Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-08-06

The following extracts from the
letter of Hon. Charles F. Crisp,
Speaker OF the National House of
Representatives, accepting the re-
omination recently rendered him by
tie Democratic Convention of his
distric-. are given for the information
of our readers. No Democrat can be
too well informed as to the vileness
and iniquities OF the provisions ofthe
force bill given below, and many Re
pnblicans need only light on the ques
on to be convinced of their duty:
carnot, within tie proper scope
IF such letter rs this. enumerate all
its re2arka BILE provisions.
1t gives TO tile Judge of the United
tatas Circuit Court the power of
appointing election officers in the
tatas. 1t gives to the election Of
ers so appointed the power to des-
!: nate an unlimited number of dep
uty marShals. who may be employed
a rum er of days prior to each cleo.
lion ut 80 per day. CA thousand or
more might he appointed in each
co, grassional district in Georgia..
1t authorizes the nse Of the armies
c' the United States to preserve the
| eaca at the polls.
l. gives to the judges of the United
States Courts the power of appoint
ing canvassing or returning board
fer each State. who shall certify
:, HON the people have elected to
Congress.
Itrequires the Clerk of the House
If representatives to place on the
,oll nf members elect the names of
the persons holding such certificates,
SO thatthey may participate as mem
ters in the organization of the House.
1t authorizes officers of the United
States to supervise and control the
registration of voters.
1t provides for the payment of all
of these officers out of the Federal
treasury. and authorizes the employ
ment of many OF them for as much as
eight days before an election.
And finally it makes permanent
appropriations of your money for the
,,ecution of the law.
This enumeration CT the provis
IONS of he bill, meagre though it is.
must make it plain to all men that if
it were enacted into law the people
would lose all voice in the selection
CT control of the officers who manage
:rd certify the result of their cleo
lions.
a Judge of the Circuit Court Of the
United States, who is himself APP
POINTED by the President and holds
] is Office for life, appoints the cleo
zion Officers. All these judges save
Two are Republican in politics. II
election officers abuse or betray their
trust they are not responsible to the
people. The source of their power
and authority is the judge who ap-
pointed them. If a Republican Judge,
to advance the interests of his party,
abuses his trust, he would not-should
this bill become law-be response
BILE to the people. Our constitution
intended that be should be, and, to
, that end, lodged in the peoples rep
tt sentatives in Congress the power
of Impeachment; but this law re-
moves that responsibility by permit
ting the appointee of the Judge to de-
termine who is your duly elected rep
resentativc. If "a partisan Judge ap.
points partisan election officers who
falsely certify that he whom you
have defeated at the rolls is your
duly elected representative. what
remedy have you? The partisan cleo
ton officers are alone responsible to
the partisan judge, and the partisan
judge can only be impeached by Rep
resentatives in Congress who held
their offices by virtue of certificate
from the partisan election officers.
This is mockery of responsibility.
No one respects more highly than
do the office and the proper author
ity of a Judge and no one can bear
more willing testimony than l do to
the honesty, the integrity and the
ability of our judiciary; and yet the
fact remains that on the electoral
commission of 1876 judges of the SUI
preme Court of the United States,
the highest judicial officers on earth,
divided in. opinion on election re.
turns on party lines, and the result
was the Inauguration of Mr. Hayes
as President. when you and I and a
large majority of the people of the
country then believed, and now be-
lieve, that Mr. Tilden had been duly
elected to that great Office.
Popular government could not long
survive the establishment of a sys-
tenn which permitted the use of the
army at the polling places of the
country, and, at the same time, re-
moved from responsibility to the peo-
Die the officers who manage and con-