The herald., 1896-03-15
PESTiLENr POLITICAL SCHEME

Allen, the Populist senator from Ne
braska, evidently desires to revive the
"bioody shirt" in politics. At least, he is
proceeding in way to again make the
south "solid.' That can only be the effect
of his resolution 10 investigate, by senate
committee, the last state election in Ala
bama.
Allen forsook the mild paternalism of
the Republican party when he embraced
the more violent form of the heresy advo-
Gated by the Populsts. He wishes to bring
the American people up entirely OH the
bottle. He has never learned that the less
the government NEEDLES with the private
business affairs of its citizens the better it
is for both government and governed. He
believes that the central government should
regulate individual business affairs as we'll
as all local political concerns.
The senate has no more business to in
vestigate the Alabama state election than
it has to investigate the election of trustees
in any school district, or the election of al
dermen in any municipality. 1t has no
power to alter the results or enforce any
decree.
In the last state election in Alabama the
Populst and Republican candidate for
governor was defeated by nearly 10000
majority, yet he claimed that he had been
''counted OUT He never produced any
proof to back his assertion but attempted
to set up rival government. on the Cen
tral American plan. On the eve of another
election for governor, Senator Allen pro-
poses that the senate investigate the last
election. What for? Simply to promote
confusion and manufacture partisan capl-
tai. AS a rule. such Investigations have
been farces. A partisan committee, con-
Quoting an ex parte investigation of this
character only finds what 1t desires
not in consonance with its purposes
and wishes. Ever since the Eliza Pinkston
fiasco in 1876, these investigations have
been regarded with disfavcr, as it was then
disclosed that they almost invariably
masked some projected political crime.
Allen is backed in his attempt to meddle
unwarrantably in the Alabama elections
by Senator Chandler OF New Hampshire.
1t will be remembered that Chandler was
prominent in carrying out the theft of
Florida in 1876. He was one of the indi-
viduais who assisted in stealing the presi-
dency that year. Under pretext of pro-
tecting the suffrage he and his coadjutors
accomplished the most colossal theft of the
age; and these are the agencies and aus
pces that Allen invoked in his effort to in
terject federal interference into the domas-
tic concerns of sovereign state.
Why Allen has Chandler's backing is ap-
parent. The Populists in Alabama have
formed a coalition with the Republicans, as
they have done in Louisiana and North
CAROLINA, and will probably do in Georgia.
Chandler is laying the groundwork fer an
other "'76" steal. He is utterly unscrupu-
lous, and there is no crime against the
purity of elections that he will not commit
TO carry out partisan schemes. 1t is not
improbable that Allen understands his mo-
tin es and is in sympathy with them.
However criminal the program of these
two worthless may be. it need occasion no
alarm for Democrats. No surer method
could be adopted for uniting the southern
people in opposition to the Republican and
Populist coalition. Nothing could mere
certainly make the south ''solid'' again for
the Democratic party than another assault
on the freedom of local elections. We
predict, however. that the ciearer.headed
leaders of the Republican party will dis
cern the impolicy of again resurrecting the
"bloody Shirt and will quietly smother
the Allen resolution. They have seen only
disaster result from former crusades of
this character. and are not likely to re-
peat the experiment; but if Allen and
Chandler have their way, the now politic-
ally broken south will be as solid as rock
next November.-Visalia Times.
Practical Application of the Roentgen Photog-
raphy
In the various practical uses to which
Prof Roentgen's cathode rays have al
ready been applied, this discovery is a
marked exception to others not less herald
ed. The extreme simplicity of the appa-