Evening star., 1943-12-26
Capital Sidelights
Bu Will P. Kennedu.

The great glonal war battle on the
congressional front over mixing bullets
and ballots and confusing military and
civilian control Of the Government, after
q britzkrieg of prejudice and suspicion
Of chicanery, resulted In defeat of the
soldier-vote proposal, but did not end
the war of words and wrangle over
States rights-or wrongs-or the scourge
Of sectional strife.
glanced even sideways at few pages
of history, they might have found prece-
dents Of citizen soldiers being allowed
to vote in wartime.
In the one great war on home grounds,
an all-American war, we find that the
the Conferedate States Of America rec
ognized soldier suffrage. with bivouac
and battlefield elections. The Con-
federate Congress, sitting at Montgom-
cry, legalized such elections, which were
. welcome diversion.
Even those who objected most to the
soldier vote bill could have found first
hand information in family records of
their own States. For example, Senator
Walter r. George Of Georgia, ranking
seventh from the top Of the seniority
list, might have told his colleagues that
his randdaddy-Jmes Francis Staple
ton-was elected judge Of the Inferior
Court of Webster County on the battle
field of Manassas. He was elected by
his comrades from Webster County who
constituted more than IS per cent of
the eligible voters. Judge Stapleton was
justly loved and respected by his fellow
citizens.
In that election the ballot box was
in tent on the battlefield, on the date
designated by law. The Webster County
battalion cast Its votes fof q complete
county ticket. When declared elected,
Stapleton was furloughed from the serv-
ice, returned home and took the oath
~ Judge.
This drafting Of q comrade in arms
for civilian service was but one of many
such incidents during the War between
the States. The Confederate soldiers
voted not only county tickets, but COM
booths, where the votes were canvassed,
counted and the returns accepted by
both the military and civilian authori-
ties. g Musty records show that Con-
federate Army voting was better and
bigger proportionately than today in
civil life In the South-or elsewhere.
This was due in part to the heavy army
draft upon citizens in the Confederacy
and to the fact that many men from the
same community were banded together
in a fighting unity.
Today the War Department runs the
war differently. Enlisted men and
draftees are scattered all over the world,
in countless commands and scores of
branches Of the service They get
around, visit far places, which broadens
the soldiers acquaintance and outlook
on life.
The congressional rumpus on the SOL
diers vote was turbulent largely from
apprehension that If President Roose-
velt is candidate for fourth term
the men and women in the armed serv-
ices might be induced to cast their votes
by units quite solidly for their Com
mander in Chief. Anyhow, the whole
sale distribution of Roosevelt buttons
was interpreted as indicating some
such move. OF course, he could fur
lough many Of them along about cleo
ton time, and in . selective manner
from pivotal States, and from training
areas or from positions Of relative quie-
tude on foreign fronts.
Some Congressmen had in mind, per-
haps, having read Of somewhat similar
procedure in Lincolns second election
when there was some doubt eventually
verified by the fact that although the
elector vote was 211 for Lincoln and 21
for his rival, Gen. George B. McClel-
Ian, received 1,so2,552 popular votes to
Lincoln's 2,213,665. Federal soldiers from
Pennsylvania and Ohio were furloughed
in large numbers to assure Lincoln,s
success in those important States. The
final count showed 116,887 soldiers votes
for Lincoln and 33,748 for Mcclellan.
With the rapid increase in transport
facilities, there Is still lurking fear in
Congress that great fleets OF transports
might bring home many Thousands Of
soldiers who might b inclined to vote
for The candidate who had the support
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