Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-22
EFFECT OF KOLB'S CASE IN ALABAMA
Thorough Investigation by the Next
Congress Assured.
THE SOUTH WILL AS SIST


cards for 1896. Keep your eye on the south.
A general movement is on foot down there
designed to give the republican party its
shibboleth for the next presidential contest.
That shibboleth Will be free ballot and
fair count and IL will insure such a contest
as the country has not seen since the days
when national politics bore the stamp OF
greater things than those attaching to the
bargain counter and the banking house.
The party Is going back to its better and
its higher aspirations 1t is taking up the
flag of freedom again. 1t is essentially the
party of sentiment. and achievements on
the lines of sentiment, and having opened
the ballot boxes to all the people 1t Is de-
termined now to insure the fair counting of
all the ballots deposited in them under the
law. This old phrase, 1 know, sounds
musty, and will cause a smile, but the
times rlpening now for some meaning
to so with it, Material is collecting In all
quarters. Kolb will emphasize the situation
In Alabama, and the congressional contests
coming up from the other southern states
for adjustment by the next House Will
complete the chain of evidence going TO
prove the supreme necessity OF genuine bal
lot reform. And once the matter Is fully
and fairly presented. and the disposition
shown to apply the reform eQuitably 10 all
sections alike. the south, in my Judgment.
either the north, east or west.
Not the Only Issue.
do you mean to say that the republican
party in 1896 will make its presidential
campaign solely on ballot reform?" was
asked.
Certainly not. But I mean to say that
the emphasis in the platform will be laid
on that issue, and that the appeals 10 the
people on the stump will bear the impress
Of that cause. The other issues VIII, OF
course, receive the proper attention, but
they will admit of no new arguments.
What is palmer. or better understood. than
the attitude of the republican party on
both the tariff and the financial issues? Its
plans of applying the principle OF protec-
ton and of insuring the proper circula-
ton of sound money have been explained
q hundred times over. What Is there new
to be said on the subject! Prac ucaliy
nothing Suppose Secretary Carlisle Is
drafting and the President preparing to
indorse, a new scheme Of finance II 1t
proves to be such as the business interests
approve 1t will not differ In any material
particular from the republican policy. 1t
cannot, and amount to anything. MI
Clevelands financial views are the same as
those of the accredited republican leaders
on that question. But he cannot employ
them to the disadvantage OF the republican
party. John Sherman was before both him
and Secretary Carlisle In keeping the diff
ferent dollars in circulation interchange
able AS to the tariff, that Is even an old
er story. The speeches delivered In any
year since 1884 will answer for the year
1896. The republican party is for presery-
ing the home market, and for doing 30 by
adjusting the schedules to protect home In
dustries. That Is the whole case Every
body has heard both sides OF II to bis
hearts content and could vote intelligently
ON IL tomorrow without another word of
exclamation. But the necessity of ballot
reform is so great that the case needs to
be stated In all of its fullness up TO date.
af lar
matters does not know just how grave the
situation is; and when 1t comes to be
stated not with the extravagance of cam
paign oratory, but with an array of facts
sworn to by unimpeachable witnesses and
further supported by unimpeachable sta
tistics, the attention Of the country will be
attracted and the proper redress voted at
the polls"
Lexow National Committee.
What will that redress be?'
Nobody could outline Its form at this
time. That, necessarily, must depend on
what the full investigation shows and ad-
yises. You may depend upon 1t that the
next House will go into the subject with
the intention of bringing all the facts to
light What information of consequence
may escape those who are unofficially, as
It were employed to that end now will be
gathered by the committee which the next
House will appoint for the work There
will be a Lexow investigation on a ma
tional scale. conducted by the ablest men,
bers of that body, and with thoroughness
that will leave nothing to be desired. This
committee may make tour through the
south. and through other sections where
outrages on the suffrage have been alleged.
What about the force bill?'
Something better Than the Force Bill
Needed.
'The force bill. as that measure was
force. A more immature measure for the
accomplishment of a great purpose was
never brought forward in Congress That
came to be generally confessed. Whatever
the new measure may be, it will not be a
copy of the so-called force bill. 1t should
be something bette- than that; something
simpler, and drawn SO as to defeat the cry
which. however, Is certain to be RAISED
in any circumstances sectionalism. If
the south is more affected by the bill tnan
other sections of the country 1t will only be
for the reason that the evil sought to be
corrected prevails to greater degree down
there than elsewhere. The bill must be
made appllca bic to all sections alike"
And you think that the south, when she
comes 20 consider the whole question calm
ly, will support the reformT'
The South viii Approve 1t.
81 do. The better element in all the
southern states deplores the conditions sur
rounding the suffrage there. 1t sees that
great harm is accruing to the south her.
self from the existence of such a state of
things. Some cf the very men who helped
establish terrorism and cheating at the
polls arr anxious to have them stopped.
They excuse their former action on the
score of EXTREMIST necessity. The negro,
they declare, as led by carpet baggers was
q menace to property rights and good gov
ernment. The negro Is no longer q NELL
ut n 70 No 1.I
whites, and the demand is that all the
votes be fairly counted. The trouble lies in
this: What was organized and put in force
by all the property holders, acting as they
claimed. In defense of property and per-
sonal security. is now being continued by
rings of politicians. whose only aim is Of
fee and local political supremacy The
men who live by politics want The cheating
to go on. The men who have the real in
terests of the south at heart want 1t stop
ped The republican party is going to try