The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-10-03

respect, go that this monstrous pro.
vision is aimed exclusively at the
ignorant man, and the purpose in
deny ing him the right OF asking CUES
tons or making signs is to increase the
chances of his hitting the wrong box
The la thus becomes an active part
ner in the cheating, and the State
which has neglected to educate her
children ia put in the attitude of mock
ing their misfortune and Of adding to
their helplessness. Mind you the vic.
tim in the narrow passage is q white
man and a Democrat, he holds in his
hand a ballot Against Amendment, :"
his executIoners are two partisan Dem
ocrats and one pretended Republican,
all favoring the amend ment. They
tell him GO ''vote lively and pass along;' -
he drops his ticket into the legis lative
Oox-and it is lost and he is disfran
chIse d Mr.. Simmons, is this the poor
and ignorant white" man whom you
have promised to protect3 Is this Law
the best proof you can give OF your de
votion TO his rights and ~IDterests9
THE RIGHTS oF'vOTERs IGNORED
d. you pretend that this provision
will be enforced IN the East but noe In
the Vest The Wer ls:
"AH regulations Of the election fran
chise, however, must be reasonable.
uniform and impartial, they must not
have for their purpose directly or indI
rectly, 20 deny or abridge the cOnsti
tutional right Of citiz ms to vote or I'm
necessarily to impede it's exercise, if
they do they muse be declared void -
Cooley Cons Linn. page 6O2
80 that your law must be uniform,
or it will be declared void. The right
co establish separate local governments
i'm the OFF rent counties comes from
the express grant Of power in section
IA, article VII Of the Constitution, but
article vi on suffrage contains no such
authority.
Mr. Summons must know that our
mountain people, Democrats as we'll as
RepublIC4na, will resent the operation
of section % of the election Law Men
Who cherish the memories OF Kings
Mountain ard Of M 7ckIenburg Will nOt
permit themselves 60 be driven into q
slaughter pen like dunno Orutes and
denied the right Ito speak or make
sixns," they will not permit the act OF
voting, which they have regarded az
an act OF pride and dignity, to be con
verified into an act Of personal humilia
ton and shame
You might just as well require them
to crawl through the narrow passage
on their all tours, sprinkle dust on
their heads and thus offer the Grand
Salsam" TO your election baIllffs
You might just as we'll deny the
right of a lost traveller to ask which is
the right road, as deny to the Devil
dered voter the right to ask which is
the right box.
TINS la = in denying the fundamental
rights of the citizen aud the natural
OF man is in conflict with our
Bill Of Rights, and is therefore void
Mr.. Simmons, have you read
those words of Chatham:
the poorest man in MS cottage candid
defaUc9 to all the forces OF the crown
It may be trail, it's root may share, the
~ind may blow through it, the syorm
may enter, the rain may enter, but the
KING of Eogl9nd may not enter, all his
force dare not crosse the threshold of
the ruined tenement
And I am bold enough to tell you
that the force Of all your election
bailIfJ dare moi invade The constitu
tional rights of the poorest illlterase
man in these mountains
RICHMOND PEARSON
Buncombe Co., n ..