The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-06


In the statement which he has is
sued ]. Warren Keifer of Ohio. elected
to Congress at the recent election, says
his mission is to see that there is
legislation to prevent the disfranchise-
ment of voters in the South. Mr..
Keifer has been dead politically so
long that it is doubtful if he will be
able to bring about his resurrection by
the means he has adopted. The Re
publican party will not be so eager TO
follow him in this matter as he seems
to think it will. AS we have pointed
out several times, the signs are multi
plying in the North of a disposition to
let the South settle the race problem
in the way she thinks best. The Re
publican party doesn't seem to be in
urgent need of votes, and, hence, the
political leaders of that party will not
be very prompt to let Mr.. Keifer lead
them into taking a position that would
be certain to be productive of a great
deal of bad feeling between the sec
tions.
of feeling against the Republican par
ty in the North, since there is a strong
and growing sentiment there in favor
of doing all that it is possible to do
to promote the prosperity of the
South. The trade of the South is a
very important factor in the business
of the great cities of the East and
West. The more prosperous the South
becomes the larger this trade will be.
AS a matter of fact. the Northern
about the negro having the ballot,
except in so far as the negro vote is
factor in the political situation. just
now the Republican party doesn't seem
to need that vote. If the Republican
party thought the negro should have
the ballot simply because he is a citi-
zen it would be more liberal in its
treatment of the F1lipinos, who meas
ure up well in intelligence with the ne
groes.
Representative Crumpacker is
much more important figure in Con-
gress than Mr.. Keifer is. and he
hasn't been able to get Congress to act
on his dlsfranchisement bill. How,
then, can Mr.. Keifer expect to take
the leadership of the House in this
matter?
In his Spartanburg Is. CO speech
on last Friday night John Sharp Will
liams, the leader of the minority of the
House, said if Congress should re-
duce the representation of the South
the Southern people should go on
electing the same number of repre-
sentatives; that they should apply for
their seats and salaries, and, on be-
ing refused should carry their case
to the Supreme Court. In his opinion
the South should abide by no less au-
thority than that tribunal.
1t is not necessary now to discuss
the wisdom of Mr.. Williams PROPOSE
ton, though, it might be said in pass
ing that, it is a question whether or
not the South would agree with the
position taken by him. At present
as already stated. there is no marked
indication of purpose to reduce the
representation of the South. If the
evidences of such a purpose should be-
come certain it would be time enough
then to discuss Mr.. Williams propo-
sition. There would be other PROPOSE
lions on the same line. In his letter
last Sunday Senator Bacon suggested
as a last resort that the South give
up part of her representation. But
it is a long way to a state of affairs
where the consideration of such propo-
sitions will be necessary.