The Meridional. (Abbeville, La.) 1856-1906, 1893-08-05


Orleans States says:
! First and chief of oil The evils to
| to be remedied is our system OF elec-
tions. When the Convention Of
1879 first assembled. the country
members came down here nearly
unanimous in their determination 10
force into the new constitution very
far reaching limitations upon tie
franchise. 4 favorite scheme ct
those Of memhera, in which we heart.
| lily concufred, was to require o poll
| tax of from one to FIVE dollars TO he
paid, six months before an election,
us o condition of the exercise of tho
franchise. But the Convention had
not numbered many days ere the
, New Orleans bosses had captured
macy of tine country inenbers, made
them believe that such a provision,
or, indeed, any limitation of tho
franchise, would lose the city TO the
democratic party; and hence, finally
|the Convention opened the doors OF
the polls to nearly every creature in
The shape OF q man that was twenty
enc years old and outside the peni-
Itentiagy; and any nendicant or
royce Of any nationality Of Europe
or Asia heIched upon our wharves,
who you'd make oath that be in
tended to become naturaIizad, was
granted the right, the most sacred
right. of an American citizen, to
vote in our elections.
What evils this wretcaed system
has ensailed upon this State We all
know. II has corrupted aud prosti.
tuted our elections; it has made the
franchise an ohject Of contempt in
the cities and towns, and- hundreds
Of good inen scormto exercise it in
company with the unconvicted
thieves and hoodlums and the wor3ta
clements Of our European iwporta-
tiois.
This evil is the one that requires
the pf0mptest and most radical
treatment ct the hands of tho Com
missioners. We are not favor of
rushing from one extreme to another;
but this terrible evil in our body
polite must be eradicated. Many
OF. our fellow citizens who under
stand and appreciate the nature of
This vicious system haYe favored an
educational, and othera property
tax paying, qualification. We du
not believe in either. There are, III
proportion 10 numbers, as many COR
rupt and nnpatriotic men amongst
The weather. classes as there are
amongst The non-property holding
classes; and il is well known fact
hat the mean and contemplate
crimes oil forgery, swindling, perjury
and pilieFing are chiefly perpetrated
hy men of fair education aud that
this class constitute nearly two
thirds Of the convicts in our peniteu.
tiaries.
We believe that the two remedies
foEsfhis evil are, first, the require
ment of the payment of poll tax of
one to two dollars, six or more
months before an election, to enable
u man to vote, together with pro-
vision that the receipt for such a tax
salt be the voters registration
papers, and further, that any party
having personal interest In the
election who pays such a tux for auy
voter or plumber OF voters, shall, or
conviction, be punished by imprison-
nent and disfranchisement. In tho
sccoDd place, DO foreigner should be
permitted to vote until he has been
fully naturaljzed according to very
strict laws.
We throw of these suggestions
unrried'y, aad,. 40 doubt, the, can
be moch improved on; bat they give
al idea Of The system on which our
election. sLould Eo conducted.
Tpnnnao ,gE 1S.,y sv;N 1oc.r In ot