Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-07-15
THE FIFTEENTH AMEN0wESr

teenth amendment to the constitu-
ton of the United States, has not
heretofore attracted the attention
its Importance perhaps deserves.
The article is in these words:
Section 1. The right of citizens of the
United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or BY
any State on account Of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.
Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation. ....
Surprising that this amendment
shall be ratified by the necessary
number of States, what are its mean
ing and operations? This can be
determined, says the New York
Journal of Commerce, only by COM
pairing it with the political system
which it proposes to amend, and by
ascertaining its force when brought,
so to speak, into contact with that
system. When the constitution of
the United States was made it was
found to be impracticable to have
any class of voters, more or less
numerous, deriving their elective
franchise from federal authority.
Hence all the arrangements for the
election of Federal officers by the
people were necessarily based upon
the rule that the persons entitled by
q law of the States to vote for mem
bers of the popular branch of the
State Legislature should be the per-
sons who would have the right to
vote for representatives to Congress
and for the presidential electors.
No other rule was practicable,
for the reason that an elective fran
chise regulated by federal authority
would introduce into the States
privileged political class, who would
have national political power,
although in the government of their
own State they might have no
power at all. Hence, although there
is such thing as citizenship of the
United States, derived from birth
or from the naturalization laws, that
citizenship comprehends no right of
voting in the election of either State
or federal officers. The right of
voting is a qualification bestowed
by the law of the State in which the
citizen Of the United States has his
residence; and whether that law
gives it to many or to few, there
are and can be in this country no
other voters for any purpose, State
or national. Such is the basis of
the political system of the United
States. 1t seems to be capable of
alteration, if at all, in one way
only: that is, by reversing it, anc
by bestowing on Congress the
power to make voters; that is to
say, to introduce a privileged clas
who shall have a right of voting no
derived from the States in which
they dwell 1t is an interesting ant
curious inquiry whether this fiji
teenth amendment means to chang,
in this way the fundamental plan o
our political system. In view o
this iniquity, we say that the Ian
guage of the amendment is peculia
and extraordinary. 1t speaks O
"the right Of citizens Of the Unite
States to cote." There is no sue
right belonging to citizens of tn
United States, as such.
There is right to vote belong
ing to such persons as the State
have seVerally comprehended witt
in the elective franchise, but it do,
not belong to them because they a
citizens of the United States, b.
because each State has decided tn
certain persons shall have it. W
men are citizens of the Unit,
States, but they are not thereto
voters; and no right of voting C,
be spoken of as belonging to IN
in his capacity as a citizen of t
United States any more than it C
as belonging to a woman in t
same capacity as a citizen of
United States. The States may
may not require that their vot'
shall he citizens Of the United Stat,
but if this is required, the citizt
ship of the United States is gu;
fication imposed by the State, |
any other qualification of age, or
certain residence, or payment Of
tax; and if it is not required,
that can be said is that there is
qualification the less. The Uni
States citizenship is in no sense
source or foundation Of the ri
of voting.
But we have looked to see whC
or the amendment, when it spe
of "the right of citizens of
limited States to VOTE" does
mean persons who, being citizen
the United States, have already
the right of voting conferred u
them by State, the only autho
that can create that right. We
however, constrained to doubt al
this because it seems to be one {
purpose of the amendment
abridge the power OF the 81
over the subject of qualiticati'
and in order to reach this obs
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