Evening journal., 1891-04-29

staf Correspondence EVENING JOURNAL.
DOVER. April 2S The Five Commits
sioners bill sed the House this after
noon by q strict party vote, and Is now
law
The State Registration bill was favor
ably reported la the Senate by Mr. VIII
liams. chsirman Of the Committee on
Revised Statutes. and three sections Of II
were adopted, when Senator Willisms
bad TO take the train for home. The Re
publican senators refused to pair with
him, as the measure was being passed by
q strict party vote. Therefore, he moved
that further consideration of the bill be
postponed until to-m0rrow morning,
when 1t will be passed with the party
lines tightly drawn.
big Fight on Registration.
The passage of the Five Commission
ers bill by the Senate was a mere baga.
telle compared with the fight on state
registration By singular coincidence,
when the fight on registration was being
waged in the Senate an equally bitter
fight vas going on In the House on the
Five Commissioners bill
Clerk Hearn was not interrupted on
the Registration bill until he reached the
end Of the second section and said
"Section
Mr. Speaker Without objection that
will be Section 2 Of the bill
The section referred to reads ns fol-
lows.
Section 2. That for the purpose Of
preventing fraud at such elections and
facilitating the ascertainment Of those
| who are duly qualified electors, accord
L In, -. 10 II L. ~
state, the governor shall, at least six
months before every general election,
appoint In each hundred, or election dis
trict where a hundred is divided into
two OF more election districts, In this
state (outside the city of Wilmington)
one capable person. who shall be a voter
and resident In the distrist for which
ne shall be appointed, to be registrar for
the said hundred or election district
The terms Of Office of such registrars
shall begin on the third Tuesday of May
next, after their appointment, and shall
continue for two years thereafter. or
until their successors shall be duly
chosen and qualified"
Mr.. Pilling-''L am opposed to that
section Of the bill. The frst section, az
| understand It, Is copy of our consti
tusion consequently that Is our superior
Law. The section prescrlbes the quali6
cations Of q voter and 1t says, thst when
man possesses these qualifications be
shall enjoy the privileges Of an elestor
Suppose you are an election officer and
it Is your duty to receive the votes, and
l or any other person come with the
qualifications prescribed In section
Under those circumstances / will ash
you, what is your dutyY For myself will
say would take that vote We have
not the power TO interfere with the con
stitution. We have each taken a solemn
oath to sustain that constitution. VIZ
must restrict our legislative actions by
that constitution This act imposes
other restrictions for the qualifications
of the voter. Suppose citisen Is away
from the state and arrives home the day
of election or the day before Shall thil
/. Legislature say he must be disfranchises
because he WAS not home In time 30 b.
registered, IL he has all the other neces
sary qualifications | think it is impos
sible for us to do go Aud If for no cthe
reason, no matter how anxious [ nigh
be for purity at elections, the obligation
have taken as a senator will prevsn
me from voting for that bill think /
is impossible beyond doubt for us /,
pass that bill without passing an uncon
stitutional measure.
Zone more objection, Mr.. Speaker
That bill only applies to one portion o
the state 1t does not apply to all thl
! state. don't think it is proper 10 maxi
one qualification for citizsn 10 one sec
tion of the state, and that qualification
not to apply to jail the cit zens OF tn
state. This bill does not apply to VIII
mington. We have another bill 70
Wilmington, and Wilmington alone. |
VIC pass that bill we find on our statut
books three registration laws: One 70
municipal elections In Wilmington: on
for state elections in Wilmington; an
one governing all the state outside 0
Wilmington. That kind Of Legislation
obnoxious and wrong to me. / don
think we can throw restrictions arounl
one man and not around another. / be
lieve We should treat eve ry body alike
and this Is not treating everybody alik
by long ways.
"And furthermore, leaving that queH
tion which feel 80 sincerely is wrong
we will look at 1t from another point Q
view. This bill makes q provision tia
the governor shall appoint all thes
registrars that we shall all come to t
establish our right to vote / am oppose
to the bill from the fact that we have n
respect for any man under It. Wish al
due respect to the governor and every
body, | must say that the governor
Office is a politicsl offise he is bu
human. And under that bill we will al
be reduced to slavery, SO far IS politics
rights are eoncernd.
"What will you do If You get anoths
governorf There is revelation abroa
in the land that may reject both politi
cal parties. With this power which yo
give, one man may operate against you
and you may all be sorry for it, A powe
that has swept Kansas like g whirlwind
then jumped from the West I
south Carolina and swept this
state from border to border No matte
what we may think, don't forget tn
great power we are putting In one man
hands for political advancement Ths
is what 1t is for; you must admit Il
You can make the other officers OF cleo
tion registering board. without th
u expenses this bill will incur on ever
voting district In this state OF at leas
$50 There is no doubt about /
In the community in which live theI
Is growing objection TO extending th
appointing power of the governor, Il
matter to what party he belongs, or no
much wisdom he may possess l sin
cerely trust that you viii show the san
wisdom with regard TO this bill that hl
been displayed with the bill that W,
passed last week That 1t will be sue
that va ean arrive at somathing Tn,