The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-09-20

In Keeping with tueii canP"'6" Po
LESSONS about fair elections are their
equally insincere declarations that
thev favor home rule. This is another
hollow scheme to catch votes. NO po-
litcal party that ever existed III TINS
country was less in favor of popular
liberty than the Republican party. Its
whole tendency is to GENERALIZATION.
II would. if it could, deliberate State
lines and concentrate all power in
central government. Its history and
career prove this beyond the power OF
successful contradiction. Without go
ing into its national history for Illus
trations we need only look to its con-
duct in Maryland, when it had the
oower to do, but did not do, the things
it now pretends it has always been III
favor of doing. Its candidates now
profess to believe in the widest liberty
as respects the selection of oil public
officers by the votes of the people.
They want even School Commissioners
to be chosen by popular vote. Ii, Mr..
Lowndes, you and your party are sin
cere about this, why did not the Repub-
lican Legislature of 1865, which passed
the general free school law, make pro-
vision for the election of the School
Commissioners by the people, as you
now pretend you want done? When
you had the power and the opportu-
nifty to provide by law for their cleo
ton, you did not do it; but by the act
of 1865, your Republican legislature en-
acted that "on the first Monday of
June 1865, the State Board of Educa-
ii on shall appoint to hold office four
years, such number of School Commits
sioners in each county as the State Su-
perinteDdent may direct"
You had the opportunity and the pow
er to permit the people to vote for these
officers then. and instead of doing what
you non so vehemently demand, you
placed the right of selecting School
Commissioners in the hands of the
State Board of Education. If it is
wrong to appoint School Commission
ers non, it was no less wrong then.
Prior to the passage of the school law
of 1865 the school trustees were elected
by the people, but the Republican
party changed the whole system and
provided for the appointment of the
Commissioners who thereafter appoint
ed the school trustees. The Demo-
cratic legislature of 1868 repealed the
school law Of 1865 and provided for the
election by the people of one School
Commissioner in each election dis
trict; but that system was found to be
open to the objection that it permitted
politics to enter into the management
of the schools, and the legislature of
1870 amended this elective feature
and placed the power of appointment
in the hands Of the several courts
where it remained until 1892, when
it was lodged with the Governor.
Your presext that you want these Of
fees elective is sham.
Let us test you little further. Pri-
or to your getting control of this State
back in 1851, Justices of the Peace,
Road Supervisors and County Consta-
bles were elected by the people. You
say you favor. the widest liberty in
home rule. Then why, when you
framed the Infamous Constitution of
1864, did you take away the right of
the people to elect these officers? a
right conferred by the Democratic
party under the Constitution of 1851.
You had the power in 1864 to show
the honesty of your assertions that you
favor elections by the people, and you
deliberately took away from them the
right to vote for and to elect these To-
cal officials. Why did you do this?
You did not believe then in the expe-
diency of these elections and you do
not noW. Your contrary assertions are
not honest and are intended to deceive.
If these instances tend to show the
insincerity of the Republican candi-
dates professions-and do they mott
how can any Democrat be hoodwinked
into placing confidence in any assur-
ance they or their platforms give? If
a Democrat thinks he will get good
government under Republican rule he
must be ignorant of that party's
history aud its wanton outrages in the
past. AS it did when it had the power,
so itmay be expected to do should it
again be entrusted WITH authority
Give it the opportunity and under the
innocent name of good government it
will enact such vicious legislation,
concentrate such absolute power in the
hands of INSCRIPTIONS officials and re-
sort to such corrupt devices that little,
if any thing, short of violence will be
effective to dislodge it. Wellington,
the leader of the Republican CAM
paign, has shown how little he regards
the rights of the citizen aud how much
he relies on force to carry an
election. The party is no better than
he is, or it would not tolerate him as
its leader in this canvass; and he Is no
worse than his party, or he would not
be or ought not to be where he is.
Think before you take the false step
OF deserving your party. Do not be