Omaha daily bee., 1917-02-15
Recall That Unfounded Charge, Mrs. Gait.

Nebraska is threatened with wholly unWar-
ranted and undeserved odium through the charge
that the suffrage amendment submitted in this
state in 1914 was counted out With this charge
given circulation by no less distinguished per-
sonage than Mrs. Carrie Chapman Gait, presi-
dent of the National Women's Suffrage associa-
ton, upon the alleged authority of Attorney Gen
eral Reed OF Nebraska, the damage done, in lead
ing people to believe our 1914 election was cor
rupted to defeat the will Of the people after it was
registered, might be ncalculable If not retracted
or disproved.
The fact is that the campaign for the suffrage
amendment was waged in Nebraska in 1914 by
an aggressive and alert group of men and women
who took full advantage of everything in their
favor, and, while naturally disappointed in the
outcome, no sufragist actively engaged in that
campaign ever challenged the result or disputed
the returns or impugned the honesty of the count
What then has led Mrs. Gait, now more than two
years afterward, to cast suspicion upon the In
tegrity of our election? She produces as testi-
mony a statement attributed to Attorney General
Reed, in which he is loosely quoted by Lincoln
newspaper as saying that gross errors in count
ing on amendments were noticed" in some col
lateral contests and that some members OF the
last legislature planned moving for recount on
amendments in which they we're interested, but
decided not to do so for fear the recount would
show that other amendments in which they were
not interested had carried.
Now, il Mrs Gait were convcrsant with our
Nebraska constitution and laws, we doubt if she
would have seized on this interview (though Mr..
Reed is made in it to refer specifically to the
suffrage amendment) as furnishing even the finn
siest excuse for the charge that the suffrage
amendment was counted out" For in 1914 four
constitutional amendments were submitted for
popular endorsement in Nebraska, three directly
by the legislature and one-nameiy, the suffrage
fundamentally initiative procedure. Mrs. Gait
should know that the votes on an initiated amend
ment must be counted as marked "for" or
against" mere majority being required equal
to IS per cent of the total. She should know also
that the three Observation-Disclosures amendments
went on the ballot under the labels of the respec-
tive political parties which had approved them
and were entitled to have counted as yes every
straight party ballot What Attorney General
Reed referred to was alleged failure of many
election boards to count "for" these three amend
Ill
had been placed in the party circle at the top;
but whether these circle ballots WERE or were not
counted correctly as required by law would make
no difference whatever in the count on the suf-
frage amendment
Any recount planned in the 1915 legislature
Mrs Gait should know, necessarily had reference
to legislature submitted amendments, which
might possibly have suffered by ignoring the
straight party tickets. There is no ntimation
anywhere, however, that the suffrage amendment
or any Of the three referendum measures voted
on at the same time, lost single tally by nten-
tional miscount or that recount, barring acci-
dental Mistakes which usually offset, would give
any different footings on the returns.
This further consideration is also to be taken
into account that the Legislature has absolutely
nothing to do with either the count, the canvass
or recount for an initiated measure. Votes upor
these proposals are canvassed by the regular can
vassing board and take effect upon proclamation
by the governor within ten days OF the completion
of the Official canvass, which is at least month
before the new legislature comes into being. With
| Legislature submitted amendments on the Other
hand, the practice has been for the legislature tc
canvass the vote and to announce it. and in tn,
| performance Of this duty to exercise an implied
| power to order recount The suffrage amend
ment therefore, was at no time within the leg
isatve jurisdiction, every step in the procedur,
being expressly provided for in the initiative ant
referendum section of the constitution withou
the aid or consent of any legislature on earth
We realize that ours is complicated and du
plicated mechanism OF constitutions hanging bu
its intrinsic construction completely refutes tn,
'counted-out' charge to which Mrs. Gait has Sc
thoughtlessly gwen currency. In fairness to tn
good name Of Nebraska she ought to recall thi
charge at once and omit no effort to set us right