Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-10-06
REGISTERING FOR
TIE BOND ELECTION
Citizens Setting Ready for
Battle of Nov. 5.
Decision Under Which
1t Was Necessary to
Reopen Registration
Book for Thirty Days

The registration book for the bond
election to be held on November 8
is now open every day from a. H.
to p. m. at the office of the CRY
clerk. All citizens otherwise qualified
who have not yet registered can Go
SO at any time until the book closes
on November 8.
In order to qualify to register one
must have been resident of the
state for one year of Americus fo1
six months and pay all taxes due the
city for 1909, and other previo IS
years as we'll.
The registration has not started OF
as yet with any snap. Yesterday the
clerk had AN easy time of it. Up 10
) p. m. there had been only IL
names added to the list of those quail
flied to express by their ballot whether
or not they are in favor of issuing
bonds for sewerage, water works I'M
lprovements amid municipal lighting
plant
Those who registered yesterday were
not in the taX-OWing class. They
brought little money into the city
treasury because of their desire to be
IN a position to vote. But there arc
many who must pay taxes in order to
qualify and it is not unlikely that the
treasury will be enriched to a consid-
cradle amount before the book h.,
closed
1t is regarded as not unlikely that
the interest in the proposed bond is
sues will become SO intense before
the thirty days have expired that the
registration will run well up toward
200, and may, perhaps, pass that
number. There is every evidence that
there will be quite an animated dis
cussion of the several proposed bond
isseus in the interval between now
and election day.
The original contention that the
election must be confined to those al
ready registered, some 230 in all, was
dissipated by the legal Investigations
of City Attorney Lane, bringing to
light the decision in the noted AL
bany case
In 1880 Albany put before it's citi-
zens the question of issuing bonds for
a water works system. The registra-
ton had closed ON the first Monday In
November. Several weeks after that,
on December ), the council ordered a
bond election, to be held on January
6, and declined to reopen the boots
for registration, although citizens ha u
not been made aware of the fact that
the bond issue was to be put before
them. After the election citizens con-
tested the legality of the election On
the ground that the question had not
been submitted to all the qualified vot,
ers, but snap judgment taken. TIE
Supreme court sustained this amid de-
clared the election illegal and void.
The Supreme court held that the
mayor and aldermen should either
have ordered Ia new registration and
given all qualified voters a reasonable
opportunity to qualify themselves as
or should have allowed all
the qualified voters to vote without
registration.
The decision left no doubt in the
minds of the Americus council that the
only legal and safe way to proceed was
to throw open the registration bo 1k
for thirty days and give all citizens an
opportunity to qualify and register
for the special bond election. This
was done and the opportunity is now
before every citizen to put himself IN
a position to vote on November 8. If
he doesn't qualify the fault is entirely
with himself