The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-04
ENFORCING THE SUFFRAGE. The Chattanooga Times says:

recently defeated bY the Republican machine for District Attorney. has in- augurated a crusade for law compell- ing people to vote on penalty for the second offense of Imprisonment for three months in jail. and the third, dis sftancntsssmen nte n Haeoney h a says ay hribs @ cry and corruption and is the chief re- iance of the bosses and machines Tn maintaining corrupt and demoralizing bly, correct in a way. but the non-Yoter like the whiskey toper, cannot be re- formed by law. In fact he Is the prob pit. the press and civic organizations must in the near future address them- selves, with assiduity and zeal He It. growing evil in the body polite and way than by mere legislative enact- ment.
 We tnorouhgly agree with The Times that the non-voter cannot be reformed by law, and we go further and insist that he is the greatest menace to good government because as a general thing so many good citizens fall to vote that bad men get in omce, and as legitimate result we have bad laws and inadequate enforcement of such good laws as we have. A man who wants office for what there is in 1t for him can usually work his plans so as to get out the voters who are of his kind and thus get himself elected. while the better class of citizens re- fuse to put themselves to the trouble to go to the polls and vote It is largely because of this indifference that we do not always have good laws and good officials, and yet, as gem eral thing, the men who fail to vote are the men who make most complaint about bad government. It is very much as if the farmer should sit down and let cattle break in and destroy his crops and then make complaint about 1t when he might easily have made his fences secure against depreciation. The non-voter sits supineiy at rest while bad men get into offlce and then growls about il.
 But we do not see how the misfor- tune, as we may term it, can be cured by law. Voting is among the highest of our privileges. and we consider 1t a moral duty which should be performed by every man who is eligible and can get to inc polls. bat we cannot go so far as to make it a legal crime not to vote That is carrying .governmental powers entirely too far. As for mak- ing the penalty disfranchisement for the third offense we don't see that much would be gained by that If a man doesn't care enough for the suf- frage to go to the polls he practically and voluntarily disfranchises himself, and we doubt if actual legal disfran- chisement would be of much effect. Af a man doesn't want to vote he cannot be forced to do 1t, we judge.
 Here in Alabama our laws make dis franchisement the penalty for failure to pay po1l-taxes, yet look at the election returns in any election, local, State or national, will show that such penalty is of little effect. As mat ter of fact a very large number of voters had rather lose their votes than pay the insignificant sum of $1.5o per annum to get their names on the poll lists and take part in the election of those who are to make and execute their laws.
 Thls is not the right way for good citizens to do, and when 1t Is remem- bered that the money paid for poll taxes goes to the public schools the | failure to pay 1t is double fault, al- most amounting to a moral crime. A man is not permanently disfranchised l by failure to pay this tax. He is dis qualified to vote as long as he is in arrears, but he can in any tax year pay up all his arrearages and have his name placed on the lists. While he is behind he cannot vote, but the way is open for him to qualify himself if he will
 There is no good excuse for any otherwise qualified elector to disfran- chise himself, but there are strong req sons why he should not do so. We are to have an important municipal elec- ton here fin Montgomery next May. We ought to have good officials, from Mayor down. and the way to get them is to elect them. It may be that there will be candidates who are totally un- nt to hold the offices to which they may aspire, but who will be elected if the good citizens are too indifferent to vote. ~a1nd if such unfit persons are elected those otherwise good citizens who '1ay off" and fail to vote will like ly be the loudest in their expressions of disgust and dissatisfaction because the city has not a full complement o1 good officials.
 Then again, in 1908 we are to have a national election which should inter- est every citizen of Alabama. 1t bids fair to be one of the most important contests that we have had in a long while and every good man in A1aOama should be glad to cast his vote. The law cannot force them to vote, but any and all forms of advice and moral sua- sion should be adopted to bring citi- zens to a sense of their duty. If they are behind with their poll taxes they can pay part of 1t this tax year and the balance next year so that they will be qualified to do their duty as free American citizens and then feel that they have performed theiT part Tn en- surfing good government or that they are not to blame if they fall to get It vVo,,ld if not be a wise plan for Chair.