Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-10-14

nine circuits In the United States. The eight supreme court judges, with ten circuit judges, were doing the work. The bill relieved the eight court judges from circuit work, and left that work to the ten circuit judges already in office and the seventeen circuit judges to be appointed by the president. As the cir cult stood, five of the seventeen judges were Democratic. As the circuit would stand after the passage of the bill, twenty-five of the twenty-seven judges would be Republican. As there would be three judges in each circuit, the Re- publicans would thus have absolute con- trol of each circuit.
 The object of this bill was shown when the Lodge bill came before the house. That bill gave the judges in each circuit the power to appoint chief supervisor of elections in each circuit for life. This supervisor was to appoint the supervisors and canvassers in each voting precinct in each circuit, with the power of transfer and removal. The circuit judges also had the power to ap- point board of canvassers in each state, who were to hold office for life. These canvassers acted in the place of
 the state board of canvassers and were
 to return certificates of election to the clerk of the house of representatives. He was to place the names of those
 whom the canvassers declared elected
 upon the rolls of the house under pen
 alty of $5,000 fine and five years im-
 prisonment.
 | Thus the character of the bill passed
 on April 15 was fully exposed l Here are the states composing the
 judicial circuits of the United States: | First Circuit Maine, New Hampshire, Mas l sachusetts and Rhode Island.
 | Second Circuit-Vermont, Connecticut and l New York.
 | Third Circuit-New Jersey, Pennsylvania l and Delaware.
 Fourth Circuit Maryland, West Virginia, l Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. l Fifth Circuit-Georgia, Florida, Alabama, | Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. l Sixth Circuit-Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and | Tennessee.
 Seventh Circuit-Ilinois, Indiana and Wis
 consin.
 Eighth Circuit-Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri,
 Arkansas, Nebraska, Colorado. Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Utah.
 Ninth Circuit-California, Oregon, Nevada, | Alaska and Arizona.
 These circuits show what could have
 been done under the Lodge bill and the
 Cannon judicial bill. A Republican
 judge sitting in Vermont would have
 the power to appoint state boards of
 canvassers in the great state of New
 York for life. A Republican judge sit
 ting in Michigan would also have the
 power to appoint boards of canvassers
 for the Democratic states of Kentucky
 and Tennessee to hold office for life. A
 Republican judge sitting in Minnesota would also have the power to appoint
 canvassers for the Democratic states ot
 Missouri and Arkansas to hold office fol life.
 Now let us see how closely the Repub licans in the house figured as to the ma jority required to pass the force bill. It was passed by-yeas, 155; nays, 149 exactly six majority.
 The votes of the six Republicans who : were placed in the seats of the six Dem
 ocrats elected by the people passed the bill. Without the busting of these Dem ocrats the bill could not have beer | passed.
 Seeing the small leverage upon whicl 5 they were acting, and fearing the resul when the bill came back from the sen } ate, if 1t ever came back, Tom Reed.
 congress immediately busted three more 7 Democrats-Clifton R. Breckinridge 7 with an official majority of S46; William
 H. Venable, of Virginia, and William
 Elliott, of South Carolina. This in
 creased their majority ill the house t. twenty-five, and with this majority the, s felt safe. If necessary, they would hav ! turned out ten more Democrats to hay 7 accomplished their purpose. The affirm = ative vote in Breckinridge's case wa 9 sixty-two less than quorum. Venabl 7 | and Elliott were busted within thre l minutes by a viva voce vote while tn Democrats were absent from the hous
 in an effort to compel the Republican g to furnish their own quorum. S With such bills laws the conspirator
 could have retained control of the hous D for fifty years. AMOS J. CUMMINGS.