Eastern Shore Herald, February 9, 1906
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Natural resources -- Conservation - ResourcesSea -- Shellfish - Crabbing : Legislation
Many of the people of this section are interested in the Rew Crab bill, just passed the House. Crabs were very scarce here last year, and it was realized that some protection should be afforded on the subject.
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Natural resources -- Conservation - Game
The board of supervisors met here last Monday for the regular business. There were a number of visitors in town attending the meeting. A motion was made to get the board to stop the shipment of game out of the State. It was decided, however, to let the law stand unchanged for this season.
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Sea -- Market hunting
Chesapeake.
Mr. S. T. Nottingham, game warden, found two duck traps this week which he took possession of and brought home to submit to the Commonwealth's attorney.
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Fields -- Fertilizer
Franktown.
The farmers are hauling and storing their Irish potato guano. None are buying less while some are buying more than they did last year.
Northeast Storm.
Weather -- Northeast storms
Another northeaster struck this section Wednesday, with rain and snow yesterday. Tuesday was the coldest day of the present winter. The ground hog is making good his ability as a prognosticator. When he came out last Friday he had an excellent sample of nice winter weather, with bright sunshine. Since then, however, the real winter has set in and those who thought spring had come will evidently have to wait six weeks longer.
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Infrastructure -- Commercial - Insurance companies
It is always the earnest desire of the Herald to be at the front in advocacy of all enterprises that appear to be beneficial to the people of our community and section, we therefore feel great interest in the success of the proposed fire insurance company for the Eastern Shore. This is a scheme that will be of greatest benefit to our people. It will enable us to control our own fire insurance and will keep the money of the people here in our section to be spent for our own benefit. It is therefore very encouraging to learn from the solicitors that a goodly number of subscriptions have been taken. Let us by all means make the Keller meeting a splendid success.
Save The Injustice.
Infrastructure -- Public - Government : Town
A bill has been introduced in the State legislature by Mr. Wilkins to submit to the freehold voters of Eastville the matter of the repeal of the town charter of incorporation. The bill is offered by request. It is gratifying to know that it is only by request that Mr. Wilkins has offered this bill, for it would be a severe ordeal indeed for a man to take such a step voluntarily and then come back and have the face to ask the disfranchised, honest and tax-paying voters to give his record their endorsement. But the monstrosity of the proposition is something appalling, and in simple justice to every honest voter, whether he be bloated bond-holder and boasted owner of large acres or not, we must offer a solemn protest against such a bill, a bill that would deprive the qualified electorate of their rights as citizens of the State under the constitution.
In the first place a town is primarily a civic corporation comprised of all the legally qualified voters of the town. It requires such to incorporate it, it requires such to annul the incorporation, and the legislature has no constitutional right to disfranchise such or to set up any other standard of citizenship. The new constitution requires that every man must have paid his taxes in order to vote, so every voter is, as a matter of course, a faithful tax-payer. Now by what harsh provisions can the legislature curtail and prescribe the voters to any other class?
We trust that no such monstrous bill will be passed by that body as long as this is a republic in which we live and as long as the vote of the honest citizens is respected.
We believe this is just a scheme of these enemies of the town corporation to dodge the decision of an overwhelming majority of the registered voters as expressed on the petition sent up to Mr. Wilkins by those favoring the incorporation. This petition, containing as it did two-thirds of the qualified voters of the town, and four-fifths of the ladies resident, overwhelmed the opposition to such an extent that they must perforce resort to some other method than that of letting the poor but honest citizen have a vote on a matter of most vital interest to himself and the safety of his family. Shame on such a scheme as to advert to this dodge because they know the people are against them, and think there is a better showing with a restricted vote.
We do not see how they can face the just condemnation such an act deserves. If it were a matter in which the freeholder only is concerned it would be different, but this is a matter in which the smallest tax-payer has an interest as well as the most pretentious landlord who would forsooth rob the poorer voter of his rights as a citizen. We do not believe that a majority of the freeholders of this town would support such a manifestly unfair, unjust, undemocratic and monstrous proposition as this, but we feel constrained to voice, with no uncertainty of sound, our determined and devoted opposition to a bill to disfranchise three-fourths of the honest tax-payers of this town because forsooth they do not roll in wealth or gaze on boundless acres that they may claim as their own. We hope our delegate in the legislature will condemn such a bill unequivocally, as indeed we are pleased to say the people of this town have been assured.
The matter of whether or not the charter is upheld or repealed pales into insignificance before a proposition of this kind that would disfranchise the honest tax-payer and rob him of his rights as a citizen in this State under our constitution.