Show A SOTTTHEHST GOVERNORS MESSAGE MES-SAGE In his message to the legislature of Virginia Governor OFerrall touched on two or three very vital topics among them being lynching and the prostitution of the ballot The former he condemns in strong terms It appears that of sixtyfour men who have been lynched in Virginia I Vir-ginia during the past eighteen years only fifteen were charged with assault and only eleven with having attempted it These figures refute the common plea in mitigation of lynchings in the south that they only occur when an assault is made on women at least they refute It so far as Virginia is concerned and it may be said that I what is true of Virginia is probably true of her sister states of the south To prevent mob law he renews his recommendation that an act be passed requiring every city and county to pay into the treasury of the state for the benefit of the school fund the sum of 200 for each thousand of its popula tign not k exceeding 10000 for every lynching which may occur within its limits that the expense of the mili I tary if called out by the sheriff of anyl county or the mayor of any city to I protect a person threatened with violence i vio-lence shall be refunded to the state by the said county or city that any officer of the law having a prisoner in his custody who shall permit such I person to be taken from him without I exerting all means in his power to prevent pre-vent it shall be summarily suspended I from office by the court in which he qualified until a motion to remove him 1 I shall be heard and determined by a jury The recommendation is very I good but its not likely that it will be acted upon I I I I All that was good and proper but what Governor OFerrall had to say I about the ballot is a matter that interests in-terests every state in the Union because be-cause of the problems each has in this I particular regard What the Virginia j election law is we do not know but it 1 mUst be very defective if not posi j I tively bad from what the governor i i says about it He says it is an improvement I im-provement over the one it superseded but that it practically disfranchises Ii many at the same time giving opportunity j oppor-tunity for corruption and dishonesty I I He very truthfully says No state if she values her fair name I can afford to carry on her statute j books an elective system which has not the general endorsement of her most I reputable citizens No state can afford I af-ford to retain election methods which I in the opinion of many of her best I citizens lead to fraudulent practice I and untrue returns No state can afford I af-ford to allow doubts to be cast by her own people upon the purity of her ballot bal-lot boxes If she believes there is even semblance of reasonable ground for the charge that the system is being I converted into an engine to register i the will of certain election officials or 1 a political party the sooner she moves i the ground for the better for her morally mor-ally socially and commercially She j should plant herself on the impregnable impregna-ble rock of virtue and be free from suspicion i There is not an honest country loving citizen in the land but will give j adhesion to these views Any election j law hat is calculated to give one i party an advantage over another or I that can be perverted to register the will and wishes of election officials is j inherently bad and should be wiped off the statute book for it is a menace to free government |