El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-09-13
books, has not been given a fair chance

How the law can "invite a multiple
cation of the crookedness which exist
ed under the old SYSTEM" we fail to
see. For however faultily enforced, it
must provide check agaiust'the Tile
gal voter, effective in proportion to
the fidelity with which the law Is en-
forced. 1t has not been shown that
there Is a regular traffic in registra-
tion certificates, and decent people
will require far more than the ssy-so OF
the administration organ before they
will accept this as fact. The talk
about trsmps swearing that they are
voters in order to earn q half dollar
from those who make 1t their business
to Influence" voters in this way, even
IL true land the writer of that article
onght to know)would not for an instant
show that the law was defective. 1t
would show that there were scoundrels
among the political workers.
As matter OF fact, no tramp can
come up and register upon his mere
declaration that he is qualified. II the
registrar has any reason to believe
that the applicant is not proper sub
ject for registration, he is empowered
to require the affidavit of two repu-
table citizens to the effect that the man
Is known to them and is q proper cub
iect for registration. II two "repu-
table citizens are willing to swear
alsely in order to gain slight ad-
I'M tur 10 fhair artu that 6naS mt
prove that the law is defective, but
rather that two men 10 the community
are perjurers.
The assertion that ''more than
three thousand dollars have been paid
out by the city and county on the Aus
tralian ballot system without experien-
cling any beneficial results" is calcul-
sted to mislead the unwary. The
amount that has been expended in four
years upon the Australian ballot law
cannot be much if Any over one
thousand dollars. less rather than more.
The three Thousand dollars may be the
whole amount of election expenses for
several years. 1t certainly does not
represent the expenditure on account
of the Australian law purely.
When the administration organ
goes to ''venturine opinions" we may
know that it is very uncertain as to its
facts. So as to the "opinion" that
more than half of those who signed
the petition circulated by w. ID. Howe
in favor of registration did so as
favor aud not because they desired re-
gistration, and that other ''opinion"
that a large majority of the voters of
the city, ''outside of the certificate
market, "are opposed to registration,
they.are false and slsnderous. The ad-
ministrstion leaders but betrsy their
unfamiliarity with the real desires of
the decent citizens of the city when
they permit themselves to appear in
print in this wise.
AS matter of fact, the majority Of
good citizens are in favor of registra-
ton. There are good men to be found
on all sides of the question-actively
opposed to registration ,indifferent,a and
in favor of it-and il Is NOT our purpose
to impugn for a moment the motives of
those who honestly believe that the
law as it stands would better go unen-
forced. But it is fact that the major
ity of those men who stand for what is
best in che city are in favor of regis
tration because it is one step in ad-
vance toward the attainment of purity
In political methods.
The law is very clear. AS to its in
depreciation there is no question of
opinion; it is merely a question Of fact.
Article 1867 reads:
In all cities In this state having q
population of ten thousand inhabitants
or more, to be determined by the last
United States decennisl census or by a
census provided for by the commission
ers' court of the county where said
election is to be held, there shall-up-
on the petition of five hundred citizens
of such city-be prior to each general
election, either state, county, or muni-
cipal, had q registration of all voters