The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-01-23
REPRESENTATION AND DISFRAN-
GHISEMENT.

There are indications that caucus of
Republicans in Congress may be called
very soon, perhaps within day two,
to consider the question OF reducing the
representation in the House of Southern
States whose election laws disfranchise
American citizens. The suggestion has
been made many times, but it remained for
Representative Crumpacker, of this State.
to bring it to the point of party action. He
has been working on the matter for some
time, and has now, it is said, got more than
eighty signatures to a petition for a caucus,
which insures the calling of one. 1t is un-
derstood to be Mr.. Crumpacker's purpose
to present to the caucus a resolution
questing the House committee on the CEN
sus TO report q bill amending the apportion-
ment act passed by the last Congress so as
to provide for reduction of representation
in Congress from States where voters are
disfranchised by State constitutions and
laws. The proposition is in strict accord
ance with the constitutional provisions re-
garding representation. Section 2, Article
XIV, of the Constitution says:
Representatives. shall be appOrtioned
among the several States according to their
respective numbers, counting the whole
number of persons in each State. But
when the right to vote at any election for
President and Vice President of the United
States or representatives in Congress is
denied TO any of the male inhabitants of
such State, being twenty-one years of age
and citizens of the United States. in any
way abridged, the basis of representation
therein shall be reduced in the proportion
which the number of such male citizens
shall bear to the whole number of male
citizens twenty-one years of age in such
State.
This provision is mandatory and Congress
is given power TO enforce it by appropriate
legislation. Under the circumstances it is
difficult to see how Congress can escape the
duty thus imposed upon it of making the
representation from each State conform to
its voting population. The Constitution
gives each State the right to prescribe the
qualifications of its voters. Congress can
not dictate or change the qualifications of
the voters in the several States, but it can
and the Constitution says it must make the
representation in Congress from each State
conform to its voting population. The
equity of the proposition to reduce the rep
resentation of those States which have dis
franchised a large number of citizens of
voting age is apparent on its face, and the
more so because when slavery was aDol-
ished the basis of representation from all
the Southern States was increased by the
difference between three-ffths of the ne
groes, under the old rule, and the whole
number under the new rule. The four
enacted to meet the case of the disfran-
chisement OF this new class of citizens. No
State has a right to expect that any class
of citizens shall be counted in the appor-
tionment who are not counted in the vot-
ing. From a constitutional point of view
therefore, there is no question as to the le-
gality and equity of the proposed reduction
in the representation of States that have
disfranchised large classes of voters and it
may almost be said that the duty of doing
so is obligatory on Congress. Yet the con-
dftion has existed to a greater or less de-
gree ever since the war without the remedy
being applied AS President Harrison wrote
rot long before his death, This provision
OF the Constitution has never been put into
operation in the case of any State" 1t re-
mains to be seen whether it will be thought
expedient to try to enforce it now.