Evening star., 1928-12-17
PRAISES MARINES
N|CARAGUAN WORK
U. S. Troops Declared Eff
cient in Bringing About
Successful Election.
BY WILL IRWIN.
Special Correspondence OF The Evening Star
and North American Newspaper Alliance.

Special Correspondence OF The Evening Star
and North American Newspaper Alliance.
AT SEA BETWEEN GUAYAQUIL
AND LIMA, December Awhile the
result of the election in Nicaragua last
November will be known before this let
ter reaches the United States. I am
convinced that the exact manner in
which the Marines supervised that elec-
tion will be of general interest to all
Americans, so 1 have written out the
details and dropped the letter in the
post Office on the battleShip Maryland.
I do not know enough about Central
American politics to express compe-
tent opinion regarding whether the
United States should have supervised
that Nicaraguan election or not. But
ever since we took on the Marylands
contingent of Marines at Corinto the
members of Mr.. Hoover's party, both
official and journalistic, have been
listening, faScinatedly, to leatherneck
yarns concerning, not their hunt for
Sandino-of that they remember only
miseries with mud, ticks, mosquitoes and
sandfleaS--but rather their more peace
able order to fill in their adventures IN
enforcing good government.
Election Plan Was Perfected.
When Gen. Mccoy moved on Mica
ragua from the deadlock OF Tacna-
AFRICA, he had plan for a supervision
of the general election in Nicaragua
all ripe and perfected. 1t was, indeed
only an expansion of the africa scheme.
Our election commissioners had for
the Job 1000 Marines and bluejackets.
The higher officers sat as kind OF
supreme commission at Managua, the
capital This commission acted as
court of last appeal.
Politically, Nicaragua is divided into
cantons, roughly equivalent IN funcClon
to our States and in size TO our coun-
ties. Each of these had a general ooaro
with executive functions. Finaliy-ano
here is where the privates and non,
CONS come in-the cantons are olvldeo
into meSas or election districts. over
each mesa presided board consisting
of one Marine or bluejacket and one
member of each of the rival parties.
The American representative acted as
president. Further, the Nicaraguans
furnished at registration and election
vigilantes or watchers of both parties.
Add two or three Americans as guards
in each mesa, and you have the fuil
machinery.
Reasons for Challenge.
Established, they proceeded to the
business of registration. In this, they
acted strickly according to Nicaraguan
law, Not even the first faint rays OF
woman suffrage have risen over Mica
raglla. But every married and hterate
male citizen over 18 years old has tine
franchise. There are few special ex-
ceptions: for example, any man VINO
has been convicted of crime or has a
criminal charge pending against him Is
disfranchised. ~
The marriage clause made little
trouble, though in some cases citizens
who feared challenge brought along
their families to prove their matrimonial
state.
The literacy clause somewhat puzzled
our authorities. 1t wasn't possible TO
examine half Of the men of Nicaragua. 1
With the consent of both parties, tney /
fell back again on Nicaraguan prece- |
dent. Any one who could sign his |
name to the registration books was con-
sidered literate. Sometimes the registrant |
made confused scrawl which bore no |
to the name. which he mao
given the judges. Such cases were |
usually appealed by vigilantes OF the |
rival parties. Then the presidente, sit |
ting in full court, would require the ap-
ulicant to write some other words. II |
he failed. out he went.
The next most frequent cause for chal-
lenge was the charge on part OF the
vigilantes that the registrant had been
convicted of crime in another canton
end had changed his name. Most OF
these challenges were passed up to Ma
nagua for thorough investigation. In
some cases the charge proved true; IN
some. a mere election ruSe. But the
ilrshct of it all was that Nicaragua
probably carne nearer to registering 100
per cent of its legitimate vote than any
other country in the history OF republics.
BY now the Marines were taking the
lob with a seriousness which one may
regard, according to his temperament.
with sympathetic amusement or with
sense of national pride. Many of the
presidentes themselves were scarcely
old enough to vote at home, but they
had been brought UP under democratic
forms, had heard politics talked from
the time they could understand words,
had been taught in school that electoral
corruption is the supreme sin against
the state.
Take Task Seriously.
II anything, the Marines sometimes
took their ask to seriously. One squad
of five Marines und themselves dump
ed into a remote town which was in
shocking sanitary condition. After a
few days they traced the trouble to the