Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1868-09-18
The Expulsion of the Coiored
Georgia LeJiSi0tOrS.

The declaration by a large majority $50
to 23) of the Georgia House of Representa-
tives Of the ineligibility Of the newly electd
colored members-twenty. Eve in number
followed by obliging them to relinquish
their seats, has caused considerable surprise,
there being vague impression prevalent
that under the reconstruction acts the
colored men in the reconstructed States are
eligible TO Office aud whether this were so
or not, the expediency of depriving them
of their seats, where they have been duly
elected, seeming so open to doubt as TO
render it improbable that any such action
would be taken. The ground on which the
legislative majority base their action, the
idea of which is said to have originated
with ex Governor Brown, the defeated radi-
cal candidate for Senator, is that neither
under the new constitution of Georgia nor
the fourteenth amendment to the Constitu-
tion of the United States is there any pro-
vision for office being held by the colored
man. 1t is true that the declaration Of fun
damental principles composing the first
article of the new constitution Of the State
of Georgia proyidesl (section p that "all
persons born or naturaliZed in the United
States, and resident in this State, are hereby
declared citizens of this State, and no law
shall be made or enforced which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citi-
gems Of the United States or of this State"
The first section of the fourteenth amend
ment lays down the same principle in the
same words:
"All persons born or naturaliZed in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdic-
tion thereof, are citi2ans Of the United
States and of the State wherein they reside.
No State shall make or enforce any lalo lchich
shall dbTidge any priUaeqeS or imRunitieS Of
citizens Of the United States" &c.
While It is admitted that the elective
franchise is one OF the privileges conferred
| by the State constitution, it is denied that
| either citizenship or the right to vote carries
with it the right to hold office, as is illustra-
ted in the iDeligibility of naturalized citi
| zens to hold the office of President, or OF
natives TO hold that office till thirty five,
| or Of either natives or naturalized citizens
TO hold a seat in the Senate of the United
| States till thirty, or in the House of Rep
resentatives till twenty five. Moreover, the
proceedings of the convention that formed
the State constitution are appealed 10 for
| the purpose of showing that it actually re.
| fused to affirm the title of coored citizens
TO seats, in proof Of which reference was
made to the eXpuuging, by vote Of l26 to
| IL, of a section which, as originally reported,
provided that sail qualified electors, aud
none others, shall be eligible to any Office
| in this State, unless disqualified by the con.
stituton of this State or by the Constitution
of the United States" The Macon (Gsj
| Telegraph contends that the rejecticn o.
| this clause, considered in connection witt
the re.enactment of the previous code D
Georgia, re-estabiished all the ola legisla
tion of the State not inconsistent with th
Constitution of the United States and #
| Georgia, and included the business, so fer
as negro oilice-holdipg in Georgia unde
that constitution was concerned"
The action by which the colOred mon.
| bers were deprived of their seats was no,
apparently, party one, more than half tie
| republican members voting with the M
| iority to declare the blacks incompetent o
vote on The question of their right TO seas
in the House. This exclusion, which trah-
ferred the majority from the Radical 10 tie
| Democratic side, could not have bem
effected without Republican oo-oI eratim,
| though II is shrewdly surmised that this vas
| a mere Radical trick To make a case 70 a
| September session of Congress, and Tat
the Georgia Democrats, with singular SIM
| plicty, have fallen into the trap. The po-
| cHeulnE IL Oub WlllNh Sau 10 INhhlll lF-
verted to the purposes Of party and sectbn-
alism, aud the worst use in that direction,
as we'll as TO excite fresh distrust amongst
the blacks against the whites, is likely to
be made Of it.. Some Of the leading Radical
| journals are solely exercised on the subject
| the New York Times protesting to relard
| Il a step in the direction Of the war of rtces
and the New York Tribune avalipg itself
| of the occasion to wslow in one Of its con-
genial puddes OF uuclean abuse, neither
OF them bearing in mind that In their own
State the colored men are not allowed to
vote without property qualification, Tor TO
hold Office, whether they have properly or
not, and that &c such thing is not T. con
aict with the fourteenth constitutional
amendment In New York IL can scarcely be
SO in Georgia. Still, II is insisted thar Con-
gress shall as semhle, and proceHd onoa more
10 reconstruct it's reconstruction, So far as
the State OF Georgia is concerned How
this is to be done without occupying more
time in the process than the meUbers of
Congress are able TO spare At this moment
from the presidential canvass, and running
the risk beside Of committing some fresh
legislative blunder which viii more than
counteract the one they seek 10 remedy. is
not easy TO surmse. 10 would seen at first
sight that Georgia, having been pu. back in
the Union, can no more be put out now by
Congress than any other State, but Radi.
cal sheet in Georgia suggests that Congress
may take tho view that II the colCred men,