The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-08-12
Second Ward Politicians Would
Change Precincts.
Want Some Fixed Up to BE
Safely Republican.
THE PLAN MAY FAIL.
Commissioner Williams Doesn't t
Understand the Gerrymander.
Has Just Made a Change to
Equalize Population.

Republican politicians in the river
precincts" of the Second ward have a
scheme to gerrymander the precinct
lines of the ward back to where they
were before l. 7. Yount executed his
gerrymander some years ago. There has
been meeting of the Second ward Re-
publican club called for this evening at
S1S East First street to discuss the
proposition, and adopt some resolutions
favoring the scheme
The object of the move is to fix it so
that there will be one less Democratic
precinct in the Second ward. Under the
present arrangement. both the first and
second precincts go Democratic The
proposed plan will give the Republicans
fighting chance in one of the two.
1t is proposed to take the territory
which now composes the first and sec
ond precincts and divide them by line
running north and south instead of by
line running east and west This
would throw the east side of Kansas
avenue from Fifth to the river, into a
precinct by itself, and would. the poll
ticians think, put the biggest part of
the Democratic votes into this precinct
The other precinct. east of the dividing
line, would probably return to the Re
P0biAtdA IOIQ- Wne1e II WAS before the
so-called Yount gerrymander.
Ihe territory affected by the proposed
change is between Kansas avenue and
the Santa Fe tracks, and Fifth street
and the river. At present the line is
Third street, dividing the first or river
precinct from the second. The proposed
change is to run the line from Fifth
street north through the alley between
Madison and Monroe to the river.
The only object of the move is ap-
parently to help out a lot of ambitious
Republican ward workers who live doWr.
near the river, and who under the pres
ent arrangement can not overcome the
Democrats in either the first or second
precincts. The proposed new division
will make one of the precincts probably
Republican. As one man expressed it
today:
Those fellows down there work hard.
but always get beaten. 1t sort of dis
courages them, and besides that they
are not in good shape to ask for Jobs
and other faVorS at the hands of the
party. They are considered to be of
small influence, because they can't even
carry their own precinct. Consequently
it is hard for men down there to get
political jobs, and the Republican party
will find that unless it takes some such
action as they have proposed. that it's
workers down there will quit altogether
The men down there won't work for
the love of the thing. They must have
something to encourage them"
1t is said that Election Commissioner
Williams does not look with favor on
the plan, though when asked today for
an opinion he said:
This is a matter which 1 don't fully
understand, and which pertains entire
ly to the election board. If the board
wants to make the change, all right
will do nothing for the present, at least. 3"
Mr.. Williams does not like to make
the change because he has just sue
ceeded in making one change there to
equalize the population of the first and
second precincts. He secured the change
of the boundary line from Second to
Third street, so that the voting strength
of the two precincts might be more
equal, and he came so near to dividing
them equally that in the last election
the first precinct cast $40 male votes
and the second precinct cast 514 male
votes.
Mr. Williams said today that he had
called no meeting of the election board
to consider the matter.