Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1870-02-03
DO the People Rule I

sway, the fact il otherwise, The
success OF radicalism has deRended,
from the first, nP0h the adoption OF
plans and schemes by which the
people could be prevented ffom rnl'
ing Amendments have been made
10 the constitution Of the United
States, in tho adoption Of which ihe
people had no voice, These amend
monts have been forced upon them
in spite of their solemn protests,
their opposition aud their open, un'
disguised hostility. Another ameTid'
ment TO the constitution il now pens
t!ing-nOt the action of tho people,
but the action OF those who are re-
sarded by the leading radical poll
tieians, as the masters oi the peo'
plc. Tho notorious 10TH amend
lhcnt still hangs firo. II has not
vet been ratified by the lcgisialures
of three, ,fourths Of the States. II IL
possible that 1t may never be. II is
TO DO hoped that IL will not. No
doubt n radical congress will de-
declare this 18th amendment duly
ratified aud adopted, although =
majority OF the States should rcpn' ,
diaie il. Tho people Of Illinois are
now appealed TO TO ra,ify this 18th
amendment, by striking the word
white out of the State constitution.
The constitutional convention Is
now in session, and will be appealed
! to TO accomplish that object. The
appeal is and will be no more nor
less than n partisan trick, Its de-
signed to defeat the now constitu'
ton, and will accomplish that pur-
pose, If adopted. The Springfield
Journal has been ut work nj this
game for some months past. In IFS
last issue, to further its aim, il copies
from the Chicago Legal News tho
following article:
illinois has spoken in n consli-
tutional manner upon the 10Th
amendment to the constitution Of
the United States, and her voice
stands recorded against c0mtining
the right Of suffrage to white per-
sons. Shall the constitutions! con.
vcntion say, by inserting in tho
body of the constitution the provi-
sion that suffrage shall be confined
to white males, unless majority OF
the people shall vote in favor Of
separate article extending the right
of suffrage to negroes, that Illinois
made a mistake in voting for the
adoption of the 18th amendment
and that she wishes to repudiate u
provision in her own constitution,
which sho has done all in her pow
or to have inserted in the constitu-
tion of the nation.
Should the 10th amendment be
adopted as we believe it will, and
the people should vote against ne
gro Suffrage, as they may and pro
badly will, the word uh'te' written
in our constitution would remain
monument of tho inconsistency Of
our State upon tho negro suffrage
question, and be as powcrless to
disfranchise the negro rs the laws
Of the former slave States arc now
to hold him as n chattcl. We be-
licye il Is wrong by our action to
say to tho South you must adopt
negro suffrage or we will not rccog-
niGe you as belonging to our family
of States, and then say the negro is
not good enough to vote in the
north. Let us be consistent
There is but one point in this cx-
tract to which We care at present to
call public attention. The first sem
tence in the extract says that "lIli-
nois has spoken upon the 18th
amendment &c. That is, the leg
slature has spoken-has ratified
that amendment. But the pc9p!e
of Illinois have not yet been heard
upon that subject. What says this
paper? Why it says that if the peo-
pie are permitted to vote upon the
qnestion-if they are allowed to say
whether negroes may vote or not
in this State, "they may, and proba-
bly, wM, vote against negro suf,
frage." In other words, if negro
suffrage shall be forced upon the
people of Illinois, it will be against
their consent-if they are allowed
to have anything to say about it,
they will say it shall not be done.
That is the article, that is what it
says. And yet, the article insists
that negro provision shall be put
into the new constitulion--while it
also insists that if it is put in, the
new constitution will be voted
down. What follows? Why, sim
ply that these radical journals want
to uso the negro TO prevent the peo-
pie of Illinois from having new
constitution. That is all there is of
| it. But the convention will ar
range matters so that the people
can have a new constitution and
still vote down negro suffrage.