Arizona republican., 1910-02-12

vate the electorate by changing the qualification of electors, to thus open
 the door. for fraud or unfair discrimi-
 nation on the part of the officers of
 an election, for 1 am sure that parti- san zeal in too many cases will prompt such officers to take advantage of the easy and comparatively safe sOppor- tunity which the law thus affords to perpetrate wrongs against the purity
 and integrity of the franchise.
 l confess I was somewhat surprised
 by the statement in your letter that
 the general tendency of this country
 is towards acquiring high standard
 of intelligence as a prerequisite to
 voting at elections" and that this
 has found expression in the statutes
 of many states I think 1 am very
 familiar with the subject matter em-
 braced in this statement and l am
 aware of no such tendency in SO far as
 legislation is concerned of recent ori-
 gin. Few of the states have adopted
 an educational qualification. The
 states having such statutes are Maine,
 Connecticut Louisiana, Massachusetts.
 Mississippi and North Carolina. None
 of these statutes are of recent origin:
 none of these are so drastic in charac-
 ter as our Arizona statute. As point
 ed out by Governor Kibbey in his veto
 message, the provision of the Maine
 constitution which governs the sub
 ject. adopted in 1893, was made to ap-
 ply only to the future, and specifically
 exempted all persons who at the time
 were voters, or who should be of the
 of CiX nf.
 ute of Louisiana exempted from it's operation all persons who might own
 three hundred dollars worth of prop
 erty assessed in their name or whose
 father or grandfather was or had been
 entitled to vote. The statutes of North Carolina and Mississippi exempted
 persons whose ancestors were entitled
 to vote prior to January 1, 1867. The
 ability to read orally the constitution
 of the United States in the English
 language as applied generally to all
 persons indiscriminately is the re-
 quirement of no other statute than
 that of Arizona so far as I am able to
 ascertain, unless it be that of Con
 necticut, the text of which I have not
 had the opportunity to examine. Re
 viewing the history of legislation on
 the subject both in this country and
 abroad. l should say that the tendency
 is to broaden the franchise rather than
 to limit 1t to any particular class. The
 exception to this so far as recent leg
 islation is concerned is found in the laws of certain southern states where the negro population is excessive, and where the effort is avowedly racial in its object and intended to insure the dominancy of the white race. As the Mexican vote in Arizona does not eX- ceed ten per cent of the whole and is relatively growing less, it is idle to suggest that Anglo Saxon supremacy is here in danger even remotely.
 I am a sincere believer in the ne cessity and expediency in democracy of as near an approach to manhood suffrage as may be practical The ed- ucative value of the franchise is enor- nous and on the whole this system has worked well and satisfactorily
 Considering the question as a whole. l so much can be said against the act ! of March 10, 1909, and so little in it's 1 favor when the question is viewed as it really is in the light of its history its purpose. effect and practical oper- ation. disassociated with assumed con- alterations of high citizenship and the | elevation of our electorate which, as | a matter of fact by reason of the de- i fects I have pointed out do not enter | into the question, that I have no hes itancy in repeating what I said in the | beginning that I favor its repeal and | believe that the senate committee is | right in disregarding it's provisions in | the statehood bill.
 With regard to the six months resi- l denees clause which you include in | your inquiry, I also state that I see no objection to the time limit in view {, of the fact that we are a new territory inviting immigration and basii.g our ! hopes for the future upon n. While l camps in the territory a floating pop | ulation yet the great bulk of our new | are homeseekers who expect 1 to become a part of our permanent | population These persons are vitally | in the matter of our consti- | tuition and the formation of our state | They may in six months l learn enough of our conditions to qualify them to vote intclligently upon any question which may arise in this | period concerning our ter to me that they in all likelihood will | be as well prepared after six months residence as they would be after a | years residence. My particular req l son however. for favorinr the' short