The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1895-11-07


Mississippi plan as q basis, which,
with his amendment, would mako
their plan harmonize with tho four
teenth and fifteenth amendments.
Unless his amendment was adopted,
there would be wrongs perpetratcd
that we could not remedy. Under any
other circumstances the passage Of
those amendments would have been
pronounced the greatest crime against
civilization in the history Of the world.
You can sean all the history OF the
world and no crime will compare with
it-a crime at which all in this en-
lightened age revolts. Men who
were utterly incapable, who were
just emerging from barbarism and
savagery, were given tho ballot, and
by every right we arc entitled to re-
pudiate this crime whenever we can.
|, for one, will never admit that the
white people have been guilty of fraud.
We adopted the eight box law, and in
his county he knows no manager who
did not honestly enforce it. 1t is easy
to charge fraud, but he denied that
South Carolina has been controlled by
fraud. We have come to tho point
whore something must be dono. The
eight box law cannot last always. We
must make sOmo provision which does
for its enforcement We arc here to
frame law constitutional and to
render those amendments Us harmless
as possible in this State. A great
mass of the colOrcd people arc unin-
telligent and not tit for suffrage
He will not be frightened from doing
his duty because the North did not
like what we arc going to do. The
great part OF the negro race has been
and for years will be unit to exercise
the suffrage. The committee says un-
less a man can read or write or uu-
der5tand clause in the constitution
or own $500 worth OF property he can
not vote. The idea is all right but it
goes too far. We must look AT things
as we see them. Three years from
now, what will be the condition of the
negro: They arc being educated
every day. They have great facilities
AS long as the races are the white
not avail ourselves Of this superiority?
Tue negro can place himself on an
equality with tho white man by educa-
tion. His amendment proposed to
keep the condition forever as God in
tended The two races to stand. It is
bad policy to put them on an equal
footing after 1898, for both will have
the same facilities for education.
We must do right to the white men
OF this State. We owe Il debt Of graft
Iude to the poor man OF this State
With nothing to fight for but princi-
pie, they gave five years of their life
TO tho interests q! this State. | this
law was passed after 1893, and poor.
iliiteratc white man should come and
offer to register, and he should be re-
fused, he (Mr. Wilsun) would hang
his head in shame. if he had any part
in framing any such law, lngratitndc
is sharper than u scrpent's tooth. Let
not this convention do anything that
looks like ingratitudc to these people.
There is another period-lSTG. They
bravcd the dangers Of prosecution, not
for property, but simply to do their
duty to the State. Shall one Of those
noble, grand, valiant men or their
descendants be denied the right to
vote after 1898 because they do not
own $500 worth Of Droperty? Tr"y
cant all be registered or accumulate
$500 worth Of property by 1898. They
have but little chance for education
They can't go to school in the day
time, nor at night, for there are no
schools then. How can you expect
them to DO educated by 1898? You
can count young men in 1898 by the
hundreds VINO cannot read and write.
and hencefnrth there will be no voting
Tor those good citizens, if this prOvi.
son is adopted.
AS to the $500 property qualification.
He was opposed to sucn q qualilica-
tion for manhood suffrage. 1t is not
necessary for a man TO be good citi-
zen that he must own property. is
there any reason why a man educated
and possesses $500 should vote while
his neighbor cannot
The poorer he is, the greater the
necessity Of him having his liberty
preserved. | am, and always will be,
opposed to u property qualification for
suffrage. His amendment. he be-
lieved, would meet all difficulties.
Simply as q matter Of convenience to
tain the reading and writing clause.
He would be willing to leave it to the
understanding clause alone.
He could not agree with Mr.. Patton
that the understanding clause would
disfranchise many white men. Many
who can't read Or write have sufficient
intelligence to do SO. In his county
there are about 900 who can't read.
or those, 900 arc sufficiently intel-
gent to understand. They often had
no opportunity to learn to read and
write, but it was not from lack of in
tclligcnce.
AS to the constitutionality of the
law, he called the attention of the con-
vention 10 the opinions OF Cooley and
Enly. who say that the constitution
must not be interpreted in a technical
way, but in plain and ordinary ac-
ceptatiOn. We have IL law which has
as one OF its prOvis ions a jury system
based on the moral standing of tho
juror That is as uncertain as the
understanding clause. He did not be-
hcve any question would ever be raised
as to this section being legal. He
saw no reason why this convention
should so far depart from the Missis-
sippi plan without good cause. There
are thousands Of our citizens who are
watching us and our WORK, and hoping
and praying that they will never be
put on the level OF those enfranchiscd
by the fourteenth amendment.
Senator Tillman took the floor and
instantly everybody thought he was
going TO make the speech the public
has been looking for, but he only rose
to answer Mr., Wilson's arUuments