Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1890-07-17
IMPORTANT MEASURE.
THE PROPOSED REPUBLICAN,
FEDERAL ELECTION LAW.


1T VIII i'm All Probability Pass Both the
House and Senate Startling Figures in
Connection with Elections in the North
and the South.
From the Chicago Tribune.l
The Republican members Of the House
of Representatives have ait last agreed
upon plan for Federal supervision of
the election of members of that body
which they believe will put an end to the
frauds and bulldozings which have for
years deprived of representation the ma
jority of the voters in nearly thirty dis
tricts in the Gulf State. The measure
adopted is compromise one and will be
supported both by those who favored the
more radical methods suggested by Mr..
Henry Cabot Lodge and those who were
in doubt as to the political expediency Of
taking any action on the subject. 1t will
also, owing to it's moderate nature, re-
ceive the support of all the Republicans
in the Senate.
That which it is proposed to do lit was
first recommended by Congressman Row
ell of this States to take the present
supervisor system, with which the resi-
dents of most large cities are familiar,
for it has been employed for years with
the best of results, and to increase the
powers of the officers so that they shall
have CHI rye of elections instead of being
little more than mere onlookers, as at
present. The constitutionality of the l,.w
as it now stands has not been questioned,
and the legality of the broader provisions
it is now proposed to adopt will not be
seriously disputed by any one.
At present the supervisors, of whom
there are two for each precinct, do little
more than oversee first the registry and
then the voting. If they become aware
of any intimidation or fraud the most
they can do is to report the facts to the
House of Representatives, which body
can do what it p1eases with them Tt is
proposed that there be three supervisors,
one of one party and two of the other,
and that while there shall stillsbe local
judges and clerks of election, it shall be
the supervisors who shall have charge of
the registry, say who shall and who shall
not vote for Representatives, count the
votes and send the returns to the Chief
Supervisor for the district, who shall
tabulate them and certify to the Clerk of
the House the name Of the man who has
received the most votes and is entitled to
the seat.
If it should appear that the local cleo
tion officers have through the Governor
| or other State authorities certified to
the election of one man, and the super
visors of another, then the name of the
latter must be put on the roll, and the
former may contest if he pleases. He will
| not be suffered to thrust himself into a
seat which belongs to another. This is
the important, the essent al provis on of
the law. Without this it would be of the
least use where most needed. The pres
emit law has on various occasions done
good service in Chicago. In the Gulf
States it is worthless.
The Democrats will fight this measure
as they do everything which tends TO stop
fraud, but they have no expectation they
will be able to defeat it. Senator Carlisle
admits that it will go through that it
cannot be t liked to death in the Senate,
as some of his foolish colleagues have
suggested. He says;
OBVIOUSLY the Republicans will make
this party measure and hold every man
in line. If they want to pass such bill
they have the votes to do it. We may
protest and struggle for time and pro-
| long the con- est as much as we please,
| the Republicans can stay here as long as
we can, and sooner or later the bill must
pass.
Therefore he recommends that the
great fight on the law shall come off after
its passage, and that the effort be to make
it odous. 1t provides that when Judge
of the United States Circuit Court shall
be petitioned by 100 oters in Congress
sicnal district he must appoint supervis-
ors for it 1t is we'll known that there
are but few districts in the country
where Federal supervision would be
needed, SO that the cost, which would be
about SIS, 600 per district, would not be
great Senator Carlisle advises:
ain every Congressional district in tn 9
land the Democrats should see to it that
supervisors are petitioned for and OPP :
pointed by the courts. The resulting
army of federal officeholders, their inter-
ference with the rights of citizens and
with the usual methods of conducting cleo
tions, and the enormous expense incurred
by this system of party espionage and in
reference, will make the law SO infamous
tn t it be repealed If we permit this
law to be applied only where the Repub-
licans want it applied-in certain dis
tricts of the South-public sentiment
will not be aroused; hut if we insist that
il this law is to be enforced any where il
must be enforced everywhere, we shall
be able quickly to kill the whole system
by making it odious."
This could be done, and if it were the
country would have at q cost Of perhaps
six million dollars the honestest anc
fairest election for Representatives that
has ever been held. The result would be
either general satisfaction with the ex,
pertinent and thankfulness to the Repub.
licans for the good measure they had pu
through; or If the voters were displeaset
with having to pay few millions to ge
square election their wrath would fal
not on the law, or those who passed it
but on the plotting Democrats win
caused the unnecessary expenditure. At
tempts to make good law Nodious" gen
orally result in roofing it the more irml,
in popular favor.
Startling Figures.
Washington dispatch to Chicago Inter Ocean
The national election bill will probabl
be presented to the House this week. L
the debate upon it facts will be presente
which ought to startle the country. Her
are some Of them The official count o
the votes cast for the election of Repre-
sentatives to the Fiftieth Congress show
that the State of Kansas elected seve
otes, while Mississippi also sent seve
Representatives to the same Congress
the me number but they were electe
by only A 953 votes. The State of Ne'
Jersey also elected seven Representative
who required 229,S73 votes for thei
election; while on the other han
.Georgia's ten Representatives wer
elected by 27.475 votes. Connect
cut elected four Representatives b
1913, 105 votes and four Representative