Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-03-09

| votes We're cast at the general election
last fall, 100 democratic. and sixteen
prohibitionists and socialists, a total of
| ia9. The registration for the primary
! shows three more votes than the entire
vote of the ward at the last election.
County Chairman Meeker and Sec
rotary Mote, with a committee COM
| posed of representatives from each
| ward, spent Sunday in checking over
the registration With the registry
| books.
The registration of nearly 1900 vot-
ers in Marshalltown who expect TO be
entitled to vote in tomorrow's repub-
ican primaries when less than LOO
Republican votes were cast at the last
! general election necessarily confronts
the city members of the county central
committee. the election judges and es-
pecially Chairman Meeker, with ii very
embarrassing task of selecting the un-
qualified voters and casting them out
Mr.. Meeker has called to his aid several
republicans in each ward who have
| gone over the registration lists with
him and have checked the names OF
those who will be challenged. Mr.
| Meeker says that it was necessary to
keep the names of this committee and
| their work secret but for this reason
l'several of the candidates fear that the
challenging of votes may be done in
| favor of some other candidate.
| There is no question but what the
new rules place tremendous power In
the hands of the committee, power that
will always be an element of danger
| in any primary and immense RESPONSE
bility is placed upon the chairman and
his committees to see that the rules
are administered impartially. Because
of this unlimited power and the dan
ger of the committees falling into the
hands of INSCRIPTIONS and designing
men many of the most conservative
republicans have questioned the wis
dom of the rules.
Section 1919 of the code makes 1t
a misdemeanor punishable by a fine
of 500 or imprisonment for 80 days
for any member of political party not
in good standing to vote in the primary
election. The code also gives power
to the election judges of a primary to
challenge administer oaths and cate
chise a voter and declares it perjury
amenable to the usual penalty for
man to testify falsely when SO ques-
toned. However the interests of the
republican party will be best served
lii these primary rules are administered
with Judgment and discretion. Talk
of throwing out whole wards is utter
nonsense. The man or committee who
should attempt it would bring down up
on themselves the condemnation of the
entire party and their attempt would
disrupt the party until 1T would be-
come a hopeless aggregation of war
ring factions. The rules are there and
the committees are there to let repub-
licans vote: not drive them away from
the primaries and the party. Neither
should this challenging be allowed to
delay the general voting.
1t is the duty of the committeeman
and judges to challenge democrats and
democrats only lf we may assume
for a moment that all who are not re-
pubicans and democrats.) In this their
hands will be upheld by public APP
prevail but of all things that are done
the good of the party and the future
good name of the men now in charge
depends upon the suppression of any
and all bias that may arise in the
minds of the star chamber censors be-
cause of partisanship for this or that
candidate. The responsibility resting
upon them is not a pleasant one. Even
now there is gathering a feeling of I'M
rest and suspicion that promises to
break on the morrow in a political
storm. 1t has been only by great effort
on the part OF conservatives that this
sentiment has been kept corked in the
bottle. AT the first intimation of I'M
fairness it will explode. The T.-R. has
faith in the men now in power and
hopes that voters will keep their tenn
pers but discretion must be exercised
by the committees. The rule of a
martinette or partisanship in any form
will destroy all harmony and then, God
help the men now in authority POLITICAL
ly!
A Campaign Lie.
The bitterness of some of the oppo-
sition to Mr.. Greene in this city is ex-
hibited by a story told to the men in
the Lennox shops by an interruptions I
real estate dealer who offices with and
is great personal friend Of man I
whom Mr.. Greene's committee of the
city council has recently discharged |
from city employ. 1t would not be re-
peated here were it not for the fact |
that the integrity of every director of |
the Commercial Club had been insulted !
and for the further fact that Mr.. Eckles
and his real friends have had nothing /
to do with it.
The lie as circulated was that the
Commercial Club directors had paid
$500 of commercial Club money over
to Mr. Sears to be divided among Sears,
and Greene. The man who
told the story was himself a director
of the club and knew the full extent of
his falsehood. The only $500 item paid
out by the directors has been paid to
Mr.. I. j. Fletcher trustee of a citizens
expense fund to reimburse
that fund for expenses actually incur
red during a period of one year and
a half in promoting the pottery fac
tory enterprise. This bill was presented
by Mr.. Fletcher in itemized form and
checked over by majority Of the d.
rectors and ordered paid by their unan-
lmous vote. Mr. Greene never was a
of the board of directors and
never had anything to do with the
club except to buy lot at 5000 to help
the enterprise along. The man who
told this story knew he was lying at
the time and his fellow directors now
know 1t. Mr.. EStabrook, who is sup
porting Eckles, and Mr.. St Claire of the
City Bank, who is supporting Greene,
and the editor of the T.-R who are
all directors of the Commercial Club
are interested in mailing this mans
lie to the barn door.