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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1917)
!w1w,rS53'i5!Pj5!!Sff s 0 t 4, .V FEBRUARY; 1917 rRt- ' -kw , . ... ft Commoner ' if n -s ,, A Referendum on War h X. In the senate o the United States, April 29, 1916, Senrft'or Xa Follette, of Wisconsin, intro duced the following hill; which was read twice and referred to the committee on census: A bill to authorize the director of the bureau of the census under certain conditions to pre pare and distribute- blank ballots and to receive and count marked ballots and report to congress the result of an advisory vote. Be it enacted by the senate and' house of rep resentatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That whenever the Presi dent shall sever diplomatic relations with any foreign government, and thereafter, one per centum of .the qualified electors vJjL-jeaclr"' of twenty-five states, as determined by the votes cast at the last preceding general election at which members of congress were voted for in each of said states, shall file with the director of the bureau of the census duly verified peti tions as herein provided, it shall be the duty of said director to ascertain and report to congress, as provided in this act, the number of electors voting at an advisory election in each congres sional district in the several states of the Union in favor and the number of such electors voting in opposition to a declaration of war against such foreign government. Each of the afore said petitions shall have written or printed at the top of each sheet thereof substantially the following: "I, the undersigned, a qualified elector 'of the c ty of , county of , and state of , who resides at number , on street (or in the town of ), do hereby petition that the question of declaring in favor of, or in opposition to, war against the government of (with which government diplomatic re lations have been severed by the President) be submitted to a vote of the electors of the sever al states. ' " 4 .vt upon conviction, thoreof shall bo punished for oach offense by a flno of no't loss than $300 of by imprisonment for a torm of not less than ono yoar, as tho court shall dotormino. , number -, 19." "Name of signer "In cities: Street "Date of signing, Each sigiier of such petition shall sign but one such paper; he shall addhis residence, with the street and number, if any, and the date of fa'gning. The affidavit of a qualified elector shall be appended to each such petition paper btating that he is personally acquainted with all the persons who have signed the same and that he knows them to be qualified electors of the city or town of : , in, the state of.-; : ; that hecnows that they signed this petition with a full knowledge of the contents thereof and that their respective residences are as stated therein and that ea'cli signer signed the same upon the date set opposite hisname. Such affidavit may be attested before a notary public or other officer authorized by the laws of such state to administer oaths. Sec. 2. That immediately upon the sever ance of diplomatic relations as aforesaid and the filing of the required number of duly exe cuted petitions from the requisite number of states with the director of the bureau of census", as provided in this act, the said director shall (?use to be printed, and within ten days there after shall furnish at the office of each post master in the United States in the inverse or lr of their respective distances from Washing ton. District of Columbia, a sufficient number r f blank ballots to enable each qualified elector raiding within the limits of city delivery, rural d livery, and other postal service from such office (including its stations and branches from hich, mail deliveries are made), to vojte in fa vor of or against the' declaration of war. The said ballots shall.be of such size and shape and bear such local identification marks as the director of the bureau of census may de termine to be most suitahKs to enable the votes to be counted by congres&onal districts as rap- wiy as possible, andon each ballot shall be Printed the followinfform, namely: Shall the United States declare war against iue government of (here insert name of country), with which government the President nas severed diplomatic relations? 7es II No. j . 'Mark in one of the square, spaces with an X. I do hereby certiry that I am a legally qual ified voter, residing at numbor , 6u Btreet, in the city, village, or town of -, county of , state of , and that I have not heretofore voted at this advisory election. "(Signature of voter) "Dated this day of 19- M And oil" tho opposite sido of said card tho ad dress of the Bureau of Census, Washington, District of Columbia, with tho words "Official business Free." Sec. 3. That the postmaster or his deputy shall immediately on receipt of tho ballots cause to be posted in conspicuous places in tho post office and in each branch post office or sta tion under his jurisdiction notices announcing that the ballots are available for distribution dur ing a period of five days. Such notices shall bo prepared by the director of the bureau of tho census, and tho time for beginning of tho dis tribution of ballots shall be not more than ten days after the date upon which tho director of the census receives a sufficient number of peti tions to authorize an advisory vote as provided in this act. It shall bo the duty of tho director of the census immediately to furnish tho copy for the ballots and notices to tho public printer, to determine the number of each to bo printed, and the public printer shall print said ballots and notices with all possible dispatch. For a period of five days from the date speci fied in the notice the postmaster or his deputy shall distribute the ballots, either directly or through the regular carrier service, to persons entitled to vote on the question in accordance with the provisions of this act. Sec. 4. That every qualified elector in each state shall be entitled to obtain one of the bal lots at the post office where he receives mall if there is no free delivery, or