The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-03-10
An EDUCATIONAL QUALIFCA-
TON.
A GOOD BILL KILLED.

We have been working to secure the
passage Of our bill for an amendment
to the constitution Of the state, to
provide that, after the lst day Of jan
2ary. 1900 no person shall acquire the
right to vote unless he can read and
write the English lang uage. This
would not interfere with the right Of
suffrage Of any citizen who now pos
sesses Il. But if any one enters the
nation from abroad, after Jan. 1st,
1870, in addition to living in the coun-
try for five years before he can vote,
as the law provides, my bill would re-
quirc him, during that time, to learn
enough English to read his ballot and
write his name. And if any young
man, born in the country, comes Of
age after Jan. l, 1900. he cannot vote
until he can read and write the Eng
lish language.
Surely, in this land of public free
schools, it is not unreasonable to de-
mand that the right Of suffrage be
given to no one who does not think
enough Of it to learn to read and
write English. That tongue is the
language OF our country,o our courts,
Of our Legislatures,o of our newspa pers,
OF our Congress; in fact it is rapidly
becoming the speech Of the whole
world.
TO our establishment this very rea-
sonable and just measure was antag-
onized by Mr.. jacobson, Mr.. Feig, Mr..
Foss and others. Their claim was
that foreigners would come to this
state after 1870, too advanced in years
to learn English. In reply to this we
said that we would accept any reason
able amendment; and if they had per-
mltted the bill to go to committee of
the whole an amendment could have
been put in providing that foreigner rs
over fifty could b, excepted from the
operation Of the act But they indef-
initcly postponed the bill.
We referred to the extensive frauds
practiced under the present law.
Voters sell their votes, and then the
buyers make it condition that the
voter Shall declare that lie cannot read
orwrite English; and the n he calls u D.
on the man who bought him to mark
his ticket for him:-and thus the brib-
cry is conSummated.
We also showed that, on the Mes b
range, the agents of the Rockefelle rs
and others, compelled their foreign
employees, in the Iron mines, to walk
up to the ballot box with red ticket,
on which were printed the words-'I
cannot read English" And then some
tool OF the Company marked his
ticket. Ia this way $3.50 voters we're
deprived Of their votes. They had to
submit or lose their job. 1t was in
this way Mr.. Towne was defeated for
Congress last Novemb Der, in the Sixth
district In this way the ballot box
is made mockery and the Australian
law is a mere cover for rascality.
But neither arguments nor facts
would avail. Some were honest but
mistaken in their opposition to the
bill; others were DESTROYS of retaining
a political advantage.
We should have been glad to have
seen the beginning of the next CEN
fury, the Goth century, inaugurate a
reform that would prevent ignorance
from neutralizng intelligence; and
that would have given us an absolute
ly honest ballot. But we were defeat
ed. For the time being we have to
submit.
We told Messrs. Jacobson, Feig, ETC..
that we did not think they correctly
represented the Scandinavian races
in Minnesota. 1t was our experience
that those people earnestly desired to
become Americans in every respect:
and that they held the sacred cause
Of education too high to see it sacri-
feed to race pref udices. Time will
tell whether we are right or not.
In saying this we do not desire to
reflect unkindly upon Messrs. Jacob
son and Feig. They are honest men
and desire to do right. But the best
Of US may err. Mr.. Jacobson said he
would be in favor Of so amending the
law that no person could mark the
ballot for another, and bill is now
pending that the list of candidates Of
each party must be printed in it's own
column, with picture Of an eagle or
rooster or plough, ETC., at the TOP.
If then an illiterate man desires to
vote, we will say. the Populist ticket.
his friends can tell him to put his
cross under the picture Of the plough,
and if he has not intelligence enough
to do this he ought not to be permit
tod vOto of