Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-08-20

election iAw that LES behind the tar 4 iax cr
Iinieraassenal Law and there is 90 other force
TO be considered An; .et ue say further
that there .seais 10 be yi0lenf p.ej 1diee
snd outerF about blue ela,s and biyonets-
toH't think sryhols aeea 70 nave any
fear ahoat the blae eoa. er hayoaet The
only time that We xere familiar wiki them
la this coEnry vas when the lines
of 5lae coat sal bayonss stood
osfsesn this g)yeruHaent and de-
siruetion applause za1 there
seems to have been lingering prejudice in
democratic m.n3s ever s.n>e. (renewsd ap-
piaaae-) Bat | for one Mr. Chairman
T would De tse lsst 10 advocate troops
Al the polls or anything of thai kind !:
IL Is utterly uh-AusriCan, IL IS utterly IN
necessary. All thai sc need is 10 pass
laws as We have prepared and lass
of the United ssates are going
TO be carried out in this country aud no.
body need get in the least restless about ii
or sntieipate violence OF anything Of that
kind.
Tha. is settled question. and as fur
/ bayoasts in this bill. Il Is merely cry u
deee i've, aolbiaz else Ia the world. They
based il simply upon clause in the statute
enacted years ago s!th refereueel 10 city
rights. " hich has bera upon the statute
ever Aince, Il does not natter whether the
HI ehacts il Or fepeAls is. and they quote
thAI ssetioa of revised statutes and say Il,
IS IN the bill There is nothing OF the sort
in the bill. There is ngthing in il that Rny
homes. man need fear. it Il simply i bill
to LOOK into elections. AMI y there any body
/ 10 this a strict afraid To have election.
locked into: Of course tn re is not Yoa
all last as # have elections of Name
/ Massachusetts ard the whole North looked
iato. There is n.tl.tng We want 70 coBcesl
or clver, but vi hen IA America aud under
United States gogernmeLt you ind that
people objee, to publicity in matters
touching on public welfare and public leg
isiaticn you niaks /. pretty sure that il IS
time to look iDIo H. Applause e.
There Is nothing wholesome IN this gov
in its secrecy. The best safeguard is
publicity aud To know ali about it, snl th.
qnf stion of fair elections IS in the minds of
the people Everywhere. You reai il in the
demands of labor OFginizaliors, and you
read il in the demaods of farmers aliiinee.
IL is moving everywhere the demand that
elections shall be 50 far that no maa Can
/ question them.
| 1 see thas today your county convention
passed resolutions in favor OF the Austria
tan ballot and in favor of purity of cleo
tions. Applause. Nv own State has
adopted the Australian ballot aai think it
is one OF the best things tnAt has been done
for many years. Applause. The State
Of New York has adopted l.. II il IS good
1 thing To have honest cleo ions 10 New York,
Mas; ;aehase is and Msine, why is 1t not a
1 good tAlng 10 have Il guaranty of honest
elections everywhere. The election of 4
me inter in South Carolina weighs exic ly
/ equal with the vote of = maa " hoin you
will elect. Tee constitution guarartees t.
US equal represent alton, but Il takes 5 (
votes 10 elect me where il takes one vote Il
elect man in Georgia. That is not fair
and equal representation, and it is not con
/ fined to the South alone. They raise the
/ cry that this is sectional. We always hear
( that cry if anybody thinks the South is go-
I ing TO be 1terfeted sith This bill WAS
/ originally drawn to meet frauds in the
! State of New York. Nobody called hat
sectional. it was only intCnled then for
the larg. eli is of New York, aGd that was
not scetiensl, but The minute you have it
appiird eyeryw here, ss every law of the
/ United States ought u be, then goes up the
cry lit is sectional. The moment you
lay your hand on Southern election and say
lets zee that it is fair and hODest, then we
are told it i. sectional"
No one could be more aserse to rsisrg
old issues til N am. telitye in bufying
them. The war Is OVER the oblecIs for
which it was fought are gone, and the North
has q ale every coace7si4n snd coacil atio1.
repest that the time has come TO bury
war issues the S)tti g. well rs the North
| say the tine las come 10 put that st e'on
on the same t,ntug as the test of the
country What Mo- th5rl newspaper would
be found TO make such a remark as | read
from The Chsrl ston News aud Courier,
that South Carolina t)nll be congratulate d
that she had fewer representatives, at T..
