The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-07-28

th' minus hCklbNo liC dCuiCu Vic
privilege of participating in the cleo
torate. The results have been so nota-
bly, better in every respect that there
is no wish, even with the most partisan
opposition to return to the old regime.
In Massachusetts, there is suffrage
elimination clause TO the constitution.
but it works equally with the whites
and blacks, because the latter are in
the untroublesome minority.
There has been much said as to the
excessive power given to the Judges of
Registra tor. This seems to US to be
all bosh and arrant nonsense. The
same conditions exist now in regard to
the power of the Judges of Registration
that will exist when the amendment
is ratified, and no new provisions in
the law are looked for. There are two
registrars, one Democratic and the
other Republican. Any party appear
ing before them has the right to appeal,
the same as now, should the decision
of the registrars be deemed unfair or
contrary to the qualifications of the
applicant.
The Republicans in this county GER
tainly know what the right of APP
peal means, when all their cases have
been heard before their own Repub-
lican Judge on the bench in recent
years.
AS for the protest againt the amend
ment on the plea that it will do away
with honest elections, we can only
characterize it as one more of the
tlimsy props stuck up by the opposition
to gain their ends and turn away from
themselves the penetrating rays of the
search light of investigation, which
would be fatal to the objects to be
attained. Besides it does not Law in
the mouth of any Republican to talk
about honest elections. Most of them
do not know what the word means, at
least in Maryland, where every time
they have had chance they have i'm
proved the opportunity with question:
able proceedings, election frauds, in
timidation at the polls and downright
debauchery of the ballot. Go back to
the times when it was worth a mans
life, if he were Democrat, to even
present himself at the voting place.
That is enough to blacken the page
of their record for ev more.
Does Maryland want to return to
the Republican rule which distin-
guished it in 1895--1S99 for the first
time since the war and which di
rectly caused the overthrow of the
party in 1899, when John Walter
Smith was elected. The negro was an
issue III that campaign and so later on
was the census frauds and excessive
negro colonization, which brought
about the extra session of the Legisla-
ture i'll 1901 to pass a law for a new
census enumeration and ballot law
that would lessen the white mans
burden.
Another thing might be worth while
To mention here, in this hurried ram
bic through the net work of tangled
charges of the enemy, set up for our
evident intimidation, and that is.
watch out for Republican Misrepresen-
tdtion We say this in all earnestness,
Tor knowing what it amounted to in
the last four campaigns in the county
it would be idle to underestimate 1t
1t is probably going on now and every
possible step should be taken to neu-
tralize it. Nothing is too mean and de
grading for them to do and no state
ment fails to be issued if it meets the
requirements of the situation. In the
past Democrats have only been too
ready to be taken in by this kind of
campaign work, and of course the
active enemy is up to the old tricks
again. Don't sell your brthright for
%mess OF pottage, that will certainly
be found stale and unproftable. "
be true to your party, especially now
that it calls upon you to take up arms
again in its behalf. Don't be misled
by the traitors and emissaries of the
enemy, but go valiantly forward with
the Consciousness of having right for a
cause aud the good of the State for the
laudable end. Your party has endors-
ed the amendment. the people of the
State sustained the Governor on the
ISSUES of 1908, when the negro question
was paramount in the campaign, and
the party platform declared its "reso.
lute purpose TO preserve in every con-
servatlve and constitutional way the
political a'cendancy of our race"
Let us refer for moment to the recent
municipal election in Frederick City
where the first disfranchisement law
passed in the State of Maryland was
tried. There was a property clause
added to the defendant clauses, max
ing it in that respect different from the
proposed amendment for the State It,,
OF course, had Its opposition, and much
concern was manifested by the ele-
ments it was designed to operate upon,
but its application was as complete and
satisfactory as the most optimistic
could desire. Only a handful of ne