The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-12-06
BALLOT REFORM.
THAT Will BE THE LEADING CRY
IN THE '96 CAMPAIGN.

Effect OF kOlbs Case in Alabama. Thor
ough Investigation by the Next Con-
gress Assured-The South Will
| Assist
Washington Nov. 2S.-"Kolb's Ala
una program may mt yield any
thing to his own immediate adj
vantage" said well known
and well informed Republican to-
day, but it is certain to be a factor in
some very important campaigning on the
cards for 1896. Keep your eye on the
South. A general movement is on foot
down there designed to give the Republic
can party its shibboleth for the next
presidential contest. That shobboleth
will be free ballot and fair count, and
it will insure such Il contest as the country
has not seen since the days when ma
tlonal politics bore the stamp of greater
| things than those attaching to the bar
gain counter and the banking house.
The party is going back to its better and
higher aspirations. 1t is taking up the
flag Of freedom again. 1t is essentially
| the party of sentiment, and having open
ed the ballot boxes to all the people it is
determined now to insure the fair count
ing of all ballots deposited in them under
the law. This old phrase | know, sounds
musty, and will cause a smile, but the
times are ripening now for some meaning
to go with it. Material is collecting in
all quarters. Kolb will emphasize the
situation in Alabama, and the congress
siOnal contests coming up from other
Southern states for adjustment by the
next house will complete the chain of
evidence going to prove the supreme ne
ceSsity of genuine ballot reform. And
ha M for iS fully fnip nj
scented and the disposition shown to apply
the reform equtably to all sections alike,
the South, in my judgment, will support
the movement as cordially as either the
North, East or West.
NOT THE ONLY ISSUE.
''Do you mean to say that the Repub-
lican party in 1896 will make its presi-
Dental campaign solely on ballot re-
formW was asked.
Certainly not. But / mean to say
that the emphasis in the platform will
be laid on that issue, and that the APP
peals to the people on the stump will bear
the impress of that cause. The other
issues will, 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 Re
publican party on both the tariff and the
financial issues? Its plans of applying
the principle of protection and of insuring
the proper circulation of sound money
have been explained a hundred times
over. What is there new to be said on
the subject? Practically nothing. Sup
pose Secretary Carlisle is drafting, and
the president preparing to indOrse new
scheme of finance. If it proves to be
such as the business interests approve it
will not differ in any material particular
from the Republican policy. 1t cannot,
and amount to anything. Mr.. Cleve-
lands financial views are the same as
those of the accredited Republican lead
ers on that question. But he cannot en-
ploy them to the disadvantage of the Re-
fore both him and Secretary Carlisle in
keeping the different dollars in circula-
ton interchangeable. AS to the tariff,
that is even an older story. The speeches
delivered in any year since 1884 will
answer for the year 1896. The Republi-
can party is for preserving the home mar
ket, and for doing so by adjusting the
schedules to protect home industries.
That is the whole case. Everybody has
heard both sides of it to his hearts con-
tent and could vote intelligently on it
tomorrow without another word of eXpla-
nation. But the necessity of ballot re-
ltIll 10 81 SltIJ IlldI Tic CdSe uttuS W ne
stated in all of it's fulness up to date.
The country at large, engaged with other
matters, does not know just how grave
the situation is; and when it comes to be
stated, not with the extravaganza 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"
A LEXOW NATIONAL COMMIT
TEE.
"What will that redress be-"
"Nobody could outline it's form at this
time. That necessarily, must depend on
what the full investigation shows and ad-
vises. You may depend upon it that the
next house will go into the subject with
the intention of bringing all the facts to
light. What information of cOnse-
quence may escape those who are unoffi-
cially, 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 Lexow in.
vestigatiOn on a national scale. conducted
by the ablest members of that body, and
with a thoroughness that will leave
nothing to be desired. This committee
may make a tour through the South, and
through other sections where outrages
on the suffrages have been alleged.
"What about the force billT'
SOMETHING BETTER THAN THE
FORCE BILL NEEDED.
"The force bill, as that measure was
known and explained, was really of no
force. A more immature measure for
the accomplishment of great purpose
was never brought forward in congress
That came to be generally confessed
Whatever the new measure may be, il
will not be copy of the so-called force
bill. 1t should be something better than
that; something simpler and drawn so as
to defeat the cry which, however, is GER
tain to be raised in any circumstances
of sectionalism. If the South is more
affected by the bill than other sections of
the country it will only be for the reason
that the evil sought to be corrected pre-
walls to a greater extent down there than
elsewhere. The bill must be made APP
plicable to all sections alike"
''And you think that the South, when
she comes to consider the whole question
calmly, will support the REFORM"