Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-01-14
How the Wisconsin Gerryman der
Fraud is Dealt With by
Democratic Papers.
Ignorant the Guilty Party,
They Roast it Just the
Same.
Important Admission Made Un-
der a Delusion-Truth
Will be Told.

The Cleveland Plaindealer, democratic
organ, supposing the infamous apportlon-
ment of last winter was the work or re-
publicans printed the following editorial
in condemnation Of the outrage:-" ne
republican legislators who are porlng
over man of Ohio and the election re-
turns seeking to discover a way to get
seventeen republican members out OF
twenty.one congressional districts, should
send up to their fellow partisans IN Wis
consin fer pointers In the work OF gerry
Wandering. The Badger State republl-
cans are experts. The way In which they
districted the state at the last session for
legislative and senatorial purposes must
make their Buckeye brothers green With
envy. The state constitution requires that
the districts shall be arranged upon the
basis OF equal population the true oasis for
legislative districts at the time being l6,-
S68. A little thing like that did not
trouble the Badger state Legislators. They
made the districts according to tn charact-
er of the vote instead Of the statistics OF
popuIation. One IF the new districts con-
tains SO, 80l people, another 70, l43, while
the other extreme is reached with districts
whose populatiOn In one instance Is 1873
ard in another 6,823. Counties were cut
and hagged to piece out districts IN other
counties, fer no Of her reason than to insure
Republican majorities. In the re-arrange-
ment of senatorial districts the partisan
animus was still more apparent. 1t has
been SO eentrived that l68, 1903 people who
participated in the. senatorial election Of
1890 may vote for senators again In 1897
while 23l 218 people who voted Tor sena-
tors in 1888 will not have an opportunity
to do so again until 1894. Senators elect
ed in 1890 will represent for two years
1877 1872 people who had no voice In their
election. or l68, 500 will have two rerre-
sentatives from 1892 to 1894 and 23l ,2l8
people must 60 unrepIesCnted for thai
period. Before the congressional redis-
tricting bill is brought out at Columbus n
committee OF republican Legislators
should certainly go TO Wisconsin for ad-
ditional instructions in the art OF gerry
wandering
Of course, any decent paper, no matter
what its politics might be, would den
ounce such piece of robbery and shame,
but the Cleveland Plaindealer would not
have been pronounced its anathema
did it know that the scoundrelism was
INDUCED in by the Wisconsin democracy,
Then comes the New York Times, which
of all de ccrahc in papers in the country,
is the most partisan in its spirit. 1t
charges that the Wisconsin gerrymander
lis as Aagrantly unjust in a partisan sense
az any on record" 1t says that the deg
radiation of pariisanship by the legisla,
ture of South Carolina and Mississippi,
was no lowe than that of the Wisconsin
legislature which outraged the constitu'
ton in the last gerrymandering scheme,
The Times made these sharp criticisms or
the lascaly piece of political war, suppos
ing the republicans did the job! Tkese
statements are given TO show what the
democratic press thinks OF Wiaoofsin
gerrymandering when the republicans are
charged with the infamy.