The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-08-24

The Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution recognizes the right OF any
State TO deny TO persons the right OF
voting and provides that representation
in Congress shall in certain eases, be
based on the number Of voters and not
on the number OF inhabitants. The
Fifteenth Amendment n 10 the effect
that the right to vote shall not be denied
OH account OF race color or previous
condition of seryitnde. Other than this,
the right Of any State to abridge tile
right Of suiffnge remains just as 1T al
ways was. The State can deny the
right Of voting 70 any one except only on
account of his race, color or previous
condition Of seryitude,
The amendment denies the right Of
suffrage To considerable number Of
persons, but the denial Is not based on
race, color OF previous condition. The
deninl Y based entirely OH inability to
read. II II based on illitcracy That
IS very clear nnd eeftnin II may be
said that the operation Of the law is
not uniform mud some iliterates are
allowed 60 vote while others are not.
That Is so. But The Constitution of the
United Statca duea not require that the
State law on suffrage shall be uniform
in its operation on the races.
II may be said that in its working
there Is practical discrimination
against the negro The Constitution of
the United States does not prohibit that,
so that il be not against him as a race.
The Supreme Court of the United States
in passing on the Mississippi constitution
says in SO many words that here is q
practical discrimination against the ne
gro. but not because of his race, but be-
cause Of his characteristics. and the
State has right to do that.
1t must be remembered that the Eff
teenth Amendment deals exclusively
with the subject of deprivfng a man Of
his right TO vote ON account of his color.
1t makes no reference to allowing some
other man to which is quite anoth-
or thing.
Suppose the amendment is adopted.
The polls are opened. Two men present
themselves and say. "We cannot read
and write" The law says. You can
not vote" But one of them replies, My
father could vote" The law says,
well, then, you may register and vote,
while the other cannot" The denial of
suffrage to the rejected applicant is be-
cause of his ilIiteracy, and it is not under
the ban of the Fifteenth Amendment,
because it is a denial not based on race
and color, while the Fifteenth Amend
ment has nothing to do with the admis-
sion of the other applicant to suffrage
Some one has said that the State can
not avoid the Fifteenth Amendment by
indirecton. That principle of law has
no application here, for the State direct
Iy provides that illiterates shall have no
right to vote, and then she makes an eX-
ception in favor of certain illiterates
whose fathers could vote. She discrimi-
mates in favor Of certain persons, but not
i'm favor Of certain races. There is no
inhibition in the Federal Constitution
against the States admitting any one to
suffrage; there is only prohibition that
she shall not deny the right Of suffrage
to Il man because OF his race or color,
and she does not do that. Wherever
there is denial Of the right of voting
il is not because Of race or color. but
solely because of illiteracy and nom
payment of poll tax and the Fifteenth
Amendment does not cover or touch the
case at all.
proposed amendment will be TO dis
franchise a great many more negroes
than whites, and that such result
would be against the spirit of the Eff
teenth Amendment, the reply would be
that such result would not be against
the spirit OF the Fifteenth amendment.
The spirit of the Fifteenth amendment
does not concern itself with the relative
number of voters in the races, nor does it
concern itself with Acknowledgement
based ON illiteracy; nor does it concern
itself with the uniform operation of
suffrage laws. 1t concerns itself only
with this; that citizen who possesses
the requisite qualifications Of voter
shall not be denied the right to vote be-
cause of his color. There is no infrac-
ton Of that idea.
1t sufficiently appears that the appre-
hension some persons feel that the pro-
posed amendment is in antagonism with
the Fifteenth Amendment arises from a
misunderstanding Of what that famous
amendment is and what the intent and
purpose Of it's adoption was. 1t was not
its purpose to fix on the States of the
Union manhood suffrage, or universal
suffrage, but merely to prevent discrimi-
nation against the negro race as race.
1t says you may not deny the negro the
right to vote because he has been a slave
But you may deny to him suffrage be-
cause he is-iliterate, or has not paid his
tax or any other such reason. If every
white MAN in the State could read, and
if every negro were an illiterate, a pro-
vision excluding ilIiterates from suffrage,
and thus excluding every negro in the
state would be entirely constitutional.
In effect, such measure would be
discrimination in favor Of the whites and
against the blacks, but one not based on
race And so in substance is the pro-
posed constitutional amendment. Both
propositions are free from the objection
that they contravene the Federal Con-
slitution. 5. A. AS1H.