Birmingham state herald., 1895-10-31

to say on this article as whole, but that time has not yet arrived. I am sick and nothing but will power has kept me on this floor since yesterday morning. I shall confine myself to a very brief an- swer to the gentleman from Spartan burg. More of statement than argu- ment. The trouble here, sir, seems to be in the mind of some men that poor white men must be protected at any cost (with scornful emphasis). If there is one man on this floor who has tried to do more to elevate the poor white man of this state; to help them. to give them a chance to educate themselves and their sons that they might have equal protection of the law in the government than myself I do not know him. It Is cheap and dem- agogic argument which some people take delight in. I have been myself charged with demagogism because have cham pioned the rights of this class of citizens. The gentleman from Spartanburg pre- sents to us communication which simp- ly perpetuates the legislative evil. We are held up to the scorn of this nation by the reason of our present registration and eight-box laws, and when this con vention was called for the purpose of relieving us of the necessity of contnu irg that system had hoped that We would not be brought face to face with the champions of that system to be per- retuated, and if possible made worse.
 MT President, this convention dare not adopt the amendment by the gen tleman from Spartanburg. The commit tee considered the Mississippi plan, which is based upon this idea, and we univers- ally agreed that to make it permanent was to jeopardize the entire fabric which we are constructing here and at the same time to continue the evils which now ex- ist Some one has said, Why do you bring it in temporarily? Simply be- cause We desire to have a scheme that will take care of the poor white man and of such negroes as were qualified by reason of good citizenship and high char acter and intelligence who might be able to understand the clause of the consti- tuition when read to them and not draw the color line.
 "The legal arguments presented at the conference ere, I thought disposed of in the mind of every man on this floor. You cannot make this understanding clause prominent. The idea was present. ed and withdrawn in that conference and it is brought back here today for what? I don't want to impugn any business mo- tiveS but the gentleman from Spartan burg cannot come here and legislate for Spartanburg county alone. He has a two-thirds white majority in Spartan burg, whereas the general thing in the state is a two-thirds negro majority If we are to let men into the rights of regis tration and the ballot on question of understanding merely, as I have heard ayt ing the rights of the citizens to the dis erection of any man, that provision Is i neausea, and only swallow enough of it to preserve the rights of the poor man. After that has been accomplished I am willing to give 1t up. That we may lift ourselves out of the bog and mire that we have been swallowing in for the last twenty years, think no one can say that you will stoop to any fraud to accomplish this, or that you intend any fraud in the operation of this clause.
 For the good of the body polite and the preserva tion of the rights of the poor white man-and I say that anybody who comes here and claims that he Is the bet ter friend of the poor white man than this committee is claiming more than he can prove
 Let me point out the miserable situ- ation that will exist If you make this provision lasting and permanent. The one idea that Anglo-Saxon civilization which we have inherited shall be pre- served and that white man shall govern in this state. We have had a taste of what negro domination, or the domna- tion oflwhite men through the negro, can accomplish and I say that that danger is ever present until we have gotten such restrictions on the suffrage as will large ly reduce the number of these people that can vote and thereby put it so that if we divide, and divide we must. we will still have white government and a de- cent government in this state, even if the I negro shoud hold ths balance of power
 Let us suppose that you leave it to the \ discretion of the registration office to say who can understand-mind, in perpetuity we limit to twenty years. Let us con- ceive that this convention, carried away by the pleas of the poor white men and boys who cannot read and write, and never expect to try to learn: and in the future when these white men have divi- ded and we have two white parties and one negro party. and the registration law gives the power to req oh out and increase the suffrage through the understanding clause. Is it not clear enough that the temptation to make more and more of the negroes understand will not be resisted? When the party in power make enough of them to understand to perpetuate its grip upon the offices and deprave the