The morning call., 1893-09-15
OVER THE ELECTION LAWS.
Republicans Draw First Blood
With Great Celebrity.
TO BE A BATTLE OF OBSTRUCTION
If Democrats Want to LegisIate They
Must Have Quorum of
Their Own.

WASHINGTON. Sept. 14.-Opeu war be-
gan in the House to-day. Partisan hos
tilities were inaugurated over the Tucker
bill to repeal the existing Federal election
laws and 1t became apparen, at the outset
that the Republican members would fight
the opposition to the bitter end. Burrows
OF Michigan lead in the filibustering move
ment and declared in Justification of his
course that a measure so sweeping as the
Tucker bill, driving as it did the National
Government out ef the States and leaving
no one on guard at the polls to prevent
fraud and corruption in Congressional and
Presidential elections, should have no
status in the House until the Democrats
produced their own quorum. Furthermore
the leaders declared that once il gets into
the arena of debate they will resist its pas
sage with every expedent known to par
liamentary law.
ln the filibustering fight to-day they
demonstrated their ability TO block mat
ters and deadlock the House until quorum
of Democratic members was produced and
by their actions and words it is under
stood they are in desperate earnest and
that the present election laws will only be
repealed by hard fought, exciting and
first blood by forcing the passage of resu-
luton revoking all leaves of absence and
summOnlng absentees by telegraph to
Washington.
Sons of the administration Democrats,
led by General Tracy OF New York, know
ing the White House opposition to the
present consideration of this bill. or any
other bill in the House which may COM
N fa fiOhf in
ditional repeal. acted with the Republicans
to-day. This angered the silver Demo-
Gratis in the House, and especially the
Southern men. who are particularly inter-
eSted in the passage Of the Tucker bill,
beyond measure. 1t is claimed tonight
that the President did not countenance
this course on the part Of some OF his rec
OgniZed leutenants in the House, and IL
thisis true they will pro baby be promptly
called off and their position in future,
referting that of the administration. will
show change of sentiment at the other
end of the avenue.
The majority report of the committee on
the bill repeating the Federal election
laws declares that the purpose and object
for which those laws were passed have
long passed away. Surely, the report
should be left to determine when it ia
necessary to bring troops to the polls, and
the constitution has implicitly prohibited
it. With reference to those laws relating
to the appointment, duties and compost
tion of the supervisors of election ana
deputy marshals, the report goes in to the
constltuttonalty of the laws which were
passed under the warrant of the sec
ton of the constitution prescribing
the manner of holding elections, and
says the object of legislation should be
20 prevent conflicts between the State and
Federal authorities. The conditions they
were designed to meet have happily passed
away. and we feel that they cannot be too
quickly erased from the statute books. Let
every trace of reconstruction legislation be
obliterated from the books Let the States
understand that elections are in their own
hands. and if there be fraud. coercion or
force they alone will suffer by it, Re-
spending to the demand for purity in cleo
tions, many States have enacted laws TO
protect and purify the ballot. The
report concludes that these stat
utes should be speedily repealed
because they mix State and Federal au-
thority; because they have been and will
be used as part of the machinery OF pol
itical parties TO forward friends and de-
stroy enemies; because under them the
rights of citizens have been taken from
them; because their enactment shows dis
trust of the States and their ability to
guard elections. and lastly. because their
repeal will eliminate the judiciary from
the political arena aad restore somewhat
the confidence of the peope in the integ-
rity and impartiality of the Federal judi
ciaTy.
The minority report. prepared by Jehn-
son of North Dakota, goes at length into
the constitutionalty of these laws and
draws picture of the conditions existing