The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-09-12

while in power, as to so far lose n.
respect and confidence Of the peonyo -
to render it necessary to legialate itaeIt
into power against the will Of a mo
joritY and to undertake by such rnatb
DDS to fortity itself in power for I'll
time to come, it is high time for al
liberty loving good ciUizans TO ausL.
to spurn and ~repudia*e it. It is. to esu
the least Of 1t, an acknowledgment ~
the bases5 political coward ice. and vot
such is the stern fact before US.
What would we say if we knew tvo
candidates running for the same i'm.
porgant Office, and one seeing h,
chances for election growing doubtfrI
on account of his unpopularitv, And
he were to deliberately shoot down HI.
competitor in order to secure the of4co
himself, would we not denouuce such an
act es q sp8cies Of cowardice too men
dac!ous to be tolerated. Or if he did
not kill his competitor, but simply de.
ported him by force of arms from hin
State, his friends, his property andbis
freside9 And yet the party that bss
done all this writes out and asks ia tn
vote for this amendment. It will not
do to plead in eXtenuation Of coward.
ice, that it is to be submitted to the
voters for their approval or rejection.
This is true only in name, and not in
fact, for the election law under which
is is to be voted on, is designed to kill
enough Of the opposition to enable its
designers to fasten the amount on the
people. All the circumstances sur.
rounding the case prove that this was
designedly done, and done for no Other
purpose. Should a political party
which finds itself forced to resort
such methods be permanently placed
in power aud permanently fortified
thereY
Secondly. II the above cited motive
is not the real motive, to- Wit, the
fortifying Of themselves in power, then
ar educational qualification is the next
object sought to be attained. If there
was any sincerity in this pretense, We
would certainly expect to find it in
afoEding the greatest latitude for a
full and free expression at the ballot
box, but instead OF that, we find the
way INSTRUCTED by numerous meth
DDS designed to prevent a fair expires
sion. But let US admit for the sake Of
argument that an educational qualh'
cation is the object aimed at, and just
at this point we are confronted By an
other snare, ser in the dark pain bya
provision in section 3, providing Tor
the General Assembly TO meet and re-
wise, amend and tx the law governing
registration, thus admitting that the
present iron'clad gag law is to be stlI
extended in it's d~istranChlsIng
power, and in section 2 the Object@
this move is clearly admitted. ProVs
ion is made for extending the dlsiFan-
chising clause not only to crimes, the
penal y of which is now confinement
in the p~enisentiary, but it provides F
making any misdemeenor q penlen
tiary ofenca, all OF which point clearly
to a rule Of aristocracy once tnS
amendment ia fastened on the people,
But again admit that an educatIonal
qualification is the point aimed a'
every step in the in the pro-
cesdiDgs is against such a c~ODcIusloDj
will that remedy the evils
TO be aoIe to read and construe tnS
Constitution does not under Sm'
amendment enSiEle the cit:zen to VoIe'
for there are now provisions III 5n0
which If fully enforced Will 10
prive thousands Of our eldest and DeS'
citizens Of the right 10 vote. II 'nS
is TO prevent the illIseraVe 7nT
unlearned from voting, why are o."
these stringent provisions relating "
crimes lugged iC7 And Why the "nA
Ious care exercised in clothing ~
General Assembly with power to sun
further close the balIot-bQx 5y pro'iI
ing such legislation laws as wlIL moas
effectively SECURE the ~aTisTooracy
perpetual power3 Can it be las cIalnSa
by some) that it is TO eliminate W.
ignorant negro vote9 The history :,
the last twenty five years furni'u.t
in~contestable evidence that this 70
true, for in reviewing the past E"ons
or twenty. five years we find the POI"
which fathers the amendment IN"