Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-10-09

rious districts Of the county N 1876
and in 1896, which the organ would
not have published il it had bad its
wits about it. These figures slow
clearly the animus of the county bosses,
for they prove the contention OF the
Register that there is no more necessity
for the change of the district lines now
than there was twenty years ago.
Twenty-one years ago was the date
Of the last redistricting and since then
while the population Of the county he's
grown it has been distributed with re-
markable evenness in all the districts
and to all honest intents and purposes
the boundary lines to-day confine as
equal populations in the districts as
twenty years ago; what differences in
growth there have been in that time
being so slight as to be immaterial, the
percentage of increase in the districts
throughout the county for the past
twenty years being remarkably uni
form.
The angry county ringsters and their
jaded and thoughtless organ convict
which sufficiently demonstrates that
there is no need, whatever, for change
in district boundary lines in Ohio coun-
ty, unless it be the political need of
the ring, which has undertaken the ger
rymander. The political need of the
ring is very great. 1t may claim that
it has no need to change the boundary
lines on political grounds, but THE
RING KNOWS BETTER.
Until very recently the people up at
the Court House made no pretense that
the proposed redistricting was for other
than political purposes. 1t could not
be for any other purpose.
The gerrymandering scheme, how
ever, is well known to everybody
about the Court House, and especially to
the newspaper men, including those
employed on the slavish and con-
Scienceless organ of the ring. The
programme as at first outlined, contem-
plated giving portion of Union dis
trict and portion of Webster to Cen
tire. Webster was then to be given a
slice of Ritchie while the country end
of Richie would be cut off and added
to Triadelphia. The lines of Tridal-
phia, Liberty and Richland were to be
film fammed about so as to make all
three Republican on the basis Of the
last vote. This gerrymander would, on
the basis of the same vote limit the
Democratic vote of the county practic-
ally to one, or, at the most, two dis
tricts.
There is but one Democratic member
of the present Board of Commissioners
and in common fairness and decency
he should have been given a place on
the committee of five which will do the
gerrymandering but he was left out
and the change of boundary lines will
be made by a solid committee of Re-
pubicans.
We have outlined in a general way
the partisan political programme that
is to be carried out. 1t will be one of
the worst gerrymanders ever attempted
by unscrupuIous politicians. THE ring
in control Of the county are in very
bad odor with the people and they
know it. They know the ground is
slipping from under them daily and
they now propose to attempt some
thing desperate in order to prevent the
majority of the people of this county
from expressing their will at the polls.
A similar attempt was made not long
ago to gag the people of this city and
the result was that those who attempt
ed it were buried under a landslide.
The county ring should take warning.
The people are not fools.