The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-17
Plan Is Formed to Prevent EIeCtiOnOf United States
 Senators By People
DETERMINED ID DEFEAT
 AMENDMENT BY STRATEGY
some Senators Whose Hold Upon Their Seats Is Precarious VIII Try to Work Upon the Feelings of
 Southern Senators
BY wArrERsON sTEALEY

BY WATTERSON sTEALEY
 Washington. December 16-tspecial)-
 The outline of scheme by which a num-
 Der of republican senators from north
 ern states propose to place southern dem
 ocratic senators in a position whereby l they will be forced either to aid in the
 killing of the proposed amendment for the
 direct election of United States senators
 by the people or agree to an amendment
 that will practically nullify the steps | they have taken in the south to eliminate
 the negro from, politics, became known
 here tonight.
 l The plan has been discussed in formal
 conferences by several senators who are
 opposed to the direct vote for United
 States senators and who have matched out
 this method a cunning way of beating
 the amendment without going absolutely
 on record as against the selection by the
 people of their representatives in the | Senate.
 | The subcommittee of the judiciary cona- | rnittee, to which the Bristow resolution
 was referred today, reported to the full committee the Bristow resolution, so l changed to be identical with the one reported by Harry St. George Tucker in | the House on February 16 1892, and passed | by that body. The full committee next
 week will report this resolution to the Senate and the minute it gets the floor l there will be a hot fight. While 1t is like
 y that majority of the members Of the
 Senate are at heart opposed to the cleo
 ton of senators by the people, there are
 rot enough of these willing to vote open l iV against an, ta
 #, and the friends of the resolution are
 confident that on a square and open test
 vote it will carry overwhelmingly in the
 Senate Opponents of the measure like
 wise realize this and have accordingly de-
 tcrmined to beat the amendment by strat-
 egy without being compelled to vote di-
 | ecty against it.
 Scheme of Republicans | When the amendment comes out on the
 floor, the scheme Is for one of these sen
 ators to rise and offer an amendment to
 the amendment by which, to be elected.
 a senatorial candidate must obtain not a
 majority of the votes cast in the election
 TOT even a majority of the total voting
 population, but majority of the votes of
 the whole male population.
 l In every southern state south of tho | Mason and Dixon line except Maryland. the negro while a very large part of
 the whole population. Is not a part at all
 of the voting population. It was sug-
 gested today that in order to maintain
 an appearance of fairness this amend- ment might be modified so as to require
 a candidate to get 40 or 45 per cent of the
 votes of the whole male population ln-
 stead of a majority. This would diminish
 the impossbility of such a performance very slightly in the southern states, and | it can be seen in what position this plan would place southern senators who | favor the direct election of senators. Effect of Proposed Plan | In their states, where the negro does | not vote, 1t would mean that the success full candidate would have to receive the votes of practically all the wh te men in the state, and in some states even that
 votes of practically al lthe white men in order to secure representation In the Sen ate at all. should this scheme succeed. the southern states would not only have to re-enfranchise the negro, but would have to encourage him to cast his vote at the polls. Southern democrats who had heard of the plan say that they do no regard 1t as serious because it IS too preposterous. They assert that 1t is a perfectly transparent piece of strategy upon the part of republican senators 10 prevent the adoption of the direct elsc- ton amendment by making it impossible for southern senators to support it. They
 do not believe that when the time comes the scheme will materialize in the Senate. because of the indignation any such at-
 tempt seriously made would arouse upon the part of northern and western advo-
 cates of the proposition to elect senators direct. Notwithstanding this view. the scheme has been talked over seriously by a number of senators, and 1t is said to be the intention of those opposed to a change In the plan of electing senators to mass all their strength back of this | amendment for the purpose of compelling
 an abandonment of the effort to get
 through the resolution from the commit tee or of forcing test vote.
 Proposed Amendment Senators Rayner of Maryland Borah
 of Idaho and Dillingham; of Vermont composed the subcommittee that report ed the resolution today. It is fol- lows:
 'sThe Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, elected by the people thereof. for six years. and each senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for cleo tors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures. The times. places and manner of holding elections for sen- ators shall be prescribed in each state | by the legislatures thereof. When vacan- cies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate the executive author | ity of such state shall issue writs of elections to fill such vacancies; provided. that the legislatures of any state may | empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election. as the leg
 islatures may direct. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect tho | election or term of any senator chosen
 before it became valid aG part of the constitution"
 Rayner Urges Action
 Senator Rayner was specially active to- day in urging upon the committee the