The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-07-31
THE SUFFRAGE QUESTION.
How Senator Il. Il. Tiilman Proposes 10
Fin 1t.

How Senator Il. Z. Tiilman Proposes 10
fix 1t.
BEANrtEvILLE, July 2l.-When |
wrote the summary Of the suffrage
schemes discussed by the leaders,
which l send in with this. [ had no
idea tnat it was so soon to receive d!-
rect corroboration from the man who
has been the head of the Reform
movement from its very inception.
But at a meeting held at Hunters
Ferry, ten miles from this place in
Barnwell County Tuesday, Senator
Tillman made speech in which ne
handled the matter. and | am able to
quote his exact language on the
scheme. The meeting was one of the
Barnwell County campaign meetings
and during the forenoon speeches were
made by the candidates in the county
for delegates to the Constitutional
Convention. There were abou. 600
persons present. nearly all of them
being Reformers and about seventy
five being ladies' An excellent din
Ter was served. after which Governor
Evans spoke, and then Senator Till
man faced the crowd.
He came out squarely and gave the
scheme for the regulation of the sutf-
rage. making reference to his remark
at Ridgeway when advocating the
calling of the Constitutional Conven-
ton in which he asked the people to
trust him and vote for the convention.
He stated too that in the spring after
the Forty conference he had served
notice on all opposed to the Mississip-
pi plan to get ready for the near fu-
ture Then he fully disclosed the
scheme as follows: Il had given a
great deal of thought to this matter.
The 18th amendment is an insupera-
bic bar to permanent and lasting ar
rangement. Any scheme that may
be adopted can only be temporary and
will be largely dependent on white
unity, as 1t is upon the administration
OF the law rather than in its language
we must rely This has been the case
with the registration law and the
eight box law As long as no dis
elimination on account Of race or
color, can be made, even an educa
tional qualification pure and simple
would only serve its purpose of dis
franchising the negro while he re-
mains ignorant. How then can we
disfranchise illiterate negroes without
at the same time taking the right of
suffrage from the class of white men?
1t is easy enough and cannot be called
a fraudulent system. The Mississippi
constitution provides that every voter
must be registered and that the appll-
cant for registration must be able to
read a clause in the constitution or be
able to understand and explain It
when read to him. The right to judge
of the latter rests with the supervisor
of registration. If the applicant can
read he must be registered and there:
fore be allowed to vote.
If he cannot, it is easy to see that
the negro could not understand, while
the white man would. This is natural
as the whites are the more intelligent
race. Couple provision forbidding
registration after a conviction for
crime, and require the applicant to be
also possessed of a good moral charac-
tc-, and yo" can gee how -::aaT thous-
auds of negroes will be disfranchised
without fraud or without infringing
on the 18th amendment tc the United
States Constitution. Should we ever
havea government that would appoint
registration officers wanted to enroll
the negroes as voters this scheme
would not work But there is differ
ence between having itin the constitu-
ton and depending on the eight box
and registration laws. y defeated mi
nority OF white men could never OBJ
tain control Of the government by US
ing the negro vote. Such minority
must obtain control of the government
by obtaining white majority first,
and it would then have no need of
the negro.
Another safeguard would be to
provide that no illiterate person fail
ing of the necessary requirments for
registration will be eligible ;.fter five
years the requirements forregistration
be the ability to read and write pure
and simple. This would act as spur
to men of both races to fit themselves
for the suffrage and would not per-
petuate the confessedly obnoxious but
necessary provision cf trusting to the
Judgment of the supervisor. The
charge that such q system would per-
petuate dishonest elections is false.
Continuing, Senator Tillman said:
If this scheme is not adopted, then,
so far as can see, there is nothing
else to do but have qualified woman's
suffrage and hide behind petticoats.
l am perfectly willing to give the wo-
men Of South Corolina the right to
vote when asked for it, / don't believe
they want it, and until the do ask for
it, perfer the other plan
The above are Senator Tillman's eX-
act words, and they pretty fully cover
the all important matter. It may be
added that this being the scheme the
Inauguration of the Reform movement
advocates, it will be almost certain to
be adopted.
Senator Tillman returned to his
home at Trenton this evening, being
accompanied by Governor Evans
State.
Crazed by Complexion Paste.
RUssELv1LLE, Ky, July 22.-The
desire to make her complexion more
beautiful has caused a once proud
mind to be shrouded in the darkest
gloom. Miss Mary Belcher two years
ago was a bright, dark-haired, happy,
rosy-cheeked girl One day she read
in an advertisement of a cosmetic paste