The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-02-13
ALL THE DISTRICTS
ARE DEMOCRATIC
Watts Defends His Bill For
Re-apportionment.
WHAT HIS FIGllRFS SHOW
WHAT HIS FIGURES SHOW
Three Important Claims Made by the
Friends of the Bill.
TO BE DISCUSSED IN COMMITTEE TODAY
A Joint Meeting This Afternoon Of the Special
Committee on Congressional Dis
tricls. AWarm Fight
Promised,

The Joint Committee on Congressional
Districts will hold meeting this after
noon TO consider the various bills that
have been introduced for re-apportion-
ment of the State.
These bills are as follows One by Sen
a:tor Arlington, one by Speaker Moore
ana one by Representative Watts.
All of them have strong advocates and
supporters; each of them has also oppo-
nents and enemies Hence an interest
ing fight is promised.
A corrCs pondent writing from Salisbury
To daily paper states that under Mr..
Watts bill the Eighth. Ninth and Tenth
districts are Republican, on the basis of
the last vote. This statement was shown
TO Mr. Watts yesterday and he said:
On the basis of the vote
for President this is true. Mckinley re-
ccived majoriiies in these districts as
following: Eighth district. 720; Ninth,
I19: Tenth, 500.
But the Democratic candidates for Con-
gress carried these districts over the
combined votes of the Republican and
Populist candidates by the following ma
jorities Eighth district, 500; Ninth, 40:
Tenth %.
1T is well known fact that many
Democrats throughout. Western North
Carolina did not vote for Bryan and this
accounts for McKinley,s majority i'll these
districts.
I'm the August election the Democratic
majcrities in the three districts were as
follows: Eighth district. 1,1G9;. Ninth, .
Ill. Tenth, 1851.
In 1893 the Democrats carried these
districts by the following majorities
Eighth district, 3.057; Ninth. 1863 Tenth,
27lI.
In fact. since the war. the only cleo
tions in which these proposed districts
went Republican were in 1894 and 1896,
when the entire State went oyerwhelm-
ingly Republican.
In the Eighth district. there are by
the census of 1890 1.-THE latest available
informaton) 5,404 negro voters. In the
Ninth .dist4icl there are 6.733; and in the
Tenth. 1 ,663. So that if the amendment
DISTINGUISHES from so to rs per cent OF
the negro voters. here will be Demo
cratic majority of not less than 1000 in
each of these districts, based on the
August election, and not less than 1900
based on the November election. Vt is d
well known fact that however they may
have done in other sections of the State,
there was full negro vote in August and
November. 1900, in Western North Caro-
lima: and mlny White men formerly Dem
ocrats voted against the Democratic party
on account of the amendment. Whci
these men see that the amendment only
DISTINGUISHES negroes, hundreds of them
viii be found voting the straight Demo
cratic ticket hereafter.
After a careful study of the election
figures of every election since the war ]
am of the opinion that there can be nc
reasonable doubt that each of these dis
tricts will be safely Democratic by good
ma iorities.
THE friends of this bill claim for it
that it will make all ten districts Demo-
cratic, that it will place no two Demo-
crate Congressman in the same district
and that the districts are more compact
than the districts as now constituted .