The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-12-11

40 TIC
Contrary to the prevalent impression
there is not one word in the Constitu-
ton of the United States, or the amend
ments thereto forbidding any State that
chooses to do so, from passing laws alb
solutely denying the negro the right to
hold office in it. Every one will admit
that if there is anything denying State
the right to enact such legislation, it is
contained in what might be styled the
negro amendments-the 18th, 18th and
10th. Let us examine these, taking up
the last one first.
THE 18TH AMENDMENT.
The 10Th Amendment reads thus:
1.-THE right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude."
Note specially that this amendment
simply forbids State to deny or abridge
on account of race, the right to vote; it
does not forbid a State to deny the
right to hold office on that account.
Some say, however, that the right to
vote for an office, carries with it the
right to hold that office, provided the
voter can be elected to it.
In answer to this, it may be shown
conclusively that there are offices for
which citizens are allowed to vote to
which they are not eligible. A native
citizen can vote for President before
he is old enough/to be eligible to that
office, naturalized citizen can vote for
President, though he never can become
eligible TO the office, and some towns
have a provision that a man must be n
free-holder therein before he can hold
the office of city tax collector, but he is
nevertheless, entitled to vote for a can
didate for that office.
THE 14TH AMENDMENT.
Some think that the Fourteenth
Amendment. in comforting citizenship
upon the negro, conferred upon him I'M
assaiably the right to vote and to hold
office, and clinched the matter when
it said:
mo State shall make or enforce any
law, which shall abridge the privileges
or immunities of citizens of the United
States" That this idea in reference to
citizenship and its privileges and inn
muities" is erroneous, is sufficiently
proven by the passing of the Fifteenth
Amendment. The negro may have been
permitted under the Fourteenth Amend
ment to vote and hold office, but if its
provisions guaranteed to him beyond the
interference of a State, even the right
to vote there would have been no earth
~ need for the Fifteenth Amendment
it would have been superfuous.
While the above is sufficient, there is
additional proof that mere citizenship
alone does not carry with it either the
right to vote or to hold office, and also
that 1.-THE privileges and immunities" do
not include those rights" The follow
ing facts contain some Of these addition
al proofs. Ladies are citizens, but in
most States they can neither vote nor
hold office, neither in some States can
criminals, paupers, illiterate persons,
those failing to pay their poll taxes, and
those paying taxes on less than a GER
tain specified amount of property; and
yet all these classes are still citizens,
though they cannot even vote, and the
fact that their rights" to vote and to
hold office have been denied and
abridged" is plain proof that citizenship
alone does not guarantee these things,
and it is also another sufficient proof
that these rights" do not come under
the head of privileges and immunities
of citizens of the United States" spoken
of in this Fourteenth amendment, for
the latter are completely and unquali
fedly forbidden to be abridged-the Ian
guage in reference to them does not
say that they shall not be abridged on
account of certain things, but it abso-
lutely forbids, without any exception,
their being abridged on any account,
whatever. Now, as privileges and inn
munities are unqualiiedly forbidden to
be abridged, it surely follows that the
rights to vote and hold office are not
included in them, for these 'rights" are
now, and always have been. to some eX-
tent. denied and abridged" in every
State. And. exactly as each State still
has the power of discriminating between
its citizens in reference to these rights
on account Of sex, and ION account Of
a number of other things, even so, at
that time under the 14th amendment,
each State had the power to similarly
discriminate between its citizens in ref
erence to both Of these rights ION ac-
count OF race which fact, as said be-
fore, is recognized by the passing of the
Fifteenth amendment, which took away
the previous power of State to deny,
on account Of race, the right to vote, but
IcII It's power III JtItlenNC W liz 1iSh
of office-holding untouched.
The Fourteenth Amendment even con-
tains within itself, recognition OF the
distinction between ''the privileges and
immuntes of citizens Of the United
States, and these rights" for the LIST
section absolutely forbids even abridg-
ing the former, while the End section
makes provision about denying the lat
ter, and, in addition to this, the PLAIN
inference from the language in the latter
part Of the Second section of this -Four
teenth amendment is that. under it, and
until the adoption Of the Fifteenth
amendment, each State had the powe-
to deny even the negroes the right to
vote. Bear in mind that this amend
ment was intended specially for the
benefit of the negro, and yet, after for
bidding any State to ''abridge" his
privileges and immunities." it goes on
to say: "But when the right to vote
is denied TO any Of the male inhabitants
of such State, being 81 years of age,