The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-03-02

TIE BOARD OF REGISTRATioN
The City Council will fought be called
upon TO elect memher Of the board OF
canyassers and registration. Mayor Nc
] GUINNESS has taken occasion several times
10 publicly declare that in the interest of
fairness Democrat should be placed
mon the board. Mayor McGUINNEss is
himself Democrat. In his private life
any OF our citizens could safely trust him
with uncounted wealth, or to do kind
act whenever opportunity offered. But it
| is recalled that the Mayor was from
Sept. 1889, to Jan. /, 1898, the chairman
OF the board OF canvaisers OF the Third
Ward, before the present board was con-
stituted. Pre- umably all his acts while
member of that board he considers per-
| fectly fair. We should do him an In
Justice il We assumed otherwise. Let us
see, then, the kind of fairness which he
again invites he Republicans of Provi-
dence to submit themselves to. During
the time he was chairman, nearly four
years, and covering four city elections,
three State elections, two elections of
Congressman, and presidential election,
there exists no word of record of the pro-
ceedings of the beard of canvassers OF the
second district OF The Third Ward. 1t has
not been destroyed. IL simply never was
kept, as required by law it should have
been.
OF the action of this board in adding
to and erasing from the list OF names OF
hundreds of alleged voters there is no
record. The Mayor cannot plead ignor-
ance in the matte, for he is an intelli-
gent man, and also lawyer He cannot
plead an established custom, for the
record ends at the last election before he
became a member, and commences again
in February, 1898, the month after he
| left the board. While he was chairman
United States supervisor of elections and
Obliged the board to strike off from the
voting lists the names of several hundred
unqualified persons whom they had been
carrying as voters, and who were in the
habit of voting at elections or on whose
name some other person voted. He also
requested the Striking of of ~ other
names, previous to the Congressional elec-
tion of 1872, which the board, with Mayor
McGUINNEss as chairman, refused to do.
Not one of them dared TO vote in the pres
ence OF the deputy marshals at the polls,
but at the city election, which occurred
about three weeks later, nearly all of
| them voted. These names have since been
stricken of the lists and no man has
ever appeared to claim that injustice was
| done in any case
While Mayor McGUINYEss was still chair
man, the celebrated case Of HENRY FAIR
came before the board.
| HENRY FARR died In Feb, 1888. From
that time until the present his Widows
name has been in the city directory,
"ELIzBETH, widow OF HENRY FAIR, 9s
Vandewater street." His death was also
duly recorded in the city registrar IS Office.
Yet his name was kept upon the list until
October, 1892. Supervisor BLoDGETT de-
manded that 1t be stricken of. The evil
dence of the directory, coupled with a
certificate of his death and other facts,
were not sufficient for the board and they
refused to do it--but at q subsequent
meeting, when this evidence was sup
planted by statement from the widow
assuring the board that her former hus-
band was still dead, they reluctantly re-
moved the name, possibly having little
by United States laws for such cases made
and provided.
Now, about three weeks thereafter,
there occurred city elec ion where no
despotic U. s. supervisor could abridge
the rights of suffrage of the citizens OF
the Third Ward.
Here the fairness, which we are invited
to incorporate in the proceedings OF the
present board was elegantly exempliHed.
They did not inadvertently allow HENRY
FARR's name to remain on the list, for
they had within three weeks stricken IL
off for cause, and therefore it was not
there. They deliberately did the physical
act of placing 1t tack again, with the
facts of the case fresh in their minds.
violating the laws of the state in doing
SO, and Mayor McGuINNEss was chairman
OF the hoard when IL was dome and cer-