The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-30
To Rid the State OF all Rascals.

Captain w. H. Harrison, better
known to his friends as Tip Harrison,
proposes a unique plan for elevating
the moral standard Of the community.
He wants to hold an election in every
county on the first of January of each
year for the purpose of deciding by
ballot who is the meanest man and the
most unconscionable scoundrel. On
the first of February the man receiving
the higest number of votes is to be
hanged until he is dead, and as there
are 1877 counties in Georgia, the State
would get rid of 1877 of its worst char
acters every year. Mr.. Harrison pro-
poses to introduce woman's suffrage
in this contest, and women will be ell
igible for election.
The merits of this innovation are
best described in Captain Harrison's
own language. He says:
by holding such an election in
every county once a year, we could do
a great deal to rid the State Of object
iopable characters and create a healthy
condition Of public and private morals.
All kinds Of would be inclu-
ded, and men in ali walks of life
would be eligible for election. The
tramp who steals dinner from another
tramp would have as good a showing
as a bank-wrecker who robs the widow
Of her mite. / propose, also, that
women be made eligible and allowed
to vote. In that case, the tattling
busybodies and tale bearers who SOW
the seeds of strife among their neigh
bors, would not be ignored. l have
no doubt that many of the women
would vote for their husbands on per-
sonal grounds, and as a closed ballot
would be used, there would be a full,
free. and wholesome expression Of
opinion.
"By executing the rascal-elect we
would rapidly get rid Of the worst elc-
ment Of u population. Just before
the first of January every year there
W0ui1 DC d big exodus. The r~ascais
would leave the State as frightened
rats fly from q burning barn. In ad-
dition to that the complimentary vote
many would get could not but have a
wholesome effect. Fellows who are
not living right or not treating their
neighbors right would receive timely
warning, and many a downward career
would De checked before it got beyond
reformation.
"The election would be fair beyond
any sort Of c%avil, and it wouldn't take
al Australian ballet to make it so.
There wouldn't be any electioneering,
and there would not be any carriage
hired to convey voters to the polls.
The vote would be the free, unbiased
opinion Of the people al to the respec-
tive meannesses Of those voted for.
| A very healthy moral zone would he
| diffused through the community, and
many u man would be surprised and
| put to thinking on his manner of life.
The election would hold up to most
men the looking glass that the poet
Burns talks about, and it would be a
| good medicine; heroic treatment but
none the less effective. 1t is we'll
known that public sentiment is more
| powerful than the law, and the plan
proposed would apply to the reforma-
tion of human nature the most power
full corrective influence that ;s known.
1t may be u little in advance Of the
times, but the times are so badly out
| Of joint that it is going to take some
such moral surgery to mend them.
"This idea was suggested to me
many years ago by a very wise man,
and I have been keeningg it until the
time should be ripe for it's promulga.
ton. l think the idea has so much
merit that, nee suggested, it will &C
on until it'has been adopted in every
civilized country. It might be well tc
experiment with it u little before &C,
tually putting death penalty in force
That would come eventually, but the
people would have to be educated VI
to that point. The effect Of a mere
expression of opinion would be Sc
great that the public would seen Sc.
the benefit of such a system, AM
would not be satisfied until it hat
been carried to its logical conclusion
l hope to live to see it ried."-AHnnh
Journal.