The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-09-09
AS THE FOREIGN-BORN SEE 1T.

One of the effects of the proposed
suffrage amendment will be an unusual
ly heavy registration of the reign-
born element. This factor in the city's
voting population is thoroughly organ
lzed in order to make every vote tell
against the measure that would cause
threads upon the voters of this class
and debar others, for despite all the in
genuity they can bring to bear and the
denunciation in their platform of the
declaration that the amendment would
prove trammel on the foreign-born
voter, the fact remains patent that this
is the case. The immediate effect will
be the enrolment of every foreign-born
citizen on the registration list, thus in
suring an unusually heavy poll of ballots
OF this voting section. AS they will all
be adverse to the amendment. the effect
upon the chances of the Democrats in
this city is likely to prove disastrous;
certainly. their pet measure will be
torn to tatters.
incidentally, the projection of this
nauseous issue into the campaign will
prove beneficial, as it will incite the pa
tr1otic interest of the new citizens in
the politics of the city and state; the
propaganda against the amendment will
have distinct educational value and re-
cult in tho dice N tim crararall,, n E
beneficial information as to the political
institutions and methods of Maryland
that will tend to align the foreign-b born
voter steadfastly to the Republican
party.as the party that stands nation
ally and in the state for the factors of
progress.
1t will be useless for the Democrats
to deny .the evident effect of their
amendment, and their declaration that
they have no intention to make it work
hardship to the foreign-born voter will
not swerve any such from steadfast
opposition to it. These voters are not
under the. influence of race prejudice;
and, indeed, they resent anything of
this nature. Many of them have come
from countries where Bourbonism in its
logical outcome has created political
tyranny of the harshest kind, and they
have Ino sympathy for an endeavor to
crush the political rights of any body of
voters because of race considerations.
They have been attracted to this land
through the freedom OF American polIti-
cal institutions; they will certainly not
now seek to shackle any set of the
community. Yet, when the danger
comes to their own door and they see
that their newly acquired rights are
hazarded, they will throw all their
strength into the effort to defeat the
political. plotters.
The holding of mass-meetings and the
dissemination of literature will bring
the tactic the knowledge of the for
eign-born voters, and they will not need
muchsurging to strike blow at the de-
famatiOn of the sacred rights of the
franchise. No amount of chicanery or
dlpGcity twill hoodwink them. They
are alive, Thoroughly alive, and will be
heard;from with unanimity that will
be evenssmore remarkable than their
suppOrtIOf the movement to kill the Poe
amendment. Many Of them belong to
a race. that little more than three quar-
ters Ola century ago was deprived of
political rights in Maryland, the secur-
ing of which marked the casting down
of the last bar to the perfect freedom
of Maryland's political opportunities as
cOmpared!with those Of the advanced
states.
The foreign-born voters know that no
country has progressed in its political
northumberland to hamper the
voting privilege with race restrictions,
They understand full well that the chief
glory of.this country is It's freedom from
such curtailments, and they will not be
party to an;effort to place their adopted
stare in the unenviable position of fet-
terings".the franchise and robbing an
element of the voters of their rights.
They see that the process might very