Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-11-01
THE DRAFTEES
CAN NOT VOTE
Army Authorities Refuse To Grant
Furloughs To The Men
LITTLE SIGNS OF LIFE
Republicans Hopeful, Kellyities Have
Visions And Everybody's
Listless.


Chairman Galen l.. TAFT, of the Re
publican State Central Committee,
yesterday made public message from
Gen. Joseph z. Kuhn, commander at
Camp Meade, which would seem to put
an end to the prospect of the Maryland
soldiers at the camp being permitted
to return to their homes to vote on
election day.
The message confirms the statement
made to Governor Harrington by Gen
eral Kuhn's chief of staff several days
ago. II is as follows:
"The question of permitting mem
bers of the cantonment TO leave camp
for the purpose of registering and
voting has several times been raised
and it is deemed inexpedient from
military point OF view to authorize
such a course, as it viii inevitably lead
to disorganization of the activities OF
the command and delay and interfere
with its proper training By placing
all such requests on an equal footing
it would appear that all political par
ties are equally affected without infiu-
ence upon the general results"
Clinehes Stand BY Kuhn.
Mr. TAFT also made public letter
from Adj.-Gen H. #. Mccain, War De-
partment, upon the same subject. 1t,
coupled with General Kuhn's letter,
amounts to the assertion that Mary
/ land soldiers were barred from par
ticipation in this falls election by the
refusal of the Legislature, at the
special session in June, to pass the
Soldiers and Sailors Vote bill, for it
quotes an order Of the War Depart
ment directing division commanders to
render such assistance as they find
practical and proper in the registra-
ton and voting in all cases where
such voting at the camps or canton
ments is authorized by the respective
State laws.
General Mccain add that passes
and furloughs for the purpose of per-
mitting soldiers to vote have not be an
authorized" Then in another letter
he states that with reference to hav-
ing Maryland soldiers stationed at
Camp sAIea@e-retnFn to their homes to
vote, is a matter under the jurisdic-
tion of the commanding officer of that
camp, and il is suggested that he
matter be taken up with him."
General Kuhn, therefore, seems to
be the court of last resort, and the
letter from him referred to above
seems to be final Mr. TAFT took the
matter up with General Kuhn and The
War Department following an errons-
cur announcement that all soldiers,
except those called into service within
the 10 days preceding the election,
would be permitted to return to their
homes to vote. Mr. TAFT objected on
the ground that such an order would
disfranchise great many negroes
who will not have been in the camp
10 days on the day the election will
take place.
Little Activity Noticed.
Signs of political activity are not
much more marked today than week
ago, when interest in the Liberty Loan
campaign eclipsed everything else
The Kelly Democrats are having a
number OF meetings So are the Re-
II
publicans, but these meetings, for the
most part, are small affairs. The Ma
| hon organization is doing very little
| in the meeting line in Baltimore.
The Kelly people are claiming that
they will elect their candidates in the
! Fourth district and profess to believe
that conditions generally throughout
Baltimore are in fairly satisfactory
shape. The Mahonites. on the other
hand declare they do not know what
is going to happen, and one of Mahon's
lieutenants expressed the opinion that
Baltimore will see more ticket-cutting
| this fall than it has seen for years.
The Republicans, likewise, refuse to
indulge in predictions, though they are
full of hope. They think they have an
| excellent chance to elect majority OF
their legislative ticket in the Second
and Third districts and expect to car
ry the Fourth district solidly. No one
| in their party seems TO be willing tc
venture guess about the First dis
trict.