The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-26
AIM BLOW AT SOUTH
REPUBLICANS PLAN TO CUT
 LIST IN CONGRESS.
Roosevelt Seems in Sympathy with the Movement-Party Leaders Fear Supremacy Will Be
 Threatened.
Washington speclui to Chicago chron-

Washington Special to Chicago Chron-
 icle.
 The movement which was started at the beginning of the last session of Con gress to cut down the representation of the Southern States in the House of Rep resentatives will be revived at the ap- preaching session by Representatives Olmstead of Pennsylvania and Crum- bers introduced bills last winter designed to readJust the representation of the Southern States to conform with the fSures of the census bureau, showing that the negroes of the South were dis franchised, but because of the opposi- ton of the late President Mckinley to any sort of disciplinary legislation af- fecting the South the bills were not re- ported from the Census Committee.
 Messrs. Olmstead and Crumpacker have received assurances that President Roose- welt will not place any obstacles in the way of the bills. that he is neutral re- garding the necessity of passing them and if the majority party in Congress believes the representation of the South ought to be reduced he will offer no ob- tection.
 There is no doubt that Representative Crumpackers bill would have become a law if the late President Mckinley had not actively opposed its consider ation. He took the Republican leaders of Con- gress into his confidence on this subject. He assured them that he hoped in a
 
 ocratic control and that his plan would be hopelessly destroyed if disciplinary bills were given serious consideration. Representative Hopkins of Illinois, Chair man of the Committee on Census, was prepared at the beginning of the session to incorporate in the committee bill re- districting the country in accordance with the figures of the new census most of the ideas contained in the Crumpacker and Olmstead bills. He abandoned this plan, however, after the consultation with President Mckinley and thereafter he was one of the most active opponents of the plan of cutting down Southern representation.
 A very strong factor in the rehabili- tated movement is the warning of Rep resentative Babcock of Wisconsin, chair man of the Republican Committee, that so long as the Southern States are per- Initted to. retain their present representa- tion and so long as they continue to send practically unanimous Democratic dele gations to Congress the Republican Par tvs supremacy In the national Leglsla- ture will be threatened.
 Olmstead and Crumpacker are collect ing statistics from the Census Bureau relating to the suppression Of the negro vote and say they will make startling showing to Congress. If they should be successful in arousing sentiment against suppression of the negro vote to the ex- tent of getting their bills before the Re- publican caucus of the House, there IS no doubt that one or the measures Will pass that body. Whether it will pass the Senate, however, is another matter; No doubt the opponents of the ship subsidy grab In that body will rejoice at the chance to get before them a bill that con tains such brilliant promise of prolonged debate and partisan bitterness: It could be played against the ship subsidy Dill throughout the session and enable them to again defeat the Standard Oil scheme of paying eXtravagant royalties to the passenger ships of the International Nav igation Company.