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

nose looking to Constitutional amend
a-t having for its object the ''elimi
L;on of the ignorant negro VOTE"
Wbv then is it found so necessary
..wodiately after the return of the
- TO power after a four years rest9
Many of you remember how its every
.ooter during the last campaign
str1ogled on the stump to convince the
saonIe b a they had no intention to
I~i.frsnchise anybody, neither the me-
a nor the independent white voter
ssbo had thrown off the collar, even
.onsaling to this fact to prove it. Said
.ssv. sixteen years we had the State
.overnment in all its branches, and In
N instance did you fad US trying to
5strsnchise the negro" This was
true.
And many members of both branches
# the last Legislature declared on the
AMOR that they had promised their con.
sritutents that they would not favor
sch a move, and some went so far as to
state that they owed their election to
nledges they made to this effect, and
get they not only voted to submit the
nrooosed amendment to the people,
hut they voted for che present election
law by which they hope to carry the
amendment Let US not forget that
even if the object sought is the eIimi-
raicn OF the llliserate negro vote, that
this i~iliterBte negro has generally voted
the same party ticket with many Of
the 8blest and most learned statesmen,
iurists, literary professors, presidents,
Cabinet officers, Judges, Senators, Con
gressmen, manufacturers, fnanciers,
and commercial men, and his party
appears to be in q vast majority in the
State of boasted free schools whence
we have been importing much Of III
school law. Massachusetts is regarded
IS the leading State on these lines; so
his vote has been generally the Repub-
lican ticket 6 vast majority Of which
is found in the most wealthy and edu-
!3ted S iates. Is the ballot in the hands
Of this multitude as dangerous as the
pistol or the razor in the hands of a
child, Mr.. ReformeF7 We do not
think the country has suffered any
worse in the hands of the present and
former administration than it did dur
ing the reign of Grover; so that the
theory Of eliminating the negro out Of
politics on account OF his illiteracY
falls fat and false.
There was no move made in the
State of Louisiana, from which this
amendment was imported, looking to
the Acknowledgement of American citi
yans until after the organization Of
me Populist party, whose printing
presses and papers were smashed and
suppressed in several parishes in order
bstamp out that political infection.
The same is true in North Carolina !;
bat while it was claimed in the former
Safe that the amendment would not
distranchise any of the whites, never
theless we find that after the adoption
Of the amendment, their Legislature as.
sembled and revised the registration
laws in such a way as to disfrancaiIe
over forty per cent Of the whites, to
say nothing of the negroes. just what
took place there will be repeated here
il the amendment ia passed. II is in
tended to arouse a race prejudice, and
fan the fame in order TO array the two
classes against each other on the color
line, pretending TO eliminate the negro
vote while the real object ia to eIimi
nate the white kickers' vote.
There ia a growing disposition among
common farmers, Iaborers and me
chanics to tax the great corporations
and trusts in proportion to their value,
to make them bear their proportionate
share Of taxation. This growing de
mand Ter justice will not down at the
bidding OF the machine politician,
there ia danger of a combination of
labor unions being formed with a view
OF controlling these great robbers, and
they see it, and all the signs point to
the fact, that they intend to protect
EnemselVes against such g contingency.
Already tneir attorneys are in the
d9ld, blowing at every Cross roads
chicken fry. Pass the amendment,
ana one OF the first pieces Of work to
come before the General Assembly 10
revising the registration law, will be
% ELIMINATE" any person who be-
longs 20 u secreS LABOR union, e..
I2pDsal not only &c "Reformer, " nut
70 every honest toler in shop, field
52d store, to be very careful IN how be
deals with this grave question. Tee
p3lIoai destiny Of our posterity ia
Trapped up IN this move. Let us not
C.ose prison doors upon ourselves, let
ls ErsscrVs rhe liberty We already pos
ss and seek mora, IN the destruction