Evening star., 1897-05-07
THE Contested ELECTIONS
Nearly All the Congregational Coutests
from the South This Year

Ihere are sixteen contested election cases
In the House of Representatives ttfs year
and, unlike the experience of previous Con-
crosses. nearly all these contests come
from southern states and principally from
districts in which heretofore the demo-
cratic lead has been great There are four
contests in the delegation from Alabama
an unusual number. There are two con-
tests from Tennessee. one from Delaware
one from Mississippi, one from Kentucky
three from Virginia and two from South
Carolina
The Mississippi contest is in the third
district, which extends from Claiborne
county. In the southern portion OF the state
clear up to the north state line along the
Mississippi. and has come to be known as
the shoestring district" The controyer-
sizes which have arisen from time to time
against Mr.. Catchings have made this dis
trlct well known in Washington and for
a considerable time J. R. Chalmers was n
republican contestant. The vote in Missis-
sippi has been so much reduced under the
restrictions of suffrage established by the
Few constitution that the total vote of an
entire congressional district is much less
than that of an ordinary New York ward
The shoestring district of Mississippi in
cludes ten counties. In them at the last
election Mr.. Catchings, the democratic can
didate, received 3.O69 votes. There were
two republicans running against him a
regular republican. who received 369 votes
and an Independent republican who re-
ceived 5S2. 1T is the former who is making
the contest. The position of the republi-
can party in the state of Mississippi at last
years election was assuredfy not digni-
fled one. The state is overw helmingly DEM
ocrauc, and all its republican voters COM
bined, even If not disfranc hsed by consti-
tutional statute. could hope to make but
little more than a fair show in opposition.
Yet they ran two rival Mckinley electoral
tickets and two congressional candidates
in nearly every district. One of the Nc
kfnley tickets polled 2,IS5 votes In all tho
seventy-f1ve counties of the state. The
other Mckinley electoral ticket poIled 2.33S.
Bryan's vote was 5000. In some of the
chance OF success tier factional divisions
were most pronounced. In the fifth dis
trict. for instance. lying on the Alabama
border. the democratic vote was 10000 and
the populist vote 200 There were two
republican candidates in the field In this
district. One received 212 votes: the other
received 142
There are also contests from two other
distrfcts-one in New York and one in
Oregon. The New York contest is from a
WeStcheSter county district and does not
turn on any question CT fraud, false count
ing or disfranchisement, but on the legal
effect of a Supreme Court decision. There
ination-one favored by the Robertson and
the other by the anti-Robertson faction.
The former as declared to be entitled
to have his name printed On the republican
ticket the regular candidate. The de-
cision was appealed from, and after elec-
man was upheld too late for him. but not
too late for the democrat to make a con-
test based on the irregularity of the sit
ting members certificate of nomination.