The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-01-29

shortly after the war ne was In South
ern town and the negroes recently en-
franchised were voting. He said that q
Yankee srrived on the scene in the even
Ing and began to sell rat poison. He had
labels with skulls and crcssbones pic
tured on them. showing the deadly power
or the poison, with a dead rat pictured
beneath the bones. Thess labels we're
scattered through the crowd. The ne
groes voted them by the score. Finally
one OF these sovereign citizens. In ex-
aiming his ballot could not understand
why the rat was lying on his back. He
brought the ticket up to leader and
asked him "ef dat was de straight ticket"
He asked him why that rat was lying
there with his heels in the air. The leader
TOOK the ticket, examined II with gravity,
and replied: ooh, yes; OATS all right;
OATS de straight ticket Dat means the
ratification OF the constitution" And
they continued 10 vote the rat labels.
Suppose you send the negro to the leg!s-
lature and give him the power 20 make
laws-what OF It? What does II amount
to. unless he is able TO read and write,
and unless he has culture and training
and influence that can be felt on the floor
or legislative body? In the House OF
Representatives in North Carolina, In
lsS5-'S, OF which I was a member, there
were several negroes. They had all the
rights, all the privileges of any white
member except that some OF them could
not read and write. and they found ex-
IRENE difficulty In drafting legislation for
the country. No negro has ever yet ac-
complished solitary thing for his race
In legislative hall.
Suppose you put the negro on the Jury
a IN ell In tkA
what of It? VIII he protect himself and
his color? II the stronger race, with its
superior intelligence. combine against
him-hardly. He stands infinitely
better chance OF protection outside the
jury box than in II. In certain case
that was tried In the South there was one
negro on the jury. eleven white men.
They went out. and. fearing the con-
trary vote Of the negro they elected him
foreman. placed him on the seat Of honor
to preside and proceeded to discuss the
case, vote Oh II and decide. They told
him as he was foreman and presiding
officer he could not vote; so they delivered
the verdict into his hands to report 10
the court. When he retur ned he made
this announcement to the court: please
de court, the jury has gone Democratic"
What good does IL do TO put him on the
jury unless he knows his rights and prlyi-
leges and powers?
Suppose you make him a Judge; can
he protect himself can he attain by
that process the real powers of the ju-
dietary? A negro was elected judge in
a certain magistrates court in the South.
They were trying a case before him.
The lawyers had argued II and had taken
their seats. 1t was time for him to
charge the jury. He sal and looked
around the room. The lawyer sitting near
him, said to him: 1T is time now TO
charge the jury" He arose with the ut
most gravity, and turning TO the jury,
said to them: "Well, gemmen of de jury
dis is a small case. I'll jes charge you
a dollar and a half"
TO thrust upon a man unqualified for
the trust high obligations does not fit
him for the obligation. 1t merely de-
grades the trust
AS the wholesale enfranchisement OF
the negro was blunder tragic in the
history OF our country and an unmiu-
gated curse both to the negro and the
white race OF the South, 1t is only a ques
ton of time when the young generation
OF men will readjust his status as citi'
zen. The younger generation Of men who
are coming on the scene, both in the
North and In the South, are not going TO
espouse the traditions of either section in
are going to settle II by the same stand
ard that Massachusetts used In the enact
ment OF her present suffrage laws-the
standard Of common sense and intelli-
gence.
The time has come for restudy OF
this whole suffrage problem. When the
negro is eliminated from politics as a
threatening slum vote he will have, for
the first time. a chance TO make his FOR
tune as a man. Now he is made the tool
of the party that he serves and ground
beneath the neither milestone Of the party
that he opposes Mississippi has passed
an educational qualification for suffrage,
and the time is now upon the South when
every State in the South should have
a law as stringent as the statute OF Mas
sachusetts, and / do not believe that ten
years will elapse before such law Is
an accomplished fact. Tradition, senti-
mentallsm, should have nothing In the
world TO do with this question. Millions
of ignorant voters, incapable Of knowing
their rights, are a threat to the life or
the State. They are such threat
North South. East, West. The sooner
we meet and settle that problem the bet
ter. THOMAS DlAON' Jr'