The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1876-08-24

| Scott Lord, of New York, leading
lawyer and one of the most conservative
| Democratic members of the House, offered
the following preamble and resolution on
| Thursday:
Whereas, The right suffrage prescribed
| by the Constitution of the several States is
subject to the fifteenth amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, which is
as follows:
SECTION 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 of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude.
SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power
to enforce this article by appropriate legisla-
ton.
And ,ohereas, The exercise of the right
| of suffrage, so prescribed and regulated,
should be faithfully maintained and OBJ
served by the United States and the
several States and the citizens thereof,
and
Whereas. It is asserted that the exercise
of the right of suffrage is in some of the
States, notwithstanding the efforts of all
good citizens to the contrary, resisted and
controlled by fraud, intimidation and
violence, and in such cases the object of
the amendment is defeated and
Whereas, All citizens, without distinc-
ton of race, or class, or color, are entitled
to the protection conferred by said article !;
therefore, be it
Resolved, by the House of Representa-
tives, That all attempts by force, fraud,
terror, intimidation, or otherwise to pre-
vent the free exercise of the right Of
suffrage in any State, should meet with
certain, condign, and effectual punishment,
and that in any case which has heretofore
occurred, or that may hereafter occur, In
which violence and murder have been or
shall be committed by one race or class on
another, the prompt punishment or execu-
ton in any court having jurisdiction of
criminal or criminals, is imperatively
demanded, whether the crime be one
punishable by fine and Imprisonment, or
one demanding the penalty of death.
This is plain and fair proposition which
every one ought to agree to !; but 1t was
too much for the Southerners, and they
filibustered to prevent Its passage. They
refused to vote twice, and calls of the
House were ordered. At last, when it was
evident that the resolution would come to
a vote, the Democrats voted for it. The
purpose of the resolution was to Deutralize
the effect of the Hamburg massacre, and
humbug the North into the belief that the
amendments to the Constitution would be
safe if the Democratic party came into
power The result conclusiyely proved
exactly the opposite. There is not a
Southern Democrat in the House who can
honestly say he subcribes to the second
paragraph of the preamble, though all it
says is, that every citizen should respect
and obey the Constitution. No amendment
can give colored man the right to vote is
the belief of the Southern whites, and we
are extremely glad that Mr.. Lord has
exposed again that bad side of the Southern
brother Such exhibitions have tended
largely to keep the Democratic party out
of power for years, and we think they are
very good thing for the country. As
passed, the resolution comedies that there
has been intimidation at the polls In the
South. The passage of the resolution is
simply running up tue bloody shirt on the
Democratic flagstaff.