Birmingham state herald., 1895-11-02
SUFFRAGE PLAN ADOPTED.
The Sole Object of the South Carolina Consti- tutonal Convention Has Been Accom-
 plished-Plan in Detail.


 | ton of the suffrage plan. putting on the | parliamentary clineher, thereby accom- | plshlng the sole object of the convention. | The section was adopted in the following 1 shape:
 Section 4. The qualifications for suf- 1 frage shall be as follows
 (a) Residence in the state for two years, in the county one year, in the elec- | tion district in which the elector offers to | vote four months and the payment six months before any election of any poll | tax then due and payable; provided, l however, that ministers in charge Of an | organized church and teachers of public
 schools shall be entitled to vote after | six months residence in the state if oth- | erwise qualified
 i (b) Registration which shall provide | for the enrolment of every elector once | in ten years, and also an enrolment dur | ing each and every year of every elector | not previously registered under the pro- l visions of this article.
 | (c)-Up to January 1, 1S9S all male | persons of voting age applying for reg | istration who can read any section in this l constitution or understand and explain it 1 when read to them by the registration officer shall be entitled to register and | become electors. A separate record of | all persons registered before January 1, | 1S9S sworn to by the registration of c, | shall be filed-one copy with the clerk | of the court and one in the office of the | secretary of state-on or before February | 1, 1898, and such persons shall remain | during life qualified electors unless dis 1 qualified by the other provisions of this | article. The certificate of the clerk of | court or secretary of state shall be suff1- cient evidence to establish the right of | said citizens to any future registration | and the franchise under the limitations | herein imposed.
 l (d)-Any person who shall apply for | registration after January 1, 189S if oth- | erwise qualified, shall be registered, pro- | vided he can both read and write any | section of this constitution. or can show | that he owns and has paid all taxes col | lectible during the previous year on prop | erty in this state assessed at $500 or more.
 | (e)-Managers of elections shall re- Quire of every elector offering to vote at any election before allowing him to
 vote proof of the payment of all taxes, | including poll tax, assessed against him
 and collectible for the previous year. O-The general assembly shall provide | for issuing to each elector a certificate of | registration, and shall provide for the | renewal of such certificate when lost, mu- | tilated or destroyed If the applicant Is still qualified elector under the provi- sions of this constitution. There was much opposition expressed | to the plan when many members on the floor could only mean fraud under the | understanding feature, the supervisors l being the judges of the sufticiency Of the l understanding" most of 1t melted away 1 after it came to the final vote, which IS l 69 to 37 Irby's opposition did not seem
 to count for much. There was no end of | speaking at the night session.
 | At the morning session the convention | had what may be termed "hlstorleai
 day" It resolved itself into an historical | society and historical records had the | dust shaken from them and were careful | fully examined. The side show that was | in progress on the south side Of the nall | during the historcal society meeting may be appropriately entitled "The Black l Crook" And it was all, so to speak, an | attempt to prove that black was white, though there were some whites who were l endeavoring to prove that black was | black, and in few instances very, very | black. The blacks devoted their efforts to proving the first proposition-the | whiteness of the blacks
 To be more explicit, the history of the | reconstruction period was under discus | sion all day, and some interesting pages were added to the record of that memora- | bIe period, which was steeped in fraud | and robbery. It was all brought about | by Senator Tillman's reply to the speech | es which were made at the beginning Of the discussion on the suffrage matter | The senator threw the career or Smails and Whipper up in his speech and | charged that they were both members Of | the famous original "Black Crook com pany," which had continuous run In | this state from the close of the war to | 1876 Some interesting matter, new so | far as the general public Is concerned, | was brought out and Whipper, the ne- | gro delegate from Beaufort, made a | splendid speech in his own defense. Miller, Smalls and Whipper the three | leading negro members, made powerful l speeches. the last two defending them ,oIA aff oolya on records. Whipper concluded his powerful 1 speech thus:
 q throw down the gauntlet now and challenge the world to go through all the | records and find one thing against me. | You would besmear every negro who de- l fends his race in the lack of argument. | Such argument came very far from con- l ing up to what our people consider the high standard of gentility.
 "They want to engraft into this consti- | tuition something that will deceive the. | world and themselves. You may de- ! ceive yourselves, but you won't deceive | the world I was plaintiff at first, but | now I am disposed to become defendant, | Put it there if you dare, and you will see your constitutional lawyers treading on
 on eggs It won't be three years before you have another constitution to meet | the exigency. You have magnificent, in-
 exhaustible water supply in this state. l It is going to waste because you are al- ways fighting to chain the negro down. l You wish to continue to wear the chains | that hung around you during slavery. | You can bind down the negro, but you will make the greatest mistake of your | lives You can even now hear the rum
 ble of the car of negro development and | progress coming, laden with negroes ed- | ucated and being educated. We are not
 scared. The negro will ere long come | and claim his own. I am standing here l trying to make South Carolina feel that 1 I have lived here on her soil"
 The convention, after adopting the plan, adjourned at 40 p. m. until 7:30 | D. m on Tuesday next.
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