The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1920-10-14
ALT TAYLOR AND
THE FORCE BILL

MS record Wnlle serving as a member
of Congress of 1890. when the in
famous "Force Bill" was up for con
sideration before that body. They
should acquaint themselves with that
gentleman's opinion Of the South and
his votes and acts while a member Of
the Fifty-first Congress.
The federal election bill, commonly
known in the South as the ''Force
Bill, provided for the elimination
from the officials of the various
states all power to control the cleo
tions held in them 1t provided that
a chief supervisor Of elections should
be appointed for every district by the
judge of the United States circuit
court, and this supervisor should in
turn appoint three supervisors to con-
troll the elections in every preelncg OF
the various states That these super
yisors might be able to enforce their
demands, it was provided that they
should have a guard Of United States
deputy marshals, unlimited in NUM-
Der, to stand around the polling
places to see that everything was car
ried on to suit the whims Of these fed
eTal supervisors. These men also mad
the power to go into the homes of the
people prior to election days and in
vestigate their registration, and if |
foreigners, to ascertain whether
they had been properly naturalized,
etc When the polls were ready to
count, these supervisors were en-
powered to count the ballots and
certify the results to the chief super
visor, who in turn would certify the
results to the chief clerk Of the house
of representatives at Washington,
who must. under penalty of fine and
Imprisonment, receive the results an
nounced by such supervisors. and
must ignore any results certified to
BY any governor Of any state, which
did not harmonic with the certifica- |
tion Of these supervisors. It's pur-
pose was to intimidate the Southern !
voter, and enable the Republican
party by force Of arms to control the
election of Southern representatives
in congress-. 1t was to enable them
to steal the election Of congressman
lust as they stole the electoral vote
from Tilden and cave it Hayes in
that memorable contest.
Benton McMillin, then in congress
from Tennessee, said it was "the most
far-reaching and revolutionary propo-
sition ever presented. 1t is central
ization run mad" He also pointed
out that it would require the services
of about $4,000 men at cost to the
government at each election of not /
less than $12,000,00O.
Representative Coleman. Republi-
can, of Louisiana, opposed the bill as
being "a very expensive political
blunder. and sectional in its opera
tion."
Representative Ewart, Of North
Carolina. a Republican, said: ut is
as damnable, illogical, inequitable
and vicious a piece Of legislation as
was ever attempted to be placed upon
the statute books of this country. 1t
is a sectional measure designed al
most entirely for the South"
What Did Taylor Say?
Col. Taylor, then in Congress, said:
In the district / represent, although
In the South, fraud and intimidation
in elections are unknown. Gentlemen
on this side of the House have shown
$3.50 the frequency and enormity Of
these outrages; have shown to what
depths of degradation and dishonor
our boosted elective system has been
dragged; have demonstrated the alb
solute necessity for this law. and
their arguments stand unanswered to
this good hour. and their statements
are unassailed"
His Opinion of the Democratic Party.
but the Democratic party, true to
its history. ever ready to array itself
against all measures Of reform.
comes forward in solid phalanx to
oppose and attempt to defeat this bill
which is to punish ballot bax
thieves, bride givers and bribe-takers.'
Taylor Says II Was Not Strong
Enough.
1T is not the bill some Of us wanted.
Some Of US wanted an even stronger
law. but we yielded and accepted
this bill 1t may not accomplish the
purposes for which it is intended, but
it can and will be made stronger and
more effective in the future if it
fails now"
THE Duty of the Hour"
sMr. Speaker. what is the duty of
the hour? The duty of the hour is
for the representatives of the people
to invoke by law the strong arm Of
the federal power and let it be WELD
ed until every man, black or white, in
every city, town, township, parish and
precinct in every state. shall be
as free as the air that floats. and
protected in the exercise Of his fran
chise."
(See page 1920. Congressional
Record. Fifty-first SESSION.
While Northern misguided Repub-
iicans decried the conditions existing
IN the South at this time. it was
shown in the debate on this bill, and
which was not disputed. that in IA
Northern States in 1883, 1886, 1899
Republican voted, electing 126 mem
hers of Congress, while in these same
Id States 3,074,165 Democrats voted,
eiecting only Az congressman.
Northern members Of Congress
spent six days in the House denoune-
ing slandering and abusing the South
accusing her Of being guilty of muir
der. hangings, mob violence. intimi-
dalton of voters and every other crime
known to the catalogue, and yet Col.
Ale Tavlor could not find an oDpor-