The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-09-11


State Senators, and that it is to that
party he can most safely trust his right
to continue Co exercise the right Of stuff.
rage lie knows that from motives of
principle and interest, the Democratic
party will In the future, MS IL has in the
past, preserve his right TO vote. and will
not subject him TO the humiliation of
having negro TO determine his right
to cast his ballot
Under the constitution Of the State
no qualification. either that of
property or Of education, can be Mt
tachcd by the Legislature to the right
Of suffrage The constitution prescribes
in plain and unmistakable terms who Is
entitled to vote and the requirements cai,
not be changed either by addition or sub
traction OF a single item until the voters
OF the State have passed upon the pro
posed change IL can not be done by the
Legislature.
Section /. Article @, prescribes who
shall have a right to vote in the follow
ing plain language:
Every male person born IN the United
States, and every male person who has
been naturalized twenty-one years old
or upward. who shall have resided in
the State twelve months next preceding
an. Al min a
ty in which he offers 10 vote shall be
deemed an elector But no person who
upon conviction or confession in open
court shall be adjudged guilty of felony
or any other crime infamous by the
laws of this State and hereafter com
mitted shall be deemed an clector unless
such person shall be restored to the
rights of citizenship in a manner pre-
scribed by law"
That makes it sufficiently clear that
no one now entitled to vote can he dis
franchised, unless he disfranchise HIM
self by committing a felony.
The only way in which the qualifca-
tions of the voter can be changed is by
changing the constitution. There are
two ways in which the constitution may
be amended but both prescribe that the
proposed amendment shall BE SUB
MITTED TO A VOTE OF THE PEG
PIE for adoption or rejection.
The first method is amendment by
convention and the constitution says
with regard to it, Section i, Article 10:
mo convention of the people of this
State shall ever be called by the General
Assembly unless by the concurrence OF
two-thirds of all the members of each
House of the General Assembly, and
except the proposition convention or no
convention be first submitted to the
qualified voters of the whole State, at
the next general election, in a manner
to be prescribed by law And should a
majority of the votes cast be in favor
of said convention, it shall assemble on
such day as may be prescribed by the
General Assembly"
Under this clause it is sufficiently ap-
parent that though the Democrats might
have every member of both Houses they
/ would be powerless to effect any change
until the people had sanctioned it by au'
thorizing a convention.
The other method Of amendment Is
, thus prescribed by Section 2, Article ID
'.No part of the constitution of this
State shall he altered, unless a bill 70
alter the same shall have been agreed
to by three-ffths of each House OF the
General Assembly. And the amendment
or amendments so agreed to snail be
submitted at the next general electloh
to the qualified voters of the whole
State in such manner as may be pre-
scribed by law. And lin the event OF
their adoption by majority OF the
votes cast, such an amendment Oh
amendments shall become part or the
constitution of this State"
1t appears that the most that the
General Assembly, or the Legislature
as it is familiarly called, can do is to
recommend change to the people;
and to do even that requires
| an aye vote of three-ffths of both
/ houses. A Democratic legislature, in an'
/ of itself, is as powerless to change the
| constitution of the State as it woul'
be of the United States. The people
| themselves must authorize change
i else the constitution will forever remaii
/ the same.
These facts were, of course, known t
i the demagogues who manufactured tn
! fake and started it on the rounds The
fact that they should resort to a lie
, which every man who can read for him
self or who has heard the constitution
read, can prove to be lie by simple ref
erence to the constitution of his State
shows to what a desperate pass they
have been brought by the rising tide o
popular Indignation at the calamitou'
misrule for which they are responsible.
The brazenness and the baseness of TIL
fabrication shows also that the cnem!
of the iIliterate voter is not the Demo
cratic party which has guaranteed hi
rights to him in the constitution of hi
State, but the mongrel collection
; Of fusion office-holders who attempt /
take advantage of his unfortunate ie
norance and who would gladly keep hin