The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-01-04

showing. ip Hke 5sanaeF, ts.at from Ire time OF
ts1s- iIrst statate sAaaaeai in this Stgte (Jansa
70, 1904 } ID relation 10 sblark aad mula;io
peTsess ioun to the present time, the Su
pfe1ne CeHrt has uniformly maintained, and
steadily adheree to, the same judicial construc
tien Of the vzcfd t,chife' as contradistinsnished
from black and Mulatto.' or coiored persons
And this boiling of oar Courts regard a.
strictly IN accordance With the general rule
applicable to sneh statues. Statues which
are 10 restraint Of natural liberty, or which
-sderogate in any other manner from the gene,
raj law, and laws which have an apparent
hardship IN them, are TO be interpreted il
sueha manner as not to extend beyond what
is clearly expressed in the law to any conse
=qaeaees 10 which the law does not Heeessarii,
extend.
In the passage of the act of lFebruaryil0 o
1S49, the Legislature, as well as in the pre-
ceeding act of Marcn 2. 1913, evidently in
{ tended to express their approval and accept
ance of the long and uniform Judicial con
struction given in this State to the laws dis
eliminating between sblack and mulatto' per
sons on the one hand, and white persons upor
the other. Hence in the Introduction of tht
word 'coloreP in that act for brevity in tbs
place of the words black or mulatto' as usec
in former acts, it is specially provided by Sec
5 that the term color as used in the act shall
be regarded of the same siguifcation as tht
term black or mulatto' And the act o
1853 now,under consideration uses the words
'coiored children > in the same sense as used il
the Law Of Ie49 This is evident from the Ian
gusge of the act. sie as
It may also IN this connection be here re
marked. that the Constitutional Convention o
1856 well knowing the construction go giver
the word white in the old constitution, and
the legislation under it, accepted and approved
that construction by inserting the word white
citizen in tie new Constitution. (See Art.
/. Sec. l. a. ---s,ss fos. szs.sss. 3 saaa Ia
Nor can I perceive how the fact of the con
structionl thus given to the words icolored' anc
white failing to conform in all cases to the
line of cast actually existing constitutes AM
necessity for now changing such long estab
lshed construction.
An amendment Of the school law by pro
vision allowing any of either class, upon per
mission first obtained and on due notice given
to be taxed with and attend the schools of the
other class would ohviate such objection
The line of cast would thus become to soms
extent self-adjusting to meet the actual socia
! classification Of the youth as existing in fact
iB every district But it seems 10 me alike
unwise and wholly t'ut of character with the
progress. the general intelligence and liberali
ty of the age, at this iime-more than ter
years after the repeal of the black laws sc
called, and more than half century afrer 8
liberal and humane Interpretation of those
dsa bling statues has been inangurated, and
constantly ever since tEen maintained-tc
override all the decisions of the many able
and wise Judges who have preceded US, and
to give an extent and effect to those disabling
statues, which this court has always heretofore
time and again refused to do. For these rea
sons, | utterly dissent from the opinion ex
pressed by my brethren in this case. Z 81 taiil