.
The whole purpose Or tho law may be
summed ND in one Ior1-"publicity.
When on petition Of p hundred persons
in any city of 10000 inhabitants or up
ward, or petition of fifty persons in any
congressional district that has no town
of 10000 inhabitants or upward, the law
goes into effect, thenA G chief supervisor
of elections appoints deputy supervisors
ur-4thc otfrer officer~S aed; These makS
returns of the election TO United
States board of canvassers, and it issues
a certificate to the candidate who from
these returns seems TO be elected. In
case their candidS(e~4s not the same as
the one declared eleS 0od by the local au-
thorities, then of course the certificate
~ tbn ,.t;,,,l bo,rJ toLna ,rofor,pco
and their candidate is declared elected.
Still, the defeated man has recourse to
the circuit court of to United States.
Such are the leading provisions of
what has been called the Force BILL"
Mr.. Lodge says Of it:
The president Oh the United States has from the
beginning of the government had power to use
the army and navy In support OF the laws Of the
United States, and this general power
plictly conferred many years ago IN that portion
of the Revised Statutes which now comes under
the title 'civil rights" The present bill neither
adds TO nor detracts front that power, and as the
liberties of the country have been safe under it
for at least twenty years 1t Is not to bo appre-
hended that they will now be In danger.
The real objection to the bill comes from the
fact that Of the two great parties believes
that free elections imperil their power. They
know that by this bill the United States officers,
taken from both parties, are appointed by the
courts the body farthesi removed from politics
They know that these United States officers will
be held in check by local officers, and be utterly
unable to interfere with the proper conduct Of
the election. But they know also that the result
will be publicity, and they believe that in
quencc of publicity many districts will be lost to
them. This law Is as fab to one party as another;
but If one party is cheating, that party will suf
fer, and where the cry AGAINST the law is loudest
1t Is the best evidence of its necessity and proves
that those who resist 1t Profit by the wrongdoing
which it seeks to cure.
The constitution Of tho United States promises
equal representation to t1e people, and it makes
the negro q citizen Equality of representation
has been destroyed by the system in the south
which makes one vote there outweigh five or six
votes In the north AMI the negro has been de
prved of the rights the nation gave. No people
can afford to stand quiet and see its charter of
government male a dead letter; and wrong
can endure aud not he either cured or expiated
Fair elections north and south are vital - the
public If we fail to secure them, or II we permit
any citizen, no matter how humble, to be wrong
ed we shall atone for it To the last jot and tittle
Master Workman Powderly is opposed
to the Federal election law for many
reasons. One is that it will give too
much power to u nine chief super
visors, one for eacI Judicial district in
the Union. Each II the nine will be
able to dictate the nominations Of his
party in his district Mr.. Powderly. be-
longing to neither political party, says:
The fault does not lie with the people, and their
rights should not be abridged. There Is not one
man on the floor Of cen sress today who can con-
hat 81.
vass which ended in his election he did not resort
to some mean act In oTdettp get votes or to pre-
vent losing them. The dspifants for Office the
men who debauch the voters and the Indignation
manifested the floor of congress during the dc
hates the federal election bill came with 4
very poor grace from many who owed
their seats to little tricks, illegal Of
money, false represent ttions and the use Of
liquor The federal election bill provides that, II
more ballots are found In the congressional box
than there voters In the election district, the
supervisor and Inspector shall be blindfolded and
draw out number OF ballots sufficient TO equal
the excess Two wrongs never make right; to
find more ballots than voters proves that illegal
votes have been cast, but it does not right the
wrong to draw the tickets out indiscrnnately.
1t should first be ascertained who cast the Illegal
ballots, and tken such tickets should be removed
or another election called
The trainers of the bill made no attempt to
ucuy tndl IL WIS introduced DecuuSe OF tle In
timidation OF the negro voters of the south, and
there is no doub. that colored citizens In many
places In the south vera outrageously deprived of
their rights in being di,gen from the polls by the
Democrats. Notwithstanding their deprivation
of the right To vote tie colored men are repre-
sented in congress by the men who deprived them
OF the right to vote, who were parties to the
wrong The constitution OF the United States
makes provision tOr suth emergencies, II read it
Alright where IL says:
But when the light 10 vote at any election for
the choice OF electors for president and vice
president Of the United States representatives In
congress, the executive and judicial officers Of a
state, or the members ot the legislature thereof,
Is deuied to amy OF the male inhabitants OF such
state, being q years OF sge and citizens Of the
United States or In any way abridged, except for
participation in rebeO> or other crime, the basis
Of representation theren shall be reduced In tho
proportion which tho number of such male cti-
zens shall bear to the whole number OF male citi-
zens u years OF age in such state"
1t seems to me that the proper thing TO do after
the fact Is established that number OF negro
citizens are not allowed TO vote, is TO base the
representation Ia esas-from the district or
state on the number exercise the right of
suffrage therein
Itwould not be strang~ Yeti the Prince
of Wales died befoce his hale and sound
cid mother He ls~tiied ana fagg5a'
and is said to be sibject to fits of deep
melancholy. His health is not at all
firm. Victoria has always taken very
good care of herself. which the prince
never did.
A new political party with a par
ticularly hard maine are the Resubmis-
sionists of Kansas. They advocate the
resubmission of the constitutional pro-
| hibitory amendment to "a vote Of tho