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Vernon
County (Mo.) Registeries
The following are some
of the questions asked and reasons assigned by the registrars
for
disfranchising loyal citizens after they take the
oath:
First case -
Did you vote for Claib. Jackson for Governor in 1860?
I did.
Then you can't be registered.
Second case -
Did you wear crape on your door when Lincoln was
killed?
No.
You will have to be put on the
rejected list.
Third case -
How old were you when the war commenced?
Between
eleven and twelve years.
Did you not go into the rebel lines?
My father moved south and took me with him.
Have you always been
loyal?
Yes.
Did you ever sympathize with the
South?
I never did.
Well, you can't be
registered as qualified because of going south.
Fourth case -
Was not your father in the rebel army?
Yes, he
was.
And two brothers of yours?
Yes, they
were.
When the armies had a fight, did you not sympathize with the
rebels?
No, I did not.
Did you not hope that your
father and brothers might not be killed or captured in fight?
I did hope they might not be killed, or any harm befall them, but I
was always a Union
man.
That will do for you. You must put your name on
the rejected list.
Fifth case -
Are you a Union
man?
I ought to be, I served four years in the Union
Army.
Have you an honorable discharge?
I got one
when I was mustered out, but I don't know where it is now.
You can't
register unless you have an honorable discharge.
I
am willing to swear I had one at the end of the war when I was mustered
out.
That makes no difference. The law says that unless a man has an
honorable discharge from the army he is not a voter. That
is the law, and we will carry it out. Unless you have a
discharge you can't be registered as
qualified.
Sixth case
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Where were you born?
Virginia.
Did you live in
Virginia during the war?
No, I left Virginia in
1853, and moved to Iowa.
Did you live in Iowa during the late
war?
No, I moved to Pike County, in Illinois.
Were
there a great many rebels in Pike County?
None that
I know of. There were a good many people called Copperheads.
Did you
not shout for Jeff Davis?
No.
Did you not say that
Virginia had a right to secede?
I did think she had that
right according to the Constitution of the United States.
We will have
to reject you.
These and similar questions are the grounds on which
twenty of thirty Democrats were rejected in the township
of Moundville, and this is the way in which the registration has
been conducted throughout the whole county. This is what
made men indignant, and more than that, it was an
outrage. These law abiding (?) registrars swear that they will carry
it on, or over run the county with militia. - The Nevada
City
Times. |