The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-10-18
T.etter from Baltimore.

BALTIMORE, MD. OclODeI II, l"Ui.
The Republican candidates i'll their tOul
throughout the State are devoting most OF
their attention to what they call 'the iniqui
| ties of the election law" AS amended by the
special session of the General Assembly OF
| 1901. They have given up the attacks on the
| administration of State affairs, by the Demo
Gratis. and seem to be combining their argu
| ments largely TO the supposed injustice OF the
laws regulating the franchise.
In this connection it is well to recall that
the MARYLAND law is nothing like as drastic as
the statutes on the same subject now in force
in nearly all the Republican States in the
| North. This is notably the case with the sut
frape regulations in New England, especially
| in Massachusetts, where iliterate voters are
not allowed to vote at all. In that State. and
the same rule holds good in other Republican
States, a citizen applying TO the registrars tc
have his name placed upon the registration
| lists. must be able to read and write. he is
| required TO read a section of the State Con
stitution and write his name. He is also
obliged to pay poll tax and must show the
| poll tax receipt to the registrars. The ballot
| in use there is much more complicated than
| the one i'm use in this State, and as result nc
| illiterate man, however intelligent he may
| otherwise be, is able to vote. All these laws
| were passed by Republican legislatures and
| approved by Republican governors.
Mr.. Gather is now on the defensive. be
started out to attack the records of the State
| governments for the last forty years, reserving
| his praise for the one Republican administra'
| ton, that of the late Governor Lowndes,
| which occurred during that period. so strong
| was the counter attack made by the Baltimore
| Sun and other Democratic papers, that he has
| been driven to the defensive and now he has
e nd Il
| eudeayoring to explain to the people that he
| did not really mean what he had said. AS a
| matter of fact Mr.. Gather himself, as one OF
the leaders of the Republican party in the
Lowndes administration, knows as well as
anyone else lust what an unsavory record was
| made by the Republican legislatures OF 1896
and 1898. He was at Annapolis during that
time and no one there criticised the acton oil
| his party representatives more than he. Ana
| no one was more severe in his structures on
the Republican majority than the man who is
| now their candidate for Governor.
The Gather organs are holding Mr.. Gather
mn AS a model, and those who do not know
| him as we'll AS those who do are surprised that
such IAN eminent, able, even sanity man,
| should not have been forced to the front long
| before this His chief claim to notorlety, III
| addition to his cratic, socalisic record, is
| the fact that he has been all his life corpor
alton attorney. He is the general counsel Tor
| the Western Maryland Railroad Company
| and represents the Gould or Wabash interests
| not only in Maryland but in all this section.
| He is not mere local, county or city corpor'
alton attorney, but prominent attorney IN
general corporation employment. He engl-
neered the deal by which the Goulds bought
| the Western Maryland road, and it was largely
| through his influence and that OF his partner
| ex Senator Louis E. McComas. that the he
| pnblican members of the Baltimore city coun'
ell were brought around to .'see" the advant
| ages of selling this road to the GOulds. And,
| in connection with Mr.. McComas, ii may as
| we'll be said here. that Mr.. Gather was al
ANNAPOLIS during the senatorial contest in
1898 and vigorously used his influence to aid
in the election of that gentleman to the United
| States Senate. And if Mr.. Gather should be
elected Governor he would probably do what
he could to have Mr.. McComas elected again
should the General Assembly be Republican.
MIR. Gather has for years been McComas
Republican, and he and MIR. McComas were
law partners until the latter was elevated to
the bench. They are warm personal friends
at the present time and the election of Mr..
Gather to the Governorship would undoubt
eddy mean the return of Mr.. McComas to
great influence, if not to Office. Ii is well
known that Mr.. McComas would like to 60
back to the Senate. in order to even things
up with his enemies in his own party. The
election of his old friend and partner to the
Goyernorshiu would be a long stride that way