The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1869-06-24
THE XVIII AND XVTM AMEND.
WTENW&

That our readers Inlay ste anu AO%NN -
themselves and compare our comments
with the text, We publish the documents
entire in another column.
As these papers viii be constantly re-
ferred to in the approaching canvass, we
propose to make them of easy reference
bv keeping them a. standing matter.
II Will be seen by reference TO the hrst
section of the XIVth amendment, that
g all persons BORN or naturalized, in the
United States" &c, are declared to be
q citizens. It's not denied that by this
it was intended to make ''citizens" OF the
colored people, and by the subsequent
part of the same section it was meant TO
guarantee to the ''colored citizen" all the
civil and political rights which are secured
to the white citizen by the Constitution of
the Emitted States. We think it is plain.
The trainers of the Amendment seem
to have contemplated such a thing as
refusal on the part of some of the States
TO give the "colored citizen" his rights,
and hence the second section. Read it,
and see if you do not agree with Us, that
though we may deny the colored man the
right to vote if we (the white men, have
or can get the power, yet we must do IT
at the cost Of losing representation IN
Congress, to the extent of our entire col
ored male population over the age OF
.wenty-one years. How will this work in
Mississippi? The blacks exceed the
whites in number. The consequence,
then, Of excluding colored men from the
polls Will be to deprive our State Of more
than one-half our representation i'll Con-
gress. The rejection Of "negro votes"
would therefore be at a heavy cost. Can
we afford under that section of the amend
ed Constitution, to deprive the colored
nan the suffrage even if we had the pow
er? But have we the power? Every sen
sible man knows that we have not With
4 registered majority Of many thousand
Of colored voters as against the whites, and
many of the whites ready to take sides
with blacks in any contest for political
supremacy between the races, the man
must be crazy who does not see that we
have no power to take suffrage from the
negro even if we had the WILL
But have we the will if we had the
power? We answer for ourselves no, en-
phatically no.
We have no acH TO do any act that |
would deprive our State of more than
one-half its representation. We have |
no ',ciH to Ego back" ON all our pledges
to the colored voters last year We have
no lcU to make true the words of our en-
emies that we would use the negro for our
and then discard him. But we |
have ocW to act in perfect good faith
with the colored men and show them by |
our acts as well as by our words, that we
are worthy Of their confidence, trust and |
friendship
We have seen how the rejection Of
colored voters would affect us. Now let |
Us see how it would affect the States of |
the North. Ohio, for example, has first
rejected Negro Suffrage" as it is called.
We suppose colored men in Ohio may
number one in twenty. Ohio, then, by
excluding her colored men from the polls
will lose one Representative in Congress
out Of twenty, whereas, we by the same
act, would lose six out of eleven.
1t was seen that this was the practical
working of XIVth Amendment, which
had already been adopted and Incorporated
INTO the constitution. Some of the Northern
States, where there were very few "negro
voters, had excluded them from the polls.
They could afford to pay the penalty for
LONG SO; we could not. 1t was only Just
hat all should obey the constitution alike,
md hence the XVIII Amendment.
What is the XVIII Amendment, which
We are sorry to see some Of our cotempo-
aries oppose with so much vehemence?
We give them credit for entire honesty of
purpose, but either they or We are greatly
mistaken as to the design and real mean
NC of this Amendment The reader will
'blige US if at this point he will read it
'arefully.
Now supposing him 10 have done this.
We respectfully ask what Is It's design,
What does it mean? The right of the
.itizens Of the United States TO vote shall
lot be denied, etc, ION account of race
II color" We have that in our State
mder the operation of the XIVth Amend
nent already Incorporated into the Con
'titution. This right is secure. We do
lot want TO deny suffrage to black men.
We have no power to do it, and if we had
he power, it costs too much to exercise it
Not so in the States of the North. Ohio.
or example, as we have seen, has the
rW and the po'cer to exclude ''negro
'otes. 1t costs her very little-one
representative perhaps out of twenty. 1t
would cost us great deal-six Represen-
atives out of eleven.
The design of the Amendment is to
1--WE the negro equal rights in all the
states. The meaning is to compel Ohio,
Michigan, and other States of the North
o acquiesce in what Mississippi has al
eady accepted, to-wit: NEGRO Suffrage"
; 1t then any business of ours to quarrel
With 1t? We have already got it in the I
\INth Amendment. 1t is on us. We
ave no power to shake it off. and if we
ad the power, it would bankrupt us
to exercise it.
Shall We sacrifice ourselves, make enc ]
MES OF the negroes, and greatly endanger
'ur domestic peace, to say nothing of our
maternal prosperity hr an effnrt tn Loo,,