The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-03-29
Ban on Illiteracy.

that the Maryland Suffrage Re
form law. which will effect the
diSfranchiSement of citizens who
cannot read, will prove a boomer.
ang to its Democratic authors
and promoters. The Republican
theory is that the Democratic
ticket will lose quite as many
white votes as the other will
negro votes.
Were it even true, that instead
of redeeming Maryland from the
rule of trusts and monopolies
which govern in fact wherever
the Republican party does in
name, the new law would make
the State permanently Republi
can, we should say that the
change was for good. The init
mately social connection of igno-
rance with vice, and the expos.
ure of the former to the wiles of
INSCRIPTIONS demagogy, ought
sufficiently to warn every self.
governing political community to
carefully eliminate illiteracy from
its suffrage. This country is an
nually and continually absorbing
thousands of immigrants repre-
senting the lowest grades of Euro
pean society, who are as tit to eX,
erciSe citizen rights in a country
of representative government as
so many freshly.caught chimpan,
ices would be. In the absence
of salutary laws providing for
their exclusion from the priv.
leges of citizenship until they
have acquired decent knowl.
edge of our language and insti
buttons, these ignorant foreigners
are rapidly taken into one of the
political camps and made voters
we regret to say, are sometimes
fraudulently voted before they
have been six months on our
shores.
Were New York, Pennsylvania
and all our States, but notably
the maritime ones, to pass cleo,
ton laws like that just enacted
in Maryland, there can be no
question that the cause of honest
elections and good government
thereby would be promoted. Let
the ban be everywhere put on H.
literacy, no matter whom it may
hurt. Too much Of principle and
of national safety are involved
to permit of much attention being
paid to local eXpediency, or oc-
casionally hardship in the con-
nection- Washington Times.
DISFRANCHISEMENT, DESERVED
AND UNDESERVED.
There is no Legitimate defense
for the diStranchiSement of the
cOlored voters in the South or
elsewhere except upon grounds of
exclusion equally applicable to
white voters.
But the question of the policy
of DISTINGUISHING illiterate voters
is quite another matter. There
are very strong reasons for such
a course of action. In PennSyl-
vania we do not hesitate to dis
franchise citizens who are so in
different or shiftleSs or impecul-
ious as to neglect the payment of
their taxes, be they ever SO well
qualified for the judicious exer-
else of their right. There is much
more solid ground of public policy
in barring illiterates away from
the ballot box.
Bringing the matter home to
ourselves, would it make for bet
ter or for worse home government
i'll Philadelphia if the sodden
colored vote III the Seventh ward
should be Sifted by such IA test of
literacy aud illiseracy as would
be developed by making the
right of the citizen to vote de
pendent upon his ability or non
ability to read the names OH the
printed ballot !-Phii0. Record.
NON PARTISAN DEFENDERS.
1t is but just to the new law
excluding illiterateS from the bal
lot in Maryland to say that it
finds defenders on other than par
tisan grounds. The Republican
Chicago Tribune thinks that.
aside from politics, it is good
measure, and the Washington
Post, an independent newspaper,
without Democratic leanings, has
commentator for it. This latter
paper, published on the border of
Maryland, and presumably well
informed as to the character of
the politics of that State, thinks
it is needed there. 1t says that
the illiterate vote of Maryland is
"a sore in the body politic," and
more dangerous to the public wei
fare than that of Louisiana or
Mississippi. Its eXistance i'll pol
itics is declared to be fruitful
source of corruption" and, fur
ther, we are told of it in this
iOurnal that t.yanal. DurchaSable.