San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-10-06
nOUSE LOIS CHEAP.
THE REGISTRATION.
How 10 rs Carried emo Blanks for
Oaths-No Questions Asked.

How it rs Carried emo Blanks for
Oaths-No Questions Asked.
Over 1000 persons have been registered
by Register Santleben in the first two
days. At this rate he can finish his work
in half the time allowed by law.
The large majority CT those presenting
themselves are good substantial citizens,
about whose right to vote there is no
question, bat the business is done entire
ly too loosely.
The voter must give his county pre-
cinct, city ward and the number or place
of his residence; as our citizens have not
had occasion for two years to look up
the county precinct they vote, and as
many voters have come in since then,
they must depend on the registering ofic,,
ers for the information, and
right here there will be good
many faulty certificates issued. Every
voter, before Supplying should make IA
correct memoranda Of his precinct, ward
ard place OF residence.
Registrar Santleben is aIdently anxious
to AFFORD every facility to voters, and has
made up his mind to register everybody
that applies, but he can readily see that
he has plenty of time to enforce the terms
of the law and require applicants not
known, or who may be challenged, to
have their right to register. The Sec
ton of the law on this point is.
Sec. Is. The registrar herein provided
for is hereby authorized and empowered
to administer all necessary oathS to ap-
pllcantS for registration, and also TO all
witnesses touching the qualifications OF
applicants for registration, and any person
who shall swear falsely about his own
qualifications as voter of the city. or
any person who shall, as witness for the
applicant for registration, swear falsely
about the qualifications of such applicant,
shall be deemed guilty of false swearing,
and upon conviction in any court of COM
petent Jurisdiction, shall be punished by
law for the punishment Of false swearing
in other cases.
Sec. 16 Should the registrar have
doubts, or rot be satisfied as to the quail
tications OF the applicant for registration,
he may, in addition TO the oath of the ap-
licant for registration, demand proof Of
the right Of such applicant to
register, before he shall issue to
such applicant a certificate Of registra-
ton: which proof shall consist of the
sworn testimony of two we'll known citi-
Zens of the city if demanded. Which
oath or oaths snail be sworn and sub
Scribed to by the applicant and by each
of his witnesses separately, and the said
oaths shall be filed and kept as part of
the records of the registrars office"
Mr.. Santleben has certainly not paid
much attention to the meaning and intent
of these sections, or else he would conduct
= his registration more cautiously than he
is doing. He has not provided himself
with blank oaths such as provided for in
the section of the law last quoted, and
not one, as far as we can learn, OF the 1000
persons registered were put on oath.
Pretty much the same lose method is
adopted that heretofore prevailed at our
voting places has been adopted by the
. h..
il is done without putting him under
oath, and everybody takes a hand at
answering for the applicant, especially If
he is a Mexican; he Is vOuched for by Mr..
Thad Smith or by Juan Barrerra, or some
one else as being citizen and his
peculiarly und. fined residence is described
as in the following instance:
An old and apparently very pecuniOuS
Mexican was pushed in at the door by a
young man evidently in the employ of
some promoter of registration; the old
man had a slip of paper with his name on
1t, possibly it might have been some other
name; the registrar did not know the APP
plicant nor did any one else: but the
young man put his head in the door and
said, Juan Berrera, know him, he is all
right. The poor old creature could not
tell where he lived; it was put down as al
some "corrall;' he was given a certificate
and as he stepped away the registrar in q
fatherly way said to him in Spanish, take
good care of it, the old man replied a!
he fingered the certificate, IN Spanish
Are they my citizen papers ?" No
replied the registrar, your voting pa
per-" Now. this man had no right Il
register until he had been sworn anC
those vOuching for him sworn and the
oaths put on file.
A young white man, who was evidentl,
new arrival in the city. was registered
without the slightest objection or ques
tioning.
If Mr.. Santleben pursues this metho
the registration simply amounts TO TAX
ing down list of everybody that apple
and giving them a certificate. 1t is a
bad to be easy as it would be to be to
strict, as there would be no use or sens
in exacting proof Of well known citizens
but every stranger and every alien who i
not we'll known should be properly ques
toned, in order that the real object G
the law be carried out. that is that non
but genuine citizens and voters be regis
tered.
Only $55, full curtain, canopy 10