Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1870-02-18
The Fifteenth Amendment.


of the Georgia Legislature, announced in
our issue of yesterday, was the finishing
stroke. For more than generation the
"nigger has been in the political fence.
A million men took the field in a war that
formed chapter in the struggle which
has now passed from the domain of cur
rent events to the pyramid of history.
Twenty eight States have now ratified this
Amendment :, W r
ARTICLE XIV.
SHcTIoN L. 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 ofrace
color, or previous condition OF seryitude.s
SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The people have thus decided, beyond
the possibility of revocation, to eliminate
the black man from politics by en-
grating him into the body polite. This
ago. A Committee of Conference agreed
upon it's exact terms on the goth of Feb
ruary, 1859. The Senate agreed to it by q
vote of 80 to IL, strictly party vote, I'M
less we count Fowler and Pool as Repub-
licans, and they had previously lost caste
in the party. The vote of the House stood
IA to Al. Not single Democrat voted
for it. Three Republicans, we are sorry
to say, went over to the enemy, Tough
ridge, Mallory and Hawkins The former
represents as radical a constituency as
there ia in the country-the Fourth
Iowa-and he Is himself in favor Of negro
suffrage. We do not recall the exact
ground of his objection, but presume that
it was some minor point.
The subject engrossed large share of
attention during the third session of the
Fortieth Congress. The very first step
was taken on the 30th of January. There
were great many forms proposed. The
main difficulty was to so phrase the article
as to enfranchise the negro, but not nee
essarily the Chinese, or the Indians. Mr..
Corbett wanted it expressly stated, "But
Cinnamon not born in the United States,
and Indians not taxed, shall not be deem
ed or made citizens" but the Senate voted
it down, prefcrring to get at the thing in
some more adroit way. The phraseology
at last adopted was conceded to meet the.
case exactly. 1t was suggested by Sena-
tor Stewart, of Nevada. -.-
Mr.. Sumner proposed an article with
five long sections. It's very length was an
insuperable objection. 1t set forth in ex-
plicit terms "that the right to vote, to be
0oted for, and to hold office shall not be de-
MED or abriged anywhere in the United
States under any pretence Of race or
color" The debate that ensued showed
that in the opinion of the Senate the right
to hold Office inhered in the right to vote,
and there was no need of specific enact
ment on the point In the House the
original amendment was specific on this
point. General Logan proposed to so
amend it as to strike out the words !" or
hold Office" but the House refused to do
so by vote of 90 to 10, Mr.. Judd voting
with his colleague The House finally
agreed to the present wording of the
amendment on the ground that it really
covers the whole ground.
We have now revived the essential fea-
lures of the proceedings of Congress upon
this eliminating issue because they leave
no room for misinterpretation. They
show the true and exact intent of the
article Chicago Journal, FEB. 4.
- 80 EE# - - &c
The keystone in the grand arch Of re-
construction is now firmly and symmetri-
cally in place-irrevocably in place, toe,
for the revolution in favor of the black
mans manhood and to the enlargement of
hisspolitical status, is not likely to prove
an exception to the old adage about revo-
buttons never going backward Hence
forth, the colored citizens of the United
States, in every nook and corner of the
Union, will stand upon the same suffrage
platform occupied by those ,whoare of the
Caucasian race. Itisurged, however, in
objection, that ingenuity, fathered by
prejudice and ex-rebel vindictiveness, will
be able practically to set aside the mean
ing and intent of the new amendment, by,
for example, requiring of electors a proper.
ty qualification, while so marking the
course of legislation as to bear. heavily
against the acquisition of real or personal
estate on the part of the prescribed race !;
or that intelligence or some other test may
be set up as a measure of qualification to
vote. We do not think much can be &C,
complished in such directions, to, abate
the right conferred by the suffrage amend
ment. ~ @ IA ~
The cure-all for all recalcitrant legisla-
ton in the States is to be found in the
authority conferred upon the National
Legislature in the second section. Any
State attempt to evade the manifest and
= necessary import and design of the
amendment could not we'll escape the
cognizanco of Congress Specifically the
power remains with that body to enforce
both the spirit and letter of the article,
subject only to the supervisory overlook
OF the United States Supreme Court.
win this saving clause, we do not ap-
prehend that any State will attempt any
very serious and conspicuous evasion of
the new Constitutional amendment. ii I.
1t is somewhat significant that this new
article is the second, in the whole, history
OF Constitutional amendments, which real
~ repeals any part of the articles of Union,
unless we except that abolishing slavery.
The first instance was when the ratifca-
= ton of the eleventh amended article
restricted the jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court CT the Nation. Now, the ratifca-
ton OF the Fifteenth Amendment repeats
the provision in the Fourteenth Amend
ment which permits States to disfranchise
citizens on account Of participation in the
rebellion, or, with penalty regarding the
apportionment of REPRESENTATIVES in Con-
gress, allows the exclusion of celored
citizens from the ballot. box -A s2A
Under the new amendment, all class
restrictions, so far as concern the right to
vote, are stricken out of all State consti-
tutions Property, intelligence, or other
legislative provision, restricting the
elective franchise, in the fundamental law
OF any State, or any statute enacted under
the authority Of any constitution of any
State, becomes null and void, unless it
applies equally to all, black and white,
Caucasian or African, formerly slave or.
always free.-Chicdgo Republican, Feb. 6.
A DISPATCH in our columns on Thurs.
day morning, from Atlanta, Ga, announc-.
ed that the Fifteenth Amendment had haan