Grand Army Encampment just held in Bos
ton than any other STATE. Would any
Northern paper say thI',
We have gone forward in the right .pirit.
We DO not want to keep al We any OF the
war Issues. They srs K p' slive there and
| say it is their t4rn 10 TO I'll 'te and con-
eede and drop war issues, ard part of it Is
ID apply the same Law of Il ctOus 10 them
as spp'y to us. They say We want 10 put
their ignorance over them. We do not
want TO put ignorance on top Of iLtsli
gence snswlere. They say this ia bill to
hrilg home their ignorance upon them, but
they can protect thenselsc' against izno-
rance. They say 1t ia an cff5r, to put the
igns rant negro in control. The State of
Massschuset has got npol its constitI-
ton written there . year. ago, clause
making sbii to read aud write qlslifics-
iion to vote. Ttrrc is rothing in the con-
st;tuti0n of jtc United Ststss TO prevent
that being in any constitution where the
States fesr they viii be ruled by ignorance
Why don't ghey put it in southern consti.
tutions and settle this question: Becaus
they do not draw the hue on ignorance, th,
draw il on color and that ia what the
constitution of the United States says shall
not be done. Great applause /. We do
not want to interfere, cf course, in their
local concerns. We Go rot wish to set
ignorance above int live nee. hut We do
say that the clsusts of the constitution
ought to tc carried out aRd carried ont in
good faiih No people A. the clcse of a
great ard bloody war can sfforl 30 write
INTO its constitution that no man shall be
deprived ef his vote on account of raee,
color or previous condi ion of seryitu lie,
and stand b. and see that mad dead let
ter. Very gres; app ause II se did not
mean to do our duty bv those pe0Tle we
had 40 right to pu; that ITO the c0nst tation.
II is a duty 10 be performed Just "a much
ss it was to give item freedom, and if We
d not perform tina, Gafv now we n Ill hsve
Ia later en-. You cannot Sc tie question
Ike that in but one wag. ani that is the
right way. You cannot settle il ty COM
promises or in any other way. Yoa NUT
give hose people The gifts you gusrIntee
tnen. Thsy can protect themselves against
ixnorsnce; nobody need be alarmed about
th6t- Bat they suppress the tl4ek vote en-
the cry of negro supremacy, and the white
republican vote Of the Sou'h as well, ami
the person of that sy,tsm is creeping up
ward all the time. Yeu csnnos cos6ne il,
it Will spread and spread and sprsaI, for in
the ballot box es the only expression Of
the Wili of the American reopl3.
You suppose thst it is mere scc5dent
that there have been eight thieves among
the Southern State Treasures in the last
thee years Ii ia not an accident. IL is
because there is no fair expression OF
popular opinion. To make your govern
mett pure you cannot Degil by corrup'ing
the source of the foct. Moreover. there
are evils ia our sections of the country.
There are g-eat cite. where there are se-
rious frsuts On elections. sn1 every fraud
80 perpetrsted, nulhies my veta
end rul ifes Yours. All that til
( the republican party ssks ard all that thA,
bul demands, is that We sha sp.eal those
Z elections open so thst mea may lock
I upcn them, and they say thar re suolieans
{ expect to gain seats il Congress By this
I bill sud that is all iheF ex 3eet 20 gain by
! it. We extect to gaia seats by houest vo
/ irg. II a parry is not cheating. they lose
rOthir by far elections | will ain.t
thaf xe shall rain hr hnn. :. elet..inrs