Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-11-12

wears and Mr.. Patterson as a Demo
cratic leader must be somewhat IA
msliar with the process. Indeed he
might be an expert witness in his own
behalf, though he will hardly be
placed in such an embarrassing situa-
/ tion However much he may wish to
| avoid making contest the matters
| at stake ought to compel him to do SO
and the result may prove beneficial
as an object lesson to other intelligent,
self respecting Democrats as to the
| likelihood of the infamous election
practices in that state EVENTUAL
working to their own and their
| partys injury and also demon
stratc to them the serious damage al
nessee has a wonderful climate and
resources Its hills are teeming with
| iron ore and coal, marble and other
minerals. Among it's mountains
northern energy may work without
being subjected to the enervating in
huences it encounters in most of the
Southern states. Millions of northern
capital have already gone there. and
rot little of it has been sunk there.
During; the era of hard'times what re-
mains has been subjected to the most
acute maladminstration Of state gov
eminent. A ring fattens on the tax
payers with all the impunity that
characterizes Tammany methods.
There are oil inspectors, inspectors OF
this and that, all having their fees
that are exorbitant and must even
tually come from the pockets Of the
people. for the corporations exact
them by way of higher prices. There
are petty justices innumerable and
officers that secure a livelihood by
making trining and absurd charges
for the sake of the fees. There are
convict leasing scandals to be hushed
up and the ring has fought with all
the desperation born of fear of ex
posture and armed with a corruption
fund.- 1t has control of the election
officials, in the greater part of the
state. In the cities there is a ballot
most cunningly devised to prevent the
negro from voting. This ballot con-
tains no party devices or party names.
The lists of candidates are separated
in groups that are arranged different
ly so that the order on the ballot
handed to one voter is likely to be al
together different from the order on
the ballot received by another. The
intention was to disfranchise in a po-
lite manner all who can not read and
are not intelligent enough to search
| through the labyrinth of names and
| put mark opposite each one they
wish to vote for The result is that
| there are evening schools for two
weeks before election in which the ig-
norant voters are taught to recognize
the names they are to vote for, but
many of them even then fail and their
| votes are thrown out. In the third
district the Republican candidate for
! Congress was w. Joe Cliff. When
| these schooled voters came to vote
| they found no w. Joe Cliff on the
ballot and several hundred of them
| did not vote for the w. J. Cliff which
ho CHI cub taA
work of voting is necessarily slow and
| this slowness can be increased by the
officials and this was done in some of
the colored wards so it was estimated
several hundred lost their votes.
| In the country districts less polite
methods are used. Some are in the
| fern of terrorizing. Others assume
more ludicrous phase. 1t is told of
Republican living in West Tennessee
several years ago that he had so much
to say about fraud and the need of an
| investigation that the Democrats
| finally put him on the board to super
wise the voting. He sat there through
out the day and saw the Republic
cans come up and deposit their bal
lots unhindered but when it came to
counting the votes and not one Re
| publican vote, not even the one he
cast himself, was found among Them
he marvelled but that was all he
could do. OF course he could not re-
call the moment that his attention
had been diverted and stuffed ballot
box had been substituted for the orig
inal. If he could have done so it
would have awaited nothing.
| The Merchandising ballot, did it
operate equally in the case of ignorant
voters irrespective of their color is
worthy of some of the arguments in
support of it's use. If impartally
abided by it would not destroy all re-
spect for the functions which the bal
lot must perform in any well regu-
| lated American community. Methods
| in use in many of the localities of the