Middletown transcript., 1892-09-29
Ttff1 FORCE BILL.

iulaIuOus tOIC6 Ull III uis lCSbcL Va uC-
ceptance. He is an earnest advocate
of that odious measure, notwithstand-
ing. In all his notable utterances
within the past several years he has
urged the passage Of such bill.
Nobody need be deceived as to Mr..
Harrison's attitude on that subject by
his shifty course at this particular
time. Should Harrison be elected
President he will exert every effort in
his power to again have the force bill
brought forward. 1t is measure in
which every man north and south has,
or should have, q very deep and
serious concern, involving, as it does,
the sacred right Of franchise and
equality sundes the law, privileges
which no true patriot can afford to
disparage nor appreciate to highly.
Some Republican papers talk about it
as Southern question" It is not
local, but universal, and democratic
States in the north like New York,
New Jersey, Connecticut and Indiana
would be the special fields for the
operation Of the infamous system.
The policy Of bayonets at the polls
and cages for voters, which the Re-
publican party indorses, and which is
championed by Harrison and his
subordinates in the Senate and House,
is aimed fast of all at New York. In
order to suspend the operation Of
State laws and to turn the control Of
elections over absolutely to the Re
publican party leaders it would be
only necessary to obtain in any Con-
gressional district the signatures Of
the few men who would be hired to
carry out the system Of force and
fraud. OF course they would sign,
and of course the sitting of the popu-
lar vote and the subversion Of local
government would be universal.
There is nothing more certain than
that, if the Republicans should win in
November, sweeping federalizations
would follow. The first point is that
it would be the absolute destruction
of home rule elections, controlled by
despotic central authority that would
make the Federal government of these
United States a self-perpetuating
autocracy. The second point, and
one ofspecial Importance to the North
ern States, is that the Force bill con-
tains peculiar and particularly onerous
and intolerable provisions applying to
cities having more than one hundred
thousand inhibitants In New York.
Brooklyn aud Jersey City, for example
they would give to the employees Of
marshals and supervisors the right to
invade the domiciles of citizens and
intrude into every private circle.
Under the eleventh clause of the
eighth section of the bill city homes
would, for five weeks preceding an
election, be open at all times to the
supervisors and their assistants.
Under othe provisions ofthe act arrests
could be made for all imaginable
offences, and no redress could be OBJ
tanned except through partisan Fedora
courts especially convened for the ex-
press purpose of sustaining the juris-
diction and sanctioning the course Of
the United States Marshals and
supervisors. If after the passage of
30 infamous statute the Democratic
city of New York ever again elected
a single Democratic Congressman il
would be only because of an over
whelming public sentiment rendering
officials afraid to use the powers COM
mitted to them by law. 1t is said
quite generally that this matter con-
Germs the South only and is a question
of negro domination" there. Not at
all. 1t concerns particularly and by
the explicit terms of the law the large |
cities Of the North, and Of certainly |
it would be put in operation in every
district in such cities. In all places
of 20,00h inhabitants and upwards
the Force law would become operative
on petition of one hundred persons in
q Congressional district. In other
places the application Of only fifty
persons would be needed. 1t needs
no argument to show that there would
be no district anywhere where fifty or
one hundred men would not sign
petition to insure themselves employ
ment as officials at the rate of at
least five dollars a day during the
period of registration, voting and all
employment incidental to the election
process. The signatures Of fifty or
one hundred needy, unscrupulous men
once obtained and filed, the entire
system Of despotism over the polls
would Immediately go into Operations,
and all State laws and Jurisdiction Of
State courts concerning naturalization
Of voters, the voting itself, the count
ing and the returning of the votes,
would be subordinated in the Federal
Force law, and to that extent null
lifted and suspended. It certainly
would be impossible for the opposition
to the party in Federal power to elect