The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1912-06-13
ecutive body exc pt as a foul play to

Ii Is Sf.cdY llnlolted oy the consu-
tuition Of Missouri though it has been
made possible and has been foisted
upon the people for more than forty
years by the operation CT ar unfortunate
clause in the constitution-the clause
empowering three state officers to map
out senatorial districts at the beginning
Of decennial period when, for any
reason, the preceding legislature shall
have failed or refused to do so. The
senate of every assembly since 1881
has been democratic and has been pre-
vented by democratic politicians from
asserting to fair districting enactment.
Thus senatorial re-districting has been
done every tenth year by the governor,
attorney general and secretary Of state,
all Of whom, in re districting years,
have been democratic except the pres
ent governor. An attempt by dem
ocratic attorney general and secretary
of state in 1911 to establish a gerry.
mander Of senatorial districts was effect
lively prevented by Governor Hadley,
whose allegation that it was an unfair,
unreasonable and unconstitutional di.
vision Of the counties and cities into
senatorial districts has been recently
sustained by the circuit court Of the
city Of St. Louis, composed Of twelve
able jurists, and by the seven distin.
guished judges Of the supreme court,
three otwhom are devoted democrats.
AS the Legislature, at the beginning
Of each decennial period since 1881,
has been democratic in both branches,
the congressional districts Of the state
have also been gerymandered so as to
prevent the election Of republican con.
gressmen, except in one district, not
ably the tenth, which has always in.
cluded as much Of the republican
territory in and around St. Louis as
could possibly be crowded into one
district, thus making it possible to elect
democrats in the two other St. Louis
districts, the eleventh and twelfth. AL.
though republicans have occasionally
been elected in some OF the other dis
tricts in the state, a democratic major,
ity was estimated as sure in each of
them when they were created.
1t must not be supposed that the
dishonest and unfair gerrymandering
OF senatorial and congressional districts
by democratic leaders has been ap.
proved by honest democratic voters in
such districts or in the state at large.
Such voters have never been consulted.
They have simply been appealed to in
campaigns to vote for democratic nom
inees for the state senate and for CON
gress and have done so as a matter of
party policy or party expediency. The
result has been the control OF the state
senate by democratic majority elected
by a minority OF the total vote Of the
state, and practically solid democratic
delegation in congress from Missouri
except St. Louis, even when the state
as a whole has been republican.
So tenaciously have the democrats
held on to this system Of gerymander.
ing that Senators Stone and Reed and
Speaker Clark and his democratic col
leagues in congress tried desperately
10 get into the last apportionment act
passed by congress a clause providing
that congressional districts in each state
should be created by the legislature
thereof" so as to prevent the people
Of Missouri from creating such districts
by popular vote. Their scheme failed,
however, and the people Of Missouri
may, if they will, create new congress
sional districts by direct vote, under
authority Of the initiative and teierun-
dun law-and thus establish honest,
fair and constitutional districts without
regard to party advantage.
In every district the republicans Of
Missouri will have a candidate for con-
gress-and We hope at least half Of
them will be elected in November.