from a letter car rier if there is city delivery, or from a rural mail carrier if such elector receives mail on a rural route from that office; and each such dec or shall 'be entitled to mark one, and only one, ballot and mail it to the Bureau of tho Census, WashingtonfDistrict of Columbia. No postage shall be necessary upon such card ballots. Sec. 5. That at least once each day during the time allowed for mailing ballots each post master, or the deputy postmaster, shall assemble all ballots deposited in his office for mailing to the director of the bureau of the census, shall arrange the same in convenient packages for handling, securely wrap and seal tho same for safe transit through the mails, and shall ad dress each package to the director of the bu reau of the census, and shall designato on tho outside of each package the name of the post office, the county and state in which it is located, and then to mail such package Sec. G. That upon receipt of said ballots the director of the bureau of the census shall use the staff and equipment of said bureau to ascertain separately tho number of affirmative and negative votes cast from each state and from each congressional district: Provided, That no ballots received at the bureau of tho census late'r than the fifteenth day from the be ginning of the distribution from post office shall be counted. The director of the bureau of the census shall report tho result of the count to congress not later than ten days after tho last day upon which ballots may bo received for counting, and, as soon as .may be thereafter, shall arrange by congressional districts and shall transmit to the clerk of the house of representatives that portion of the ballots upon which appears the certificate" of the voter. ' .Such certificates shall be filed by congres sional districts by such clerk, and shall be open to the inspection of senators and representa tives for their information. Sec 7 That any person who shall wilfully alter,' mutilate, or destroy, or who shall delay or prevent the transmission of delivery by mall, of-the ballot of, any voter cast in an advisory election under the provisions of this act and any nerson not a qualified elector who shall vote a? sJch ejection, and any qualified elector who shaU cast more than one vote at such election, sha be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and HEART TO HEART TALKS For several weeks, Tho Loader has boon pre senting ttB readers with Heart to Hoart selec tions from the public utterances of William Jennings Bryan, through tho past quartor of a contury. Solectlng Bpoclal utterances of tho great Commoner has boon like picking tho sheen from the sunshlno or tho sweetness from honoy, for every word that this grcatost leador of American thought has covered tho moral nnd ethical fields of politics and policy in broadest sonso of public good with a rcmarkablo fore sight that amounts to prophetic vision. It seems strange that a man could he ablo bo to foresee tho advances of humanity and tho growth of tho Ideals and at tho samo tlmo bo able .to expross theso lofty Ideals with equal fa cility of voice and pen. Thorp Is but tho one Bryan, and tho pages of the history of this mo montous ora of our national development will bo studded with his namo and Influcnco as the stars mark tho sky of a cloudless night, for hi ability has becu so widely recognized that lit has dominated the popular mind, ho has boon a leader of men by power of worth that could ""iiot but bo recognized and respected. We arc loath to drop this featuro, though re alizing that tho province of a local paper must cover many fields of ondeavor and of news. Shelbyville (111.) Leader. A READER'S SUGGESTION' Following Is a letter addressed to Mr. Bryan by Will M. Ramsay, Little Rock, Ark.: "I wish to again congratulate you on the great Victory achieved in the recent election, uelievjng as thpusanriu do that, you -did mvio thaii any other person or number of persons in delivering the west to Wilson. And, believ ing as I do that tho women held the balanco of power In this election, and that they will do so again In 1920, and believing also that- wo men will always bo guided by right (as a whole) if they know what is right, and that Tho Commoner, moro than any other publica tion, will guide them wisely rwf determining what Is right and what thoir faith In you re gardless of party will cause them to read and rely uponho Commoner In deciding public questions -'T want to suggest that you make a special rate on subscriptions to Tho Commoner for the next four years to women voters In doubtful statos especially, and I want to 'Bond you $10.00 the first of the year 1917 to pay for The Commoner, to be sent to as many vot ing women for the next four years as you can send it to for that amount, and I will leave It to you as to the selection of these women. I believe many other democrats will gladly Join, me in this move." . DRYS' WIN FIRST FIGHT IN SENATE' A Jefferson City, Mo dispatch, dated Jan. 25, says: In the path of Bryan's visit to the Missouri legislature yesterday came a "wet" and "dry" fight In the senate today. A lively tilt was caused by a resolution of Senator McKnlght, a "dry" leader, to have 7,500 copies of Bryan's speech on prohibition printed at the state's expense. An attempt of "wet" forces to refer tho reso lutions to the senate's printing committee was defeated by a vote of 20 to 11. The 11 "wets" were Senators Anderson, Brogan, Casey, Cook, Edler, Ford, Gardner, Kinney, Taylor, Warner and Wiget. Senator Greene of Kansas City voted with tho "dry." One-third of the printed copies will bo In German. This is the first victory the "drys" have won in the senate this session and reverses other votes which caused the belief the "wets" had weakened. J fv INDIANA GOES DRY Shelbyville, Ind., Feb. 4, 1917. The Com moner, Lincoln, Neb.: Hurrah for' Bryan! After his speech before our state legislature, Indiana went dry almost before he had time to reach home. I feel that I want to congratu late him on his marvelous success In this great cause of morality. Yours very truly, J. R, Kennerly. r r 51 io-.jKafe,