The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1892-07-22
MEANING OF THE FORCE BILL
rs ENDORSED by THE REPUBLICANS.
A Rascally Conspiracy to Substitute Force
and Fraud for Free Elections.

st. Louis Repubrcl
The Lodge force bill, passed by
the Republican House of Repre-
sentatives in the Reed Congress
two years ago, and practically in
dOrsed by the Republican party in
it's national convention at Mime
apolis, is a long, and in places, a
tedious document 1t was careful
ly drawn with the purpose of mud
dlingthe unprofessional reader, and |
Of beclouding in q sea Of cuttle-fsh |
obscurity some Of it's most danger
Gus and revolutionary provisions.
But a casual reading reveals it as
an insidious attempt to subvert the
Constitution of the United States
and to substitute government by
Federal returning boards for free
representative government of and
by the people. Even if its other
provisions were honest-which they
are not-its openly avowed purpose
of taking control of Congressional
elections out of the hands of officers
chosen by the people>of the several
States, and vesting it in Judges ap-
pointed by the President, would
suffice to damn it's authors to ever
lasting infamy as traitors to the
American system Of government.
The measure is not the outcome
Eof ignorance or false theories of
government, but Of deliberate and
rascally conspiracy to substitute
force and fraud for free elections,
to abolish real representative gov
eminent and to make a narrow and
greedy oligarchy of ofice-holders
supreme arbiters Of the Nations
destiny. If the bill had been al
lowed to pass in the Senate, Benja-
min Harrison could easily re-elect
himself President for life, and the
usurpers at Washington could new
Ell be cotton rid of except by armed
revolution.
The bill provides that.upon the
petition ofonly. 500 voters out of the
| thirty-odd thousand voters in any
Congressional district, the Federal
, district court for that district shall
assume absolute control of the Con.
= gressional election therein, to the
= exclusion of all State officers tC
5 whom the people have been accus.
toned to intrust that duty. 1t is
r made the duty of the Federal Judge
1 to appoint two registrars, two in
spectors, and two deputy inspectors
, at each polling place, and for The
faithful performance of their duties
q they are responsible only to thu
y Ecourt.
! Irrespective of local laws Or Stat,
p registration, every citizen In tn,
q precinct must get himself entered
upon the registration lists of TIN
. courts registrars before he can vot
in the Congressional election. TIL
trouble and loss of time involved
: would result in the disfranchise
Il ment of thousands of voters in tn
IS rural districts, even if the regis
/ trars were invariably honest an,
9 impartial in the performance O
II their duties. The door to whole
T. sale fraud in the registration of il
e legal or colonized voters is left wild
% open by the peculiar provision G
II the law, which says: "In case G
1t dispute as to the eligibility of
e voter the vote of one registrar sha1
D be sufficient to place the name o
'e the list, but no name shall be stricl
"a en- off the list except with the as
"a sent of both registrars"
p The chicanery of the innocen
s.. looking sentence, would do credit
IS a three-card monte sharp. The tw
SIS registrars are to be of opposite pC