Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 January 1890 — Congressional District Convention. [ARTICLE]

Congressional District Convention.

The Republicans of the 10th congressional district will meet in delegate con vention at 2 o’clock p. m., on Thursday, January 23,1890, at Hohman’s Opera House, in the city of Hammond, Lake county, Ind., for the purpose of electing a member of the Republican State central Committee for the campaign of 1890. The counties in said district are entitled to representation in such convention as follows: Carroll Co. is entitled to 26 votes. Cass “ u 38 ” Fulton “ “ 21 “ Jasper “ “ 16 “ Lake “ “ 25 “ Newton “ a 13 “ Porter “ “ 24 “ Pulaski “ “ 12 “ White '• “ 19 “ E. D. Crumpacker, Chairman, Com.

Senator Gorman, the democratic boss of Maryland, has sat down hard on the Australian ballot system movement, in that state. He declares that it is a scheme to keep the democrats out of power, because, as he says, and he ought to know, that the great mass of voters too ignorant to read, and therefore to handle the Australian ballots, are Democrats. It is supposed that Gov. Hill, of New York, took the same view when he vetoed such a law in his state. The Gerrymander Democrats who made a star-chamber caucus measure of the new ballot law in this state, thought they were making ample provision tor their illiterate compatriots when they invented the plan to have each ticket designated by a-little picture, so that those who could not read might

see where to stamp their ballots, by aid of the picture. It was a pretty ingenious scheme, as was also the provisions in the law which require commercial travelel ers, nine-tenths of whom are Republicans, and Federal office-hold-ers to be registered or lose their votep. But we do not believe that the advantages gained by these two schemes will begin to compensate the Democrats of this state for what they will lose by the adoption of a measure so generally antagonistic to corrupt methods in politics as is the Australian voting system, and after one or two elections are held under it, they wil] be clamoring for its repeal.

The Republican is in favor of Chicago for the Worlds Fair, but we must admit that we are not favorably impressed with the manner in which the managers of the Chicago movement are purporting to establish the fact that a sufficently.large and reliable. guarau-

tee fund has been subscribed in Chicago, It was loudly proclaimed, many weeks ago, that the fund had long passed the 5 million dollar mark and was well on towards the completion of the second 5 millions. The opponents of Chicago were not slow in declaring

the greater part of this claim to be simply a piece of “Chicago bluff” and said that the fund subscribed was not nearly so large as claimed, and that even what had been subscribed was largely by irresponsible parties who would probably never pay any more than the two per cent requi red at the outset, and perhaps not even that much. In apparent answer to this cavil, the managers of the movement began about seven weeks ago, to publish in the Chicago daily papers, the subscriptions in detail, with names of subscribers and the amounts of their subscriptions. Now this list, so far as it has appeared, and a considerable installment appears each day, goes farther towards proving the truth of what the enemies of the city have• claimed, than the opposite. For J the first two or three weeks the [ publications made an excellent i

showing, the subscriptions were large, and by responsible parties, and the sum (total of the published list grewrnfomil lions very fast, but since that time the publications have been very discour agin g. Lon g lists of names are published every day, but their subscriptions are very small in amount, and for the most part, by irresponsible parties, employes of different establishments, from whom nothing could be collected by law and who will pay their subscriptions when the time com.es, or not, just as they please. Up to last Monday the total amount of subscriptions published,including the responsible and irresponsible, was, $3,634,780. For the last two weeks the daily additions to this published list have averaged less than $30,000 per day. At that rate it will be past the middle of February be- j fore the publication of the first $5,000,000 is completed, or until after Congress ought to have settled the location, one way or the other; while if the guarantee fund really reaches the eight millions or more that it is claimed to, Congress will have a chance to adjourn next summer and meet again in December, before the publication is completed. If Chicago has really got the fund subscribed it claims to have, and wants to convince the people of the fact in time to influence the action of Congress, the linked-sweethess-long-drawn-out method of publishing the list had better be dropped at once; the present method of making the publications will diminish the ardor of many friends and not disarm the criticism of a single foe. . •