Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-30
rsrre Ha,ve, where the mayor and cir

rerre HAVE, where the mayor and cir
cult Judge and other officials and many
others are VOW serving terms in prison
for Dishonesty in elections? Or worse
than the county in Ohio where LOW
white men c,vnfessed that they had re.
ceived from Sc to IS for their votes and
we're disfranc dised for their actions by
the court? The question of an honest
vote does not depend upon the COM
plexion, but to .some extent depends On
The form of the Voaiiot
Mr. Cooper said he believed the Mas
sachusetts form OF ballot is petter
than the ballot m arked by a rooster or
n star or other mere party emoiems
where boss can instruct MS men 10
vote for the eml1em.
.If may be allo' we'd a personal refer
ence," he continued, II introduced in the
a bill to change the ballot so that every
man would be allowed to vote in secret.
I can remember in Ivy own state, ana
have seen it, that stril ters fer candidates
would line up on the WHY to the polls. ana q
when a voter would pp1oach he would
say: What ticket are y'ou going to vote?'
and if he got response, he would walk
q few feet and demand. Let me see the
ticket you are going to vote. and further ,eI
down would be another man: Don't let
him vote, Bill. until he shows You his
ticket That is altogether wrong. but it
was done In my own state until my Dill
stopped II. "nen L lcII AIro Sctdlc tic
law was changed, however.
Says Voters Should Be Able to Read.
NO man ought to vote who cannot
read the ballot from end to end, and he
should be allowed to vote in secret
He added:
II wish to be understood, however. I
do not mean by these remarks that
am going to vote for change in the
form of government here. merely
want to express myself on the matter
of an honest ballot
Senator Salisbury asked Mr. Kelley:
.In order to qualify yourself as an
expert, have you ever lived in a voting
community where % per cent OF the
population is colored!
Mr.. Kelley added. however, that he
had lived in white communities where
the ignorant vote had been used by
politicians
Trusts Negroes of Washington.
Il do not think there would be any
danger from the colored vote in the
District of Columbia. provided there
was a literary qualification, together
with a residence qualification of per-
haps two years. and perhaps some vo-
cationaI qualification to indicate that
the voter was not here living by his
wits alone. I know the colored people
of Washington pretty Well, anu pc
lieve they can be trusted, ana oene'e
that Washington as a whole would re-
sent the imputation that the coiored
people could not be trusted.
ut is the dernagogues in high life who
fear the colored vote here, and they FEAR
it because they think it would be too
Democratic
Senator Works Dissents.
81 have had the opinion given me by
many persons in Washington that the
allot should not be given back to the
people of the District because Of the
colored vote said Senator Works. 1T
seems to me that a fear of the colored
vote does exist here, and, while 1 do not
think that fear is justified, l believe a
large proportion Of the population would
oppose the vote here for that reason
alone"
Mr. Kelley said it undoubtedly was
true that a large part of the population
would oppose the ballot, giving as the
reason fear of the cQlored vote; the
the real reason.
THE colored vote. 1 have tried to
show" he said. could not possibly
have been responsible for the condi-
from 1868 until 1874, for the city was
in the hands of the board of public
works when the debt was forced upon
the District. Senator Blackburn, when
he spoke in the House in favor of the
act of 1878, creating a new form of
government for the District, was
smarting because. under the old form
of government with the board Of pub
lie works in charge, the citizens of the
District-most of those who had prop
erty here were southern sympa tf1izers
during the civil war-had been taxed
heavily to make Washington a city to
which northern wealth might be at
tracted. 1t had been the object of those
in charge to drive out the southerners
by taxation and to make the city over
for northerpers of wealth.
Blames soard of Public Works.
II understand you to contend that
popular government in the District was
not responsible for the situation here
in the 70's, but that the responsibility
lay with the board of public works, not
the people interrupted Representative
Cooper.
Yes" replied Mr. Kelley. who went
had not had a popular form Of govern
ment from 1871 to 1878, because the
board of public works, which was in
no way responsible to the people, was
in control.
The negroes did not run the city at
that time" he said.
MIR. Kelley said that Congress made
the best retreat it could from a hu.