The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-09-03
STATES RIGHT TO REGULATE
THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.
NO COURT HAS POWER TO oBSTRUCT IT
If The Amendment is Adopted il VIII be Part
of the Organic Law of the Common
wealth no Court May
Destroy.

l
| sided for fifty years in another State)
The Constitutional Amendment has
been discussed as if it were series of
distinct and independent enactments
| 1t is, however, not a legislative enact
ment, but a proposition to the people to
amend their charter of government 1t
is well known that Constitutions adopted
| by the people Of a State are not to be
| construed according to the technical
rules which prevail in the Interpretation
of statutes. They are held to mean
what the people intended, when they
adopted them. The mass of the people
are not lawyers, and do not measure
their words by subtle and technical
rules. Reason requires that their Ian
guage should be interpreted, according
to the meaning which it bears in the
ordinary understanding of men engaged
in the ordinary pursuits of life.
But if the amendment We're statute
| subject to technical rules, it would be
necessary to consider it as an entirety.
1t would thus be seen that it is pro
posal for Il restriction of the elective
franchise. 1t is a governmental plan;
scheme to be carried into effect in all
| its parts. without change, addition or
| diminution. 1t is not competent for the
people to adopt one part and reject
another; they must take the whole or
| none. If they accept it they say, in
effect, We wish this whole instrument as
o part of our Constitution, and we adopt
| it without modification in the slightest
particular. Let us consider this question
| a little further. The Amendment dis
| franchises certain classes of vicious and
| ignorant voters. The second section eX-
cludes the criminals therein mentioned.
The fourth and fifth sections deal with
| ignorance. This subject is regarded
under two heads, to-wit: illiteracy and
absence of knowledge of public affairs.
| The two taken together impose a dis
qualification for voting. knowledge may
be obtained by other methods in addition
to reading; such as conversation with
intelligent persons hearing lectures and
discOurses and listening attentively to
public discussions. 1t is we'll known
that many individuals who are unable TO
read and write have a shrewd knowledge
of business affairs, and are able in these
matters to try conclusions successfully
with those who are far superior in the
education derived from books. Learning
and wisdom are not the same. The vot-
ers of the State of North Carolina have
always been fond of hearing public de-
bates on the stump by candidates for
public office. Those who could not read
and write obtained much information re-
garding the public questions of the day,
and by rejecting on them and cOnversing
with friends and neighbors they We're
enabled to form an intelligent opinion on
the subjects submitted to their votes.
1t appeared proper to the trainers of this
amendment that men having this sort of
knowledge should not be excluded from
the elective franchise. Their proposal
is one and indivisibe; that those who
could not read and write, and who did
not have the knowledge naturally ac-
quired from thirty years of voting ought
to be disfranchised. The proposition
cannot be divided without destroying it's
effect. To accept one part and reject
the other would make a provision which
was not intended. and would accomplish
something entirely contrary to what was
intended. No rational person would sup
pose that this was fair or just. Most
certainly no court of justice would ever
c0nstrue any document, whether deed,
statute or constitutional amendment, so
as to declare that it was to have effect
contrary to its obvious, natural and un-
mistakable meaning. The trainers of
this amendment thought that the chill
dren and lineal descendants of those
voters for thirty years would learn
enough from their parents to qualify
them for the right of suffrage. This
may be wise, or it may be unwise, but
it is their proposal to the people; and the
question is exclusively for the decision
of the people at the polls.
The Fifteenth Amendment of the
Federal Constitution provides that ''the
right to vote shall not be abridged or
denied on account OF race, color or previ-
Gus conditions of servitude." That is to
say that these circumstances shall not
be made a mark or discrimination which
shall take away or restrict the right of
voting. 1t may be said that the franz
ers of the Amendment to the State
Constitution desired to exclude vicious
and ignorant negroes from the ballot
box. Be it so. 1t is to be hoped that
no decent man in North Carolina de- |
sres their admission. Vice and ignor- |
ance are not attractive, whether clothed |
in black or a white skin. But the de- |
sires of the trainers of this amendment |
are not in question; nor the desires of