Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-01-16
THE RE.DlsTRICTIRe QUESTION.
Passage of the BurIeigh Bill Makes the Mat
ter Imperative.

The Encouragement OF congressional
districts may occasion big fight at
this session. When the late Mr.. H. c..
Patton pushed his bill, urging that the
present "shoe string" districts were un-
necessary and inconvenient, 1t was urg-
ed by the opposition that it were best
to wait until after the census had been
taken.
Not only has the census been taken,
but the lower house of the national
legislature has passed the Burleigh bill
which. although it will not interfere
with South Cardinals representation,
prescribes that all congressional dis
tricts must be compact and Of contigu-
Gus territory. The fight will not be on
the question Of redistricting, but on the
shaping Of these districts.
The seven districts of the state are
each formed Of contiguous territory,
but are not compact, and the people
embraced are not homogeneous. The
people Of Chesterfield, for instance,
have not much in common with the
people of Cherokee. The people of the
sandhills of Richland know little Of
the people Of CLASSY Mountain in
Greenville. These long "shoestring"
districts were formed under the system
of gerrymandering made necessary in
order to overcome black majorities in
the lower tier Of counties, but the ne
cessity passed away under the existing
suffrage laws and the Burleigh bill
says the district must be compact.
It is highly probable that the matter
will be disposed Of at this session, for
it will then be but little over year un-
til the next primary campaign, and as
pirants for congressional honors will
want time in which to set their sails.
The Patton bill, it Is said. will be the
basis upon which the redistricting will
be made. However, although this
measure meets the requirements so far
as grouping Of territory and people Is
concerned, it can be improved upon in
getting districts more evenly balanced
in population.
Under the Burleigh bill the unit Of
representation in the lower house Of
congress will be one member for ap-
proximately each 9S,500 in population.
The entire population of South Carolina
is 1,340,316, and this state will retain
her seven representatives.
The following plan shows the plan
proposed by the late Mr.. Patton, and
the total of population for each district
shows that some Of the groupings sug-
gesteG by him fall short of the requir-
ed 198,5O0, while others are considera-
bly, in excess:
Pee Dee district: The counties Of
Marlboro, Chesterfield, Darlington,
Marion, Florence, Horny. Total popu-
lation, 167,447
Santee: Georgetown, Williamsburg,
Charleston and Berkeley. Total, 172,991.
Edisto: Orangeburg, Barnwell Bam-
berg, Hampton, Beaufort, Colleton and
Dorchester. Total, 22l,4
Wateree: Fairfield, Kershaw. Rich
land, Sumter, Clarendon. Total, 49,
49,
Saluda: Edgefeld, Aiken, Saluda,
Greenwood, Laurens, Lex
ington. Total, 2O6,446
Keowee: Abbeville, Anderson, Oconee,
Pickens and Greenville. Total, 1S5,627.
Catawba: Spartanburg, Union, York,
Chester, Cherokee and Lancaster. To-
tai, 217,031.
The general plan Of the above dis
tricts is acceptable, for the bill passed
the lower house of the legislature two
years ago and few slight changes will
rectify the discrepancies as to popula-
State, Monday.