The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1904-10-05
SOUTHERN OUGARCHY
Spirit of the Constitution Violat-
ed-V0ters' Rights Destroyed
In Centralized Power.
John Sharp Williams In Congress on ,435
Votes - Speaker Cannon Has
22,94l-SOme Facts.


resentation In congress and In the elect
oral colleges be reduced In states where
the elective franchise has been limited
by special determinations Is raising
the race question This IL not true The
platform does not touch the race ques-
ton. The clause In question has to do
with more vital and important mat
ter the equality of voters
The constitution of the United States.
Article |, Section H. 3. defines the basis
of representation MS follows:
Representatives and direct taxes
shall be npportloned among the several
states which may be included within
this Union according to their respective
numbers. which shnll be determined
by adding To the whole number of free
persons including those bound To scrv-
Ice for term of years, md excluding
Indians not taxed. three-hfths of all
other persons"
According to the fourteenth amend
ment:
Representative shall be apportion.
ed among the several states according
to their respective numbers, counting
the whole number of persons In each
state excluding Indians not taxed"
Now. obviously II by some such plan
MS the Wholesale Acknowledgement of
certain class of the population the
entire population OF stnte voting and
nonvotng, can be made to count I'm
the representation of that state In con
gress while other states are there rep.
resented in proportion 10 their number
OF voters. there Is nm inequality which
tends toward the establishment Of Just
such nm olignrehy as existed In the
antehellum congress-. only instead of
counting three flfths of n large non
voting population certain southern
states now count the whole. Moreover,
their representation il vested In men
who are committed to policy not only
Democratic, but essentially loeal and
In many respects directly nntagonistlc
TO the interests not only of northern
Republicans, but of northern Demo
Gratis ns well. The perception OF II
similar condition OF things made the
''wnr Democrat OF forty years ago.
Under the present Mississippi consti-
tuition one voter In Mississippi equals
ten In Connecticut, ten in Ohio, twelve
In Massachusetts. sixteen In California,
seventeen in Town md twenty-nlne In
| New York. How do you like that, cit
| lzens2
Let us look Mt the matter In detail
| John Shnrp Williams, the Democratic
| leader of the house, was asked some
| time ago whether he would accept the
| nomination for president. He said
"My nomination would no sooner be
announced than II would be hcrnldcd
far and wide that my platform consist
cd of the constitution of Mississippi
and the amendments thereto"
Mr. Williams knew he could never
win ON that platform. He was elected
to the FIFTY eighth congress without
opposition, receiving l.433 votes, his
district, the Eighth Mississippi. having
population Of I90,ss5. In the First
district of Connecticut, having a popu-
latlon of 220,0o3. 10 per cent more thnn
that of the Eighth Mississippi, T..
Stevens Henry received 20.2S9 votes.
and Ind Tn district been Of the same
size as MI Williams district Mr..
Henry must have had 1902 votes to
secure electfOn-more than ten times
ms many ns 1t took to elect the Demo.
cratic lender of the house. Moreover.
in opposition to Mr.. Henry, 17.2l1
votes were east for William ONcil.
Democrat; 302 for Edward AGnrd.
prohlbitionEst: 70S for jameson, Social
list, ana M for Joseph s. Powell,
Socialist Labor More than ten times
AZ many votes were east In Connect
cut AZ were cnst In Mississippi for n
winning candidate. The scattering vote
amounted altogether to l,2ii within
200 votes of the total vote In the Eighth
Mississippi district, for Williams was
without opposition. II this scattering
vote h,ul united for the Socialist can
didatc and all the other voters In the
First Connecticut district Ind been dis
franchkled, that candidate would have
been elected In conditions very nearly
corresponding. 40 far ms numbers ARE
contSrned, to the conditions of the Mis-
sssfppl election which put Mr.. VIII
Inns in the house of representatives,
And Mr.. Williams IL arguing against
Imperialism on the ground that the
Philippines IRE governed without rep
resentation,
In the Eighth New Jersey district
Representative Wiley was elected by
1854 votes against 12,005 Democratic
votes out Of population Of lSl,0lI.
1t took thirteen votes In this New Jer-
sey district. which lis smaller than that
of Representative Williams, TO elect n
congressman opposed by a vote two
thirds rs large rs his own. To be
elected unanimously he would have to
receive more than twenty votes to Mr.
Williams one. Is one Misslssippian
| equul to3more than tn score of Jersey
men atfthe polls?
Mr. Cannon the speaker Of the
house, rccciyeds2 ,9a1 votes in dis
trict whose population Is 209, 233, and
he wins opposed by Il Democratic vote
OF 1884 and 'POhlhltionist vote OF
1.1G6. More than Vten times as many
Democratic votes were east against
Cannon In Illinois las for Williams in
Mississippi.
use .Isuheaf CamDl imeut.