Griggs courier., 1897-03-12


ley are false. Nobody, whatever his po-
litical sentiments may be, can doubt that
If he examines carefully these figures,
which are taken from the official publica-
tions.
But how about the South, where the
Democracy is always triumphant by one
process or another?
It is notorious fact that In the ex-
treme Southern States the colored voters
have been disfranchised by one process
and another until their participation in
national and State elections has practi-
cally disappeared. This has been accom-
plished by various processes at various
times, that process which combines the
greatest success with the greatest showing
Of virtue having finally been hit upon in
amendments to the State constitutions
which require an educational test as a
qualification for voting. With clause
in the State constitution requiring each
voter to be able to read or satisfactorily
explain" clause in that instrument itself.
and the jury which is to determine wheth-
er the reading or explanation" is well
done being packed" beforehand, 1t is
easy to see that the average colored voter
in the South stands little show Of an op-
portunity to cast his vote. This require
ment exists In several Of the Southern
States. In others there is also an educa-
tional test in the form of a law which re-
quires separate ballot box for each can
didate with his name printed on the out
side, the voter being required to place his
ballot for each candidate in its proper box.
In order to prevent the successful coach
ing of voters not able to read the names
upon the boxes. the custom is to change
the location of the boxes from hour to
hour or more frequently If necessary. thus
making it absolutely impossible for the
voter who cannot read to know whether
he is putting his ballot in the right box.
In some cases it is found more convenient
to count the votes cast for Republican
candidates as cast for Democrats and vice
versa, but those are now exceptions and
the educational test" is becoming the
popular method in the South for keepinp
the negroes away from the polls. It
sounds well. prevents charges Of violations
Of law and yet does the business most
effectively. That the experiments which
the people Of the South have been making
in the last twenty years in the line Of
"How to Exclude the Black Vote from
the Polls" have been highly successful.
will be seen from the following votes and
figures taken from the official records of
the Government. Seven of the extreme
Southern States, which contain in them
selves more than one-half of the entire
colored population of the country. are
selected as an example. These States
occupy the extreme southern belt and IN
them the art Of depriving the negro voter
of his right of suffrage seems to have at
tained its highest perfection. a
euppressinR Republican Votes In th.
eouth. s--e
The States whose vote will be examined
herewith are South Carolina, Georeia.
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas.
Louisiana. Twenty years ago the art OF
suppressing the negro vote was in it's in.
fancy. In the presidential election Of
1875 the total vote returned from these
States amounted to O89.114. Since thnt
they have gained, according to the United
states census, ,3O6, 4O5 In population Yat
n the year 1896 they report onlv 7pi ~ 4 -
votes cast, an actual loss of l9X. iOe yota. .
Here l. an example for those who .dmir. ,Es,
the art Of suppressing votes. a cnin % ~ !
2. .3O8. .485 in population and at the ssma
fine q loss Of 198. .1O3 in the numher - ~
votes A gain Of 68 per cent az shown h, III
the official figures and at the same time =
loss Of 20 per cent in votes, as also shown
by the official figures. That this relimc.
ton in the number Of votes was caused bv
keeping away colored Republican yoters
from the polls ID shown by the fact that
the percentage Of the vote cast for the
Republican tickets In these States hns
dwindled year by year until It has reached
az low q figure 40 per cent in Alabama
In 1892, 3 per cent in Mississippi In 1892.
while In Florida and Louisiana no votes
were recorded for the Republican presi-
DENTAL candidates in that year. Not con-
tented with this. the vote was brought
down In many Of those States even lower