The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-10-13
SANDERS AND THE BOSSES.

that:
The unihcation Of the seventeen
Ward Bosses OF New Orleans, interpret
ed inteligently, means that if Candidate
Sanders should unfortunately become
Governor, the political system of spoils
and all that which is odous il politics
will be revived.
And that:
'As provided i'll the Constitution of
1895. the repeal or modification Of the
primary election law is left TO the next
Legislature, which, if it be in control OF
majority favorable to Sanders and
with Sanders as Governor, the primary
election law will be emasculated if not
repealed beyond a doubt, and even the
poll tax may suffer from the same
source, for reasons which are plain
In Article 1913 OF the Constitution of
1893. referring to the poll tax as a pre-
requisite Of citizenship, says:
And the Legislature elected III the
year 1908 shall have authority to repeal
or modify the same
In Article 200 OF the Constitution Of
1893, i'll which it is provided that mo
person shall vote at any primary election
or Ill any convention Or other political
assembly hell for the purpose OF nomi-
mating any candidate" etc. unless he is
al the time a registered voter, ii IS dis
tinctly stated:
And III all political conventions of
the State the apportionment OF represent
tatiorl shall be on the basis Of popula-
ton"
Article 2l5 Of the Constitution Of
1898 reads:
The Legislature shall enact laws to
secure fairness i'll primary elections, con-
ve,1tions, or other methods Of manning
party candidates.
AS usual, the Sandersites, having little
or no argument to bolster their waning
struggle, must resort to their ready and
handy plea OF evasion-"S Sanders is b9-
AiiS oiaiidSiSd diid M d o"SNpIiS stiio
oycrpowering effort the Times queries ::
who is slandering Sanders? Let the
Caucasian answer
And The Caucasian's answer is that
il is not sianderng, has never slandered,
nor is it necessary to SANDER Sanders,
when the facts and the records are abun-
The Times declares boastfully in an
swer to The Caucasian's allegation that
If the next Legislature is controlled by
a majority favorable to Sanders and
with Sanders as Governor. the primary
election law will be emasculated if not
repealed beyond doubt says: when
The Caucasian made that statement ii
should have had strong reasons for be-
heving that it would prove true. And
yet Mr.. Sanders says in his platform is
sued early in the campaign: The prl-
mary law was drawn up by the Demo
cratic party and received practically every
vote in the solidly Democratic General
Assembly. 1t is the best thought Of the
party and the last expression of Demo
cratic will Jared Sanders wrote that
in his platform, and all the vancouver
ings of the Wilkinson press can not put
him in false position on that question.
As Bourke Cochran, one of the great
politicians of New York, said, platforms
are good things to go in on but poor
things to stand on" Or words to that eff
feet Platforms as a rule read well but
few of the many planks enumerated are
ever carried practically into operation.
A candidate should not be measured
50 much by the vefbosity of his platform
as by his associates in politics, and it
will not be disputed nor denied success
fully that the seventeen Bosses of New
Orleans who have, fortunately for Will
kinson, united for Sanders represent the
class whose faces and actions have been
firmly and determinedly set against the
reform of abuses in the party and
against the reforms for which the people
have clamored and demanded.
For instance, assuming that the Bosses
have secured control of the Legislature
and Sanders as Governor, how would
they proceed?
The modification Of the poll tax would
receive their undivided attention 1t
would not be repealed; they would not
dare to repeal it, but they would make
it payable at convenience instead IF as
now, when the qualification to vote is de-
pendent on the payment of the poll tax
two years preceding an election, and the
settlement must be made no later than
the 3Ist day of December of each year.
With these notifications the Bosses
would experience little difficulty IN get
ting poll tax receipts for general use, IN
the manipulation of an election,
The Bosses could repeal the present
primary law, and by authority of Article