The representative., 1900-10-04
H0WARD'S LETTER
SHOWS UP DEMOCRATIC METHODS
IN THE sssUNNY SOUTH"

4 y DAotE0Ce ASNCnt1OM EOln AmCAE
Own villainfes-wholesaI Dis
franchisenaent by GOeble Laws and
Treasonable Amendments to state
Contributions.
A great deal Of nonsense and political
buncombe 10 being INDUCED in by the
Democratic party over this new issue of
imperialism" :.
They tell us that imperialism" is the
paramount issue this year. On this els
sue" they invite Populists to abandon
their party and lay aside all their prin-
ciples for this, campaign. because. as
they say, they have found an issue which
overshadows all others.
Mr.. Bryan raises the great hue and
cry'about the consent OF the governed, :"
charging that we purchased the Fiji
pinos at $3.50 apiece, and, because OF
these alleged facts. he and the Demo-
cratic leaders draw the conclusion that
we are rushing headlong into an en-
pire.
Before Popuists desert their party
before they lay aside the principles for
which they have contended for years,
and join in the mad chase of this will-o'-
-wisp-this fantastic shadow-would
it not be well to calmly look certain
we'll known facts squarely in the face?
In the first place, who is responsible
for the purchase of the Filipinos at
$3.50 head?' .oos
Who is responsible for the injection
of the Philippine question into Ameri-
can politics? Ii-'
Was it not this same w. J. Bryan
who secured a ratification of the treaty
with Spain, which completed the "pur-
chaser" saBc
Is not he, more than any other man,
responsible for this transaction?
Bryan maintains as 'dfgnifed" 81
lence. .snc
Immediately afteraz having secured a
ratification of that treaty, he raises the
cry of imperialism,I The Democratic
leaders shed copious tears because they
are SO much opposed to governing the
people without their consent" and in
the agony and anguish of their souls
they gave birth to the great CD issue
of imperialism"
There is such thing as protesting too
much. The man who shouts most loud
ly "stop thief" is frequently the man
who should be watched.
The party raising the cry of the "con
sent of the governed" should be care
fully scrutinized.
What is it's record?
What has been it's history in the
past?
Fresh from the cory fields of Ken
lucky, where the most damnable i'm
perial political machine ever construct
ed-one that disfranchised more than
one-fifth of the voters of the state-had
been constructed by this Democratic
party, whose leaders set up the howl Of
stop thief"
Fresh from the recent exploits in
various states in the South, where the
negroes had been disfranchised by the
wholesale, simply because they we're ne
groes-these friends of the down.
trodden and representatives. patriots"
set up a mighty howl about the op-
pressed and much abused, because, for
sooth, we refuse to haul down the Amer
lean flag and declare the freedom, and
independence of people who are in
open armed rebellion against us.
And they call this government with
out consent of the governed"
Let it be remembered that these same
disinterested patriots passed, without
submitting to the vote of the people,
an amendment to the constitution Of
the state of Mississippi, which requires
that the voter be required to read any
clause in the constitution of the United
States, or the state, or explain it when
read to him. This explanation must 5e
made to the Democratic clerk of the
court, who is usually so patriotic that
he is candidate to succeed himself.
What has been the result? The vote OF
Mississippi has been reduced to about
10000. With this beggardly handful of
votes they elect seven members of con-
gress. The negroes have been disfran-
chised, all except those who vote the
Democratic ticket, and, the illiterate
white man, who is not a Democrat, can
not explain the constitution to the sat-
isfaction of the Democratic patriot on
the qualifications Of the voter, hence he
is disfranchised. Itsis q notorious fact
that no man in Mississippi has been re-
fused the right to vote, if it was a we'll
known fact that he was partisan DEM
ocrat and proposed to vote the Demo-
cratic ticket.
In South Carolina, in addition to other
qualifications, they have a property
qualification, requiring man to pay
taxes on $3.50 worth of property, before
he is qualified voter.
Before the echoes Of these disinterest-
ed patriots has ceased to ring in the
Kansas City convention hall, the Dem
ocratic "Red Shirts" were riding over
North Carolina, armed with Win
chester rifles, driving the negroes into
the dens and caves of the mountains,
80 that the Democrats could disfranchise
them and govern them without their