Middletown transcript., 1897-04-03
IIDDLEToWN, DEL, APR. 3, 1897
MANHOOD SUFFRAGE.

s'Republican Glasses' in the "Sun-
day Star" gives sharp cut at the poll
tax as vicious influence In the poll.
tics Of this state. The Republican
Glasses" generally sees things clearly
and eye to eye with many of over
readers. We give the following:
It isa frozen fact that the political
organizations Of Delaware will register
the members Of their respective parties
regardless of the exactions Of either the
new or the old Constitution. If those
exactions are such that large sums Of
money must be raised in order to help
register the voters those sums will be
raised, the money applied, ana the vot-
ers registered. This is a fact no sensi-
BILE man will dispute. If in the accom-
plishment Of this the first duty of a
party committeeman, the exactions OF
the new Constitution shall be strained
or even violated, let the sin thereof be
upon the head, not of the party workers,
but of the delegates to the Constitu-
tional convention, all of whom know
by long experience how vicious has
been the influence Of the poll tax. 1t
has debauched the whole moral sense
of the people. 1t has converted Della
ware into a plague spot. 1t has made
the State q by-word and reproach in
the nation. 1t has been and is the root
of all the evil. And yet the wise men
of the convention agreed to levy dol
lar per man aud then by measures most
drastic attempted to prevent even the
loan Of that dollar by the. active party
worker to the poor or the Indifferent
party voter. 1t won't work. The Con-
stitution in that particular will be ig-
nored. There will spring up in breath
q tacit agreement among all parties to
wink at that particular violation Of the
new Constitution.
There is but one safe, clean cut way to
get out Of this: Establish manhood
suffrage. Do as President Biggs de-
clared he would do six weeks ago:
"Oppose every effort to connect one
cent with the idea and fact of voting,o
Get it out of the voters head that the
ballot is something that must be
bought with cash, and then he may
learn to forget that it is something
that may ba sDld for ca h. Unler no
circumstances should men frame q
Constitutional provision that must in-
eyitabIy be violated. OF the 10000
voters in Delaware, not more than 25,-
600 are poll taxables, and, therefore,
not more than $25, 900 can be levied
and collected from that class. What
is $25, 5,000 in State that levies and ex-
pends $500, 900 a year, including the
cost Of public education, not to speak
Of the $500, 900 annually that the coun-
ties raise and expend, and the $500, 600
which the municipality Of Wilmington
raises and distributesP And there are
other municipalities. The people Of
Delaware raise annually in taxes and
spend it, too more, than 81, SOC, 900.
And yet the thirty sincere, sensible
and patriotic members Of The Constitu-
tional convention have seriously agreed
to perpetuate our accursed system for
the sake of providing for S25, 900 of
that great amount. This is surely
swallowing a camel and straining at
a gnat. The honorable members of
the convention will themselves con-
tributa to the corruption fund" to
register the "fuH vote' of their respec-
tive parties; some Of them will even
help to apply it and thus actively assist
in beating their own handiwork, and
the editors and newspaper owners who
are now ignorantly defending the reg
istration fee will will then hyypocritically
defend the party workers, while those
who are rich enough will contribute
to the deDoralizing party fund. All
that will tend to depress still lower the
all but Internal moral tone Of the
State.