The Savannah morning news., 1901-03-21
BALLOT BILL PASSED
AND NOW AWAITS THE GOVERN,
OR'S SIGNATURE.
MARYLAND'S NEW VOTING LAW.
WILL DIsFRANCHIsE $4,000 ILLIT-
ERATE VOTERS.

@.r Gorman's Scheme Appears to BE
Very Decent Sort of Australian
RaIIot-Candidates' Names to BE
crouped and Clerks Forbidden to
Assist nIiterate VOters-WiH Dds
franchise $4,000 Negroes and &c.
600 Whites, and Makes Maryland
safely Democratic.
Annapolis, Md, March 2o.-The new
election bill, having for its object the
practical Acknowledgement of most Of the
n geo illiterate voters of the state, passed
the Senate shortly after midday. 1t was
Immediately sent to the House, where
all the amendments made by the Senate
were concurred in, and the bill passed.
II is now ready for the Governors sig
nature.
ed by the utter absence of anything of G
sensational character In the Senate but
one protest was entered, which came in
tbe form of a speech from Senator Dod-
son, Republican, who characterized the
entire proceedings as blot upon the fair
name and honor of the state.
The final vote was II to IA, a strict par
ty division.
In a quarter of an hour after passing
the Senate the bill was before the House,
where it's consideration was Immediately
begun. One by one the Senate's amend
ments were taken up and concurred In
without division. Then it was put upon
its final passage with no attempt at de-
lay upon the part of the minority except
a motion to allow them one hour to con-
slider the amendments. This was prompt
ly voted down, and the bill was passed
by vote of SO to %, the Democrats hav-
ing six votes more than the majority re-
quired by the constitution. Five Demo-
Gratis, Messrs. Buckley and Lamin of
Frederick, Keys of Cecil. Pattison of
Dorchester and Garner of st. Mary's
voted with the Republicans.
Ballot Clerks Cannot Assist.
The most important change in existing
methods accomplished by the enactment
of the new law lies in depriving illiterate
voters of the assistance of ballot clerks
in preparing their ballots. Under pre-
vious practice these clerks accompanied
such voters into the booths and marked
their ballots for them, or showed them
how to do it. The Democrats claim that
this practice utterly destroyed the secrecy
of the ballot and made it possible for
corruptionists to learn through signals
from the ballot clerks, whether bargains
made with corrupt voters had been car
ried out The arrangement of the names
on the ballots has been altered so that
the candidates for each Office are grouped
instead of being arranged in groups ac-
cording to the party they represent. Par
ty emblems are abolished and other
changes made which make the new law
very nearly similar to that in existence
in Massachusetts.
The effect of the law is, of course large
ly matter of conjecture, and one upon
which the party leaders widely differ The
Democrats expect that it will disfranchise
about 5000 negroes and perhaps $4,000
white voters who cannot read or write.
OF these, it is claimed all the negroes
and about 80 per cent. of the whites vote
the Republican ticket. With these out
of the way the state will be safely DEM
ocratic for many years to come, and the
immediate result will be the election of a
Democratic state legislature next fall and
of a Democrat to succeed United States
Senator Wellington in 1902.
The active interest taken by ex-senator
German in the passage of the bill leaves
no doubt of his candidacy for the sena-
torship in the event that the effect of
the new law is as the Democrats expect it
to be.