The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-05-06
SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT AMAZED
FiCiouS-SsyS Ex.AtiOrney General
George r. Gather.


Hon. George R. Gather, former At
tOrney General, in an interview in the
Baltimore News of Wednesday, gives
strong reasons why he opposes the new
Suffrage Amendment. He says:
81 am opposed to this proposed con-
stitutiOnal amendment limiting the suf-
frage for many reasons, but especially
on account of the unreasonableness of
the proposed limitations upon the suf-
frage, the creation forever of a favored
class of voters and the disfranchisement
of many thousands of the descendants
of foreign-bOrn parents, who now con-
stitute some of our best citizens.
''The trainers of this proposed amend
ment have required every person who
is not exempted by inheritance from
the requirement IN his own handwriting
with pen and ink, and without any aid,
suggestion or memorandum whatsoever,
and withOut any question or direction
addressed to him by any of the officers
of registration, to make application to
register, correctly stating in such ap-
pllcation his name, age, date and place
of birth, residence and occupation at
the time and for the next two years
preceding, the name or names of his
employer or employers, if any, at the
time and for the two years next pre-
ceding, and whether he has previously
voted, and if so, the State, county or
city and district or precinct in which he
voted last, and also the name in full of
the President of the United States, of
the Governor of Maryland, of one of
the Judges Of the Court of Appeals of
Maryland, and of the Mayor of Balti~
more City, if the applicant resides in
Baltimore City, or of one of the County
Commissioners of the county in which
the applicant resides.
The form of this proposed amend
ment was adopted by its trainers from
the Louisiana Constitution, which is the
most extreme of any of the Southern
States, and yet in Maryland they left
out the most essential feature of the
fairness in the Louisiana plan namely,
that the form of the application shall be
submitted to the voter, and that the ar
plicat shall simply fill up the blank
spaces for names; dates and numbers in
the form. The form of the application
as set forth in the Louisiana Constitu-
ton is as follows:
am citizen of the State of Louisi-
ana. My name is. | was born in
the State Tor county, of 49,. Parish Tor
county, Of, on the day of 80. in
the year. | am now years, ....
months and 49,. days Of age. have
resided in this Seate since ..... in the
Parish since 49,. and in Precinct No
go. of Ward No. .... of this Parish,
since .... and am not disfranchised bv
any provisions of the Constitution of
this State.
What can be said of the fairness of
our Maryland law in comparison with
the Louisiana stipulation? And vet the
negro population of that state is almost
equal to the white, although in Mary
lane they do not constitute over one
sixth of the population. Instead of a
form which might direct the intelligent
voter to determine what his answers
should be, this Maryland amendment re-
quires the applicant for registration to
act without any question or direction
addressed to him by any of the officers
of registration. Such a provision, if
fairly applied to all the voters of this
State, both white and black, would, |
am confident, disfranchse nlne- tenths of
the voters of this State. 1t may safely
be assumed, therefore, that under its
provisions all foreign-bor citizens in
the future will be unable to acquire the
franchise.
But this amendment will not only
limit the enlargement of the electorate
an this State by the addition of new
citizens, but it will strike down the
right to vote of many thousands of our
citizens who are descended from foreign
parents. The immigrants who came to
this country in such large numbers from
ireland and Germany from 1850 to 1869
have developed sturdy stock of Ameri-
can descendants who are thoroughly i'm
bued with the institutions of our lana
and are among our most patriotic Cit
zens. The descendants of these men,
although they have been born in this
country and are just as much citizens of
the United States as | am, would be
forever disfranchised under this law;
unless their parents were naturalized
either before 1869 or after that time.
1t is well known that many thousands
OF our foreignborn population in all
parts of the United States have either
refused to be naturalized on account of
a lingering affection for the old country
or have died without becoming citizens.
The descendants of any foreign born
parents who failed to be naturalized be-
fore his death, even though those de-
scendants were born in America, would
k.aL TO-. i