The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-18
THE ARauMnxr AGAINST US.

which Alabama is interested. in conn mon with other States of the South. As will be seen. The Journal begins. as Republican papers usually do, especial ly the Northern ones, with criticism of this section for the small vote cast. Can any one say that the charge Is un- Just? The Democrats of Alabama do not go to the polls as they ought to. :.
 When Northern newspaper charges that it requires two or three times as many voters to elect e Congressman there as it does in Alabama. there can be no denial It is not because the voters are not here. but because they fail to vote.
 The proposition to reduce Southern representation in Congress Is again to the front. and bids fair to be pushed when Congress assemblies. and one of the arguments in its favor will be that we have too many Congressmen for the number of voters What reply can be made, with the figures staring us in the face? Taking the natural in- crease in population since the census of 1900 we can safely put the white men of voting age in Alabama at 25o.- 900. At the election for Governor in 1902 total vote was s1,s3s. practically all of them being white. If every one was white the total was only 37 per cent. of the white citizens of voting age. The vote In the various Congress sicnal districts was about in the same proportion. Let us make a comparison | to show how the figures stare us in | the face whom we try to repel the charges made by our Northern friends
 At the election in 1902 the total vote | for Congressman in the First Alabama
 District was 5.s74. in the First Califor-
 mia, 42,13e; in the First Colorado, S4.-
 574. and in the First Kansas, s7,1s1. These are just a few specimens to show how the Northern people turn out
 to vote, and how the Alabama voters remain at home. These figures do not show the actual number of voters in
 the districts, but the number that vote. Those are the figures that are used by the Northern Republicans as 8 basis for the charge that few voters elect a Congressman in Alabama while 1t re- quires from five to ten times as many | to elect one in the North, and on these returns they base their charge that we have more Representatives in Con- gress than we are entitled to.
 It is useless for us to make any ar- gument against the charges while the published figures confront us. The thing for our people to do is to educate themselves to the duty of paying poll taxes and registering so that they can vote. There will be local elections taking place next year, as we'll as spe- cial elections, and a man who is sub ject to poll tax must pay 1t before Feb ruary 1, or he cannot register and vote. If he is in arrears he must pay all that has accumulated for previous years. Even if he reaches the age of 45. when the payment of poll tax ceases, he can not vote if any of 1t stands against him for the years before he reached 45. In short, any arrears of poll tax de- prives the citizen of his vote.
 The Advertiser has always contend ed that the right of suffrage is not only ! one of the highest privileges of free men but that it is one of the most sacred civic duties. It is not merely that we have a right to vote for the candidates of our choice but that we ought to do it. We should prove to | our critics that our way of eIecting ccngressmen with only few thousand votes is not due to lack of voters but to a lack of interest. and to a failure on our part to perform a solemn duty. The leaders of thought and opinion in Alabama cannot do the State a great or service than by educating the peo- l pie to the duty of voting, and especial ly is this true of the young men who are just coming into their political rights, and who ought to be proud of their opportunity to take part in the government of their State. Not until our people fully recognize their duty as voters, and perform it, can we ex- pect to be free from such criticism as we quote from our Kansas City con- temporary.
 The Journal makes another point, as it views 1t, when 1t censures the South ern people for not dividing. but whose fault is it except that of its own po- lltical brethren? There was an effort in Alabama to organize a respectable white Republican Party in this State, and for a time it gave promise of suc- cess, but what is 1t now? Through the course pursued by Roosevelt and his advisers the only Republican Party in Alabama is the few who hope for office and who are willing to truckle to the colored contingent in order to advance themselves The respectable white Republicans, as a general thing, have become so disgusted with the conduct and management of their par ty and those who control 1t that they take no interest in 1t and have nothing to do with it. They neither put out candidates nor go to the polls, and have apparently lost all hope of a decent party, and will not ahlliate with the one they find doing business here. There are enough white Republicans in Alabama to form a party which would be respectable in numbers as well as in character, and it would be much better for the Democrats if thax hod a etrono onno.tsto. os .-L...