St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-02-03
ONE MORE PLEDGE TO BE
KEPT


After the reform of the tariff laws
shall be fully accomplished by the pas
sage of the Wilson bill by the senate.
the Democratic party will have one
more pledge. made to the people in it's
last national platform, to redeem. That
platform declares that the policy of
federal control of elections, to which
the Republican party has committed
itself, Is fraught with the gravest dan
gers, scarcely less momentous than
would result from revolution prac-
tically establishing monarchy on the
ruins of the republic. 1t strikes at the
North as we'll as The South, and Injuries
the colored citizens even more than the
white; it means horde of deputy mar
shals at every polling place, armed
with federal power, returning boards
appointed and controlled by federal
authority, the outrage of the electoral
rights of the people in the several
states, the subjugatiOn of the colored
people to the control of the party in
power, and the revivlng OF race antag-
oniSms, now happily abated. of the ut
most peril to the safety and happiness
of all; a measure deliberately and Justly
described by leading Republican sem
ator as ''the most infamous bill that
ever crossed the threshold of the SEN
ate."
A bill repeating this Ubiquitous meas
ure has already passed the house of
representatives. There should be no
delay in conSummating the good work
fTac, al,
statute books the last vestige of that
odious system that sought to center in
the hands of the party In power an
authority dangerous to human liberty
In many respects the federal election
law has been the most perniciouS enact
ment in our legislative history. Under
pretense of inSuring free expression
of the people at the polls 1t was en-
ployed to intimidate and disfranchise
thousands of duly qualified electors.
The threat of arbitrary arrest and i'm
prisonment was sufficient to deter thou
sands of citizens from voting. They
might be perfectly assured Of their
legal right to vote, and able to prove
that right before any legal tribunal; but
their arrest, even on false charge,
would be prejudicial to their character.
and frequently result in their dismissal
from their places of employment. The
expense involved in the defense would
in most cases be serious embarrass-
ment. and even though discharge were
certain, it could be i'll afforded by a
majority of workingmen.
People living in the country can have
no conception of the iniquities perpe-
trated under cover of this law. In New
York, Chicago. and other large cities it
has been the custom of the Republican
party managers to send suspect no
tees to all known Democrats who were
thought to be susceptible to the in
f1uence of fear. This had the effect OF
keeping thousands from the polls. In
New York thousands of arrests were
made at every election, under the direc-
ton Of John l. Davenport, of persons
who attempted to vote. At the last
election there were $500 arrests made,
all of the persons so arrested being
Democrats. OF this number less than
fifty were brought to trial, and all but
two of these were discharged, and these
two were convicted of only technical
violation Of the law. Thus was the law
vindicated. 1t cost the United States
government nearly half million dollars
to impose nominal punishment upon
two unhappy wlghts who were innocent
of any attempt to violate the law. AT
the same time nearly 5000 American
citizens were defrauded of their right
| to vote.
In other large cities the law has been
administered with little less injustice.
PartiSanshlp has been the ruling mo-
tive of action, not justice. In Chicago
it is notorious that at some precincts
scores of unqualified persons cast votes
| Tor the Republican candidates without
protest from the federal officials, while
| hundreds of Democrats. fully qualified
under the law. were inundated aud
prevented from voting. The outrageous
character of the law has been so fully
| demonstrated that few Republicans
dare defend it. 1t was conceived in a
spirit of partisan intolerance, brought
| forth in hatred, and administered by
| injustice. No good reason can be urged
| in its defense. Its effects have every
| where been pernicious, and it should be
the next duty of congress to wipe it for
| ever from existence.