The Shasta courier., 1869-08-21
THE FIFrEENTH AMENDMENT,

Il
The right of citizens Of the United State.
TO vote shah not be denied or abridged by
the United States or BY any State on account
OF race, color, or previous condition of servi-
tude.
Such is the proposed Fifteenth Amend
ment. which, according to the statement of
the New York Tribune, has received the
endorsement of twenty-four States, and which
isss certain to beeome part of the Consti-
tuition rs the Legislatures of Rhode Island.
Vermont. Iowa and Virginia assemble
t-twenty-eight States having the power to
settle the question. Beside the States nee.
essary to ratify the Amendment. Tennessee
has just elected a Legislature pledged to
adopt it, and Mississippi and Texas are pre-.
paring to adopt it as one of the conditions
necessary to their restoration to civil govern.
ment., Ohio will shortly elect a new Legi,.
laturean all the indications point to Re-
publican triumph, in which event she will
| also ratify. But at all events there can be
no question as to the certainty Of its adoption
none whatever.
The Object of the Amendment is to clearly
define, guarantee and establish, for all time,
the rights Of citizens fix in the Consti.
tuition the declaration that citizen of the
United States can gu into any State of the
Uninn, and know and feel that he is. still a
citizen, and that no local or national law can
disfranchise him, or abridge his right to the
hallnt IN account nf his raee coo, olex ion nr
previous condition of servitude. 1t is intend
ed to establish the Republican doctrine that
American Citizenship is boom and privilege
too sacred TO be trifed with or circumscsibed
by State enactments-to make citizen an
independent sovereign wherever he stands
beneath the shadows Of the National Flag.
II forbids the denial of the ballot to any
citizen on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude. In order to make
the Amendment perfectly plain, we illus
trate it as folEnws:
First. as to Race-It provides simply that
no citizen shall be deprived of the right to
vote because he is an Irishman, Scntchman,
German. native of America. or a Negro.
Second, as to Color-That no citizen shall
be disfranchised for no other reason than be
cause his complexion is yellow, white or
black.
Third, as to previous condition of servitude
That no citizen can be denied the ballot for
no other reason than that he has been held
in slavery.
Il only prohibits disfranchisement on three
accounts it applies only to actual citizens !;
it changes no naturalization law. and leaves
States free to establish any other test as to
the gu ,lificatinn of voters.
Suppose she Fifteenth Amendment was
ratified, the naturalization laws would pre-
vent the Chinese from becoming citizens
Suppose for the sake of argument-for it
never will be dnne-that Congress should
rike the word white out of the naturalization
laws, California would still have the power
to disfranchise Chinese on account of pagan
ism, nativity. property test. educational test
or any pther test except race, color, or pre-
vious condition of servitude.
| Hence it will be seen that all the Demo
crs'ic cry about indiscriminate suffrage is
! simply bosh the Amendment has nothing
to do with Indians or Chinese, who are not
citizens and will not become such.