The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-11-05


ural death, before would str ke tn
poor man this cruel blow. | will Civ
an instance.
When the war started in 1861, tn
poor man rushed to the camp IND tn
muster ground TO arms. There was
white boy who had nothing but
| strong arm and the clothes he wore OF
his back. He was one of the ii st w b,
volunteered in the service OF Soutl
Carolina. That man went to Virgini.
and fought for four years, withou
coming home to see his wife and littl,
ones. He made record, sir, OF which
the whole of Laurens County is proud
He made a. good soldier as far as ht
was concerned, as General Lee. To
DAY he has sons who can not read apC
write. He Is not able to buy the righ,
to vote, he can not tell you what bill
OF attainder is, or an eX-post facto law
Is, but he Is Reformer of the deepest
dye, and yet he and his sons are to &c
down beneath this ruin and dishonor
L need not mention that the factions
are closer together than they might
imagine. Some say that this will
qualify 10000 negroes.
Now, Mr.. President, say regret
that this convention is dominated and
controlled by the parties to this agree
ment, for the reason that they signed
In writing pledge among themselves
Officers, as many OF them were, of
the State government-by their ipflu-
ence to enforce white supremacy by
the adoption of this constitution with
out the disfranchisement of q single
white man except for crime, which
was In effect equivalent to advertising,
and they did advertise it to the world,
that negroes who were enfranchised
under the constitution OF the United
States should be DISC ualified.
L say, sir, that alone is sufficient to
question the validity of the constitu-
t,on as made by this convention, and
whatever we do, whatever plan of
suffrage is adopted by this body, is
liable to be attacked in the United
States court on the ground of con-
spiracy to rob the negro of his elective
franchise. However that may be, sir,
that is not what impels me to say that
can not and will not support the re-
port OF the committe on suffrage.
Mr.. President, dare to say that not
one-tenth ef the Reformers of this
convention could have been elected II
they had had this plan and advocated it
before the people on the stump. This
may be guide to you. Ask yourselves
elected If you had frankly and boldly
told the people this was your scheme
OF suffrage.
| dare furtho to say, sir. that the
convention could have not been called,
and possibly [ have a greater right to
know than any member upon this
floor, il the poor and poverty stricken
people OF this State, by whose votes
you are here today, had dreampt that
q plan OF this sort had been cUncOcted.
They had Mir. Bryan for whom | have
the highest respect, and of whom
have been proud since we were at col
lege together and he was first honor
man, one of the best lawyers in the
State. They had him behind Il log
with his rifle ready to blow my brains
out. After the Conservatives had en-
joyed themselves in defending II llman
and repudiating and killing Irby and
his plan, Mr.. Bryan was called out of
the bushes to complete the work
1t ls done in the old way II is the
is before a farmers jury. An able
lawyer comes out and says Unnonsti-
tutional;" That is eNctly what /
wanted him to say. ! hiAl hear( Hon.
George Tillman tell Senator Tillman
and Governor Evans he did not know
whether their scheme was constitu-
tional or not. They know it is only tenn
porary, that they are stopping lom
stone to stone across the stream.
! am no lawyer, but | have always
believed this understanding" clause
to be unconstitutional. Mr.. Bryan
comes forward and says to me Your
plan is unconstitutional" Let us take
up his understanding clause and see
what he says of it,.
And even aow, dare say that they
would be ready to shout, rs Cromwell
did TO the house of lords, Get YOU
gone and give place to honestcr men"
Notwithstanding, sir, that it had
been urged under the whip and spur
of the Reform leaders since 1890, with
the greatest vigor and vehemence, the
people, the poor people of the State,
two weeks before the election stocked
1T and refused to vote it upon the
ground that they might be disfran-
chised-many of whom broke party
lines, unwilling to trust the leaders,
and voted against the calling of a con-
stitutional convention. BY a slim ma
jority of less than 1000 votes in the
whole State-so slim indeed that the
enemies of the Democratic party
charged manipulation and corruption,
Cne convention was called.
Mr.. President, in view Of all these
things, these pledges to the people upon
the stump this spring, and the inter-
views and circulars that swept over
this State like q snow storm last fall, =,
what is the situation? We have, sir, O.
suffrage plan presented to this conven-
tion, composed of distinguished men, q
plan, sir, that instead of disiranchising
one man, will and can and must dis.
franchise many of the best and truest
people of our State.
But, Mr. President, it is all right to
qualify the lawyers, your bankers, and
your SCHOLARS and your educated peo-
pie. You are perfectly willing to give
them blanket that is full of wool; but,
sir, you are Offering to the poor man q
blanket of cotton to protect him from
the cold, that will be, sir, set aside.
Even If it was not set aside. it Is not
fair to make the discrimination.
Mr. Patton in his argument the other
night said it was either to be honestly
or dishonesty administered. He was
right. That is the oEly way you can
look at it. If it is honestly administer
ed nine-tenths of the illiterate men in
this State will fall behind the dead limo
and be disfranchiscd, and there is no
use for any intelligent man to deny it,.
1t puts it In the power OF the supervis-
iLg officer, appointed by the Governor
of the State, TO disfranchise any man,
white or black, who is not able to in
terprot every section OF tho constitu-
tion. When the report says any" it
only means. sir, any that the supervisor
may sec tit to PROFOUND. If the man