The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1892-01-30

The Salt Lake Stock Excha

The Salt Lake Stock Exchange
Journal in one of the forcible edito-
rails for which it is distinguished,
says: There is one thing capital,
nor spectators, nor money grubs
can take from the miner and that
is his suffrage" This ISIS danger
Gus mistake, yet it il one that many
even 90 well-informed as our Salt
Lake contemporary commit. The
XIVth amendment to the Federal
Constitution, negatively and by i'm
plication, confers the power of dis
reimbursement upon both the fed
eral and state governments. The
language of the constitution, Article
XIV, Section II, is this:
Representatives shall be spportioned
among tho several States according 10
their respective numbers, counting the
whole number Of persons in each State,
excluding Indians not taxed. BIT when.
ever the right to vote At any election for
electors of President and Vice President,
or for United States Representatives in
Congress, executive and judicial officers,
or the members of the Legislatures there
of, il denied to any Of the male inhabit-
ants of such State, being twenty one years
of age, and citizens of the United States,
or in any way abridged, except for parti-
cipation in rebellion or other crime, the
basis of representation therein shall b
reduced in the proportion which the
number Of male citizens shall bear to the
whole number Of male citizens twenty
one years Of age in such State.
There is no such officer known to
our laws as a United States Rep
resentative in Congress-" but that
is aside from the purpose of this
article. Having conferred upon the
federal government the power to
disfranchise citizens for participa-
ton in rebellion or other crime,
which power in its application to
the first offense was exercised at the
close of our late war, the amend.
ment proceeds to state what the
consequence shall be to the state
whose citizens are disfranchised
Its representation in Congress shall
be decreased to the same extent and
in the same proportion as it's male
citizens over 81 years of age have
been disfranchised. This is pre-.
cisely what the aristocratic classes
desire, and what they are even now
engaged in an effort to accomplish
Seven or eight years ago the New
York Tribune, owned and edited BY
Whitelaw Reid-a beggar on horse
back-which paper speaks more
directly than any other the senti
ments and wishes of the snobs, de
clared in effect that the time wal
near at hand when the franchise o
the working class must be con
trolled or destroyed. The wealthy
men of this country, it said, hav'
interests too great to be much
longer entrusted to the mercy o
votes in the hands of the riff-raf
That that declaration and many
similar ones which are floating
about in our newspaper literatur
were prompted by the languag
above quoted is beyond REASONABLE
doubt; and instead of telling GU
laborers that the suffrage cannot b
taken from them, they should b
fully informed of their danger ant
of the necessity of repeating tina
amendment in order that the dan
ger may no longer menace them
Our criminal laws are sufficient 70
the punishment of crime of what
ever nature, and no American citi
zen should be disfranchised excep
upon conviction of felony by 1
court duly authorized to try ant
convict in such cases.