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FEBRUARY; 1917
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A Referendum on War
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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.
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