The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1906-08-21

The Petersburg Index Appeal, com
menting ON an editorial from th"
Staunton Dispatch,t takes the ground
that "A law making the prepayment
of poll tax requisite m order to vote
at special elections would be- emf
nently fair and equitable and would
produce an intelligent electorate for
these special elections. lust our
view. The discussion grows out oil
the recent local option contests h'
fore the Circuit Court Oi Frder'k
county At the local option clec-
ton held ia Winchester men were al
lowed To vote who had failed to pay
their poll taxes SIX months prior Il"
the election and "a contest resulting
the nudge before whom the ease was
tried held that the prepayment was
not requisite i'm special elections. bat
only applied to regular ones. N
once there WAS "a demand that the
next legislature So amend the law
rs To cover cases of this descriptions.
whereupon our Stamton conicm-
porary suggests that only foolish
people desire such amendment. The
Index-Appeal as above stated, takes
issue. and We align ourselves with
our Petersburg contemporary, even
at the risk of being considered very
II ,wise and very thoughtlc~S. The
danger of the Frederick county de
ci,ion is To our mind ohvions Ia
the first place the main object OF the
six months requisite oi poll tax pay
mant was to purge the electorate 10y
cutting out those men who do not
feel that thevotiug privilege Is worth
paving one dollar and fifty cents
for. OF course. many good
men forget To pay in time and are
DISTINGUISHED for the time being. hut
the drawbacks of the system are far
overbalanced 10y its benefits and the
law has given satisfaction To the IN
telligent people OF Virginia. This
same law faces. however, the danger
OF having its very benefits wiped out
unless it is amended To meet these
special election eases. For instance.
we have now in nearly every Virginia
city an election list comprising the
intelligent and Industrious citizens
of these communities, and free, in a
large measure. from the purchasable
and corrupt vote No one willpay the
poll taxes OF the gentry composing
this class six months in advance, so
that at regular elections We are little
troubled with them and they get So
far behind in their taxes rs To reduce
the chance of their getting back ON
the rolls to minimum The special
election comes along, however. and
some interests find that there is go
inc to be a hard fight The first
step towards winning the fight Is for
these interests to get together, raise
a fund and under the decision OF the
court not requiring taxes paid SIX
months ahead. proceed to gather up
a number of disfranchised purchaser
bles, pay their back taxes and thus
qualify them to vote in that election.
The iniquity OF this is two-iold. In
the first place it puts the balance OF
power i'm the hands of these creatures,
who look for the dollar regardless
of the right, and in the next place If
results in putting them back ON the
active voting lists, from which they
had been happily eradicated. The
law in its present shape seems made
quate to meet this condition. there
fore, we say with the IndeX-Appeal,
amend it ~ soon rs possible.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
We have all along contended that
two years before "A presidential cleo
ton was too soon to launch presi-
Dental boom. Conditions may, and
i'm all probability will, change ma
terially between now and the sum
mer OF 1908. and with changed con
ditions theavailabiity OF candidates
will no doubt change Nevertheless
Mr.. Bryan friends have launched a
very su ,cessful, though premature.
it would seem. boom for him as the
Democratic nominee for that high
honor, and at present, from a Demo
cratic standpoint. there is no one in
sight but Mr.. Bryan. From the Re
publican standpoint, Root. TAFT
Fairbanks and Cannon have been
mentioned, and each has been sue
cessfully heralded as the choice OF
President Roosevelt Mr.. Cannon :
eighteenth nomination for Congress
from his district. at Danville, Illinois.