The Brookhaven leader., 1890-02-20
TO SUPPRESS IGNORANCE.
How to wipe RepublicanIsm Out of Ex-
istence In Mississippi.


Senator Walthalrs speech in the Sen
ate on the question Of suppressing Re-
publicanism in Mississippi calls for
remedy remedy Of practical politics
against the supremacy OF ignorance
and irresponsibility.
The remedy is obvious and so simple
that it can be stated in a line-an educa-
tional qualification and a poll-tax re-
striction on the suffrage.
In Missouri and in every other State
in the Union large amount Of igno-
rance and responsibility are expressed
at the polls, but intelligence and re-
| sponsibility can deal with them in the
main without qualifying the suffrage,
though the evils incident to unqualified
| suffrage are apparent and great. When
they become so great as TO be remediable
in no other way, the remedy in practical
| politics is the one we have indicated
| above.
1t is not disfranchisement. The poll
| tax of dollar or two dollars makes the
Miss issippi Republican voter tax
| payer and gives him a certain degree of
responsibility which his compliance
with the educational requisite of suf-
frage may enable him to appreciate.
There would be no injustice in Mlssis-
sippi in requiring that every voter
should be able to read the State consti-
tuition. Ability to read the bill of
| rights is not an unreasonable nor is 1t
| permanent restriction of suffrage. Any
| person of common sense can learn the
alphabet in a week, and TO read intelli-
| gibly words of two, three and four syl-
| tables in six months. If this restriction
were imposed in Mississippi next week
| every adult of sound mind in the State
| w no does not know how to read the
| State constitution could know, if he so
desired, before the next election. And
there is no person in Mississippi so poor
| that the payment of an annual tax of
two dollars to support the State would
be real hardship.
| Why are so many speeches made; why
| is there so much unnecessary and wild
| theory on one hand and so much Just
| resentment of it on the other where this
| plain remedy of practical politics is al
ways at hand?
The State of Mississippi can, if it
| chooses, adopt these restrictions of
| suffrage; it can at the expense of only
a few thousand dollars print the con-
| stitution in pamphlet form, with the
| alphabet as preface; with half dozen
| Introductory pages of the syllables
forming words in the constitution ar
ranged as in primer so that little ap-
| plication will enable every illiterate
person of sound mind in the State to
| learn to read the constitution without
other books and with only such teaching
as any one may obtain out of schools
without paying for it. Such pamphlets
can be issued by the thousand at an ex-
| pense of not over two cents copy.
| They will remedy all ignorance that
| cares to remedy itself. The payment
of the poll-tax and ability to read the
| constitution as tests of fitness to vote
will hold ignorance and responsibility
that does not care to remedy itself in
complete check.
There is no theory about this 1t will
work. 1t will completely suppress the
Republican party in Mississippi and
keep it suppressed until the party be-
comes so ashamed of its own ignorance
and responsibility as to entertain
there the same jealous desire to reform
itself that it shows elsewhere, and in
fact everywhere, to reform other people
before ii reforms itself. And it will not
reduce the States representation in Con-
| gress. If there is any reason it should
not be adopted it is local reason, and
not a reason which weighs against the
fact that one way to suppress Republic
| anism everywhere is to make some de-
| gree of intelligence and responsibility
test of fitness to vote. When all other
ways fail, this remedy is always at hand,
always practical and always sure to pre-
vent ignorance and responsibility from
taking control of the State and demoral-
izing it, as they did in Mississippi when
the Republican party was in charge
st. Louis Republic.