Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-05-31

Official members VIII exercise q M
ed and steady influence, dispropor.
tionate to small numbers, thus help.
ing to hold the balance. IL occasion
arises. between sharp antagonisms Of
race.
Voting Laws Not Changed.
So far as the franchise Is concern.
ed the B0ers themselves acknowledge
that there Is little cause for com.
plant. The order In council DEGREES
that the electoral districts shall be
equal and based az to population ON
the number Of registered voters and
as to locality on the old veldt cornet.
cies of the republic, q margin of ten
per cent being allowed to make the
one square as nearly as possible with
the other. It is difficult to see how
this leaves grounds for charges Of ger
rymandering. Every Boer Of full age
who had a vote for the old first volks-
raad will have vote now. Nor will
he be disfranchised II, through pow
erty caused by the war, he has lost
his old property qualification. The
municipal franchise, already in force
In the towns. is to be taken 40 q
model. and modified somewhat in the
voters favor. Any Boer and any
white male subject of Great Britain
OF full age. can be registered as q
voter II for six months previously he
has owned land to the value of $500,
or the annual rental of 800, or has
been earning salary or wages at the
rate of $500 yearly. This is not quite
manhood suffrage, but it insures the
electoral franchise to every white Brit.
ish subject in the Transvaal.
Some persons may not understand
the exclusion of the colored man. but
that is one Of the very few subjects
on which public opinion in South Al.
RIGA is absolutely united, and col.
ored franchise in the Transvaal at the
present time at least would undoubt-
eddy bring about the downfall Of pop
ular government for many years to
come. An attempt is made to safe
guard the interests of the colored man
by the reservation to the lieutenant
governor of any bill which imposes
disabilities on the colored races.
May Cause Trouble.
While the distribution of seats is
fair enough in the abstract, unless
care is taken to retain the old elector-
al divisions as promised until the
Beers understand the workings of the
new system, undoubtedly there will
be a great deal of faultfinding. The
old Dopper system was as full of gro
tesque anomalies as the English sys-
tenn prior to the reform bill of 1892;
it favored the country party at the
expense of the towns, where dwelt the
hated and distrusted outlander. The
new plan recognizes no such distinc-
ton, and ordains by annual registra-
ton of voters, and redistribution
of the colony into new electoral dis
tricts every four years, according to
the fluctuatiOn and increase of the
voters.
Reasons are given by Mr.. Lyttleton
for the decision Of the government to
wait while before making changes in
the constitution of the Orange river
colony analogous to those thus effect
ed in that of its northern neighbor.
It is pointed out that "there are indus
trial and economic conditions in the
Transvaal which make it very desir-
able in that colony to have at the
earliest possible date some better
means of ascertaining the views of
the different sections of the population
than the present system affords" The
problem is less pressing In the Orange
river colony and there are manifest
advantages in waiting to see how TAR
the experiment tried elsewhere justi-
a. 70