The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1900-06-28
PEOPLES PARTY PlATFeen


Aprn IseA. lsos.
The Peoples Party Convention
assembled In Raleigh, April 18th
reaMrms the principles set forth In
the Peoples Party National Plat
form adopted at st. Louis In lS9e
and instructs the delegates = thu
National Convention at Sioux Yalll
May 9th to vote for the nomination
OF William J. Bryan for President
We commend the present Stat
Administration for its high per
sonal and Official integrity, lnc
challenge q comparison of ito REQ
ord with any and all Of its preds
cessors.
We condemn the Democratic LARS.
latufe Of 1883 for its extrayasaat az.
penditures Of public money ,amountins
to $1,b9a, 1856 in 1899, a. opposed e
1,2s3 ,Sn1l, expended by the proceed.
ing Legislature, an excess OF 1910.
7s4 65, not including the sum Of 500
OCO for public education nor the S63 AK
for purchase of State farms.
We further condemn eaid Le9isls.
ture for the careless blundering and
careless legislation, including more
gross blunders and demonstrations
laws than ever before enacted BY any
General Assembly in North Carolina.
We further denOuuce the machine
leaders Of the Democratic rarty fol
laying the whip on the back. AZ the
Democratic Legislature and fnvcips
them into enacting and submitting q
disfrahchisinR constitutional amend.
N vs0 tAks -
pledges OF the party. made not only
officially in their campaign handbook
but by members OF the General Assem-
bly, and other Democratic candidates
for Office in their canvass before the
people. We denounce them net only
( for doing this in violation Of their
| pledges, but also for su bmitting a mea-
| sure most Odious in form and danger
Gus In effect. That General Assembly
being composed of. some of the best
! lawyers OF the party, must have
known, or at least had q reasonable
doubt. not only as to the unconstitu-
| tl"nality of the monstrous provision of
Section 8, known as the "grandfat her
| clause" in said amendment, but also
OF the great danger of that unconstitu.
tional sectional section falling, leav-
ing the remainder of the amendment
| to stand, thus disfranchising by an ed.
ucational qualification City or sixty
thousand white voters of North Caro-
lima, who in 1898 gave the Democratic
party power IN the Legislature, and
| whose ignorance is no fault of their
| own but is chargeable to the neglect of
the Democratic party, which now seeks
to olsfranchise them and make their
ignorance a crime alongside that Of
the felon.
But even If the proposed amendment
were not unconstitutional Gas it clear
~ ls), still it is especially objection
able in the following particulars:
gay In that it dignifies with the right
OF suffrage the most vicious, trouble
some and obnoxious class of the negro
population, and completely disfran
chlses the most faithful. kindly and or
derby element of that race.
(b) In that, while clamoring for white
supremacy and declaring that no white
man shall be disfranchised under this
amendment, they have so written their
amendment that every white boy be-
coming Of age after 1908 stands on the
same footing with the negro. aud can
not vote unless he is able to read and
write.
fc) In that by the latter provision.
they have made it possible for the ed
ucated negro after 1908 to cast his bal
lot while the unfortunate son of the
Write men who have been the strength
OF true democracy stands without
vote at she ballot box. They slaughter
the suffrage of the son whose father
they dare not openly attack.
(d) In that this suffrage amend
ment does not remove the negro from
politics or settle the negro question in
North Carolina
(e) In that every voter who has not
PAID bis poll tax as much as FIVE
months before the State election and
eight months before the national cleo.
ton, shall be disfranchised as much as
II be were convicted of felony or were
an ignorant negro. The purpose of
this provision is not only to disfran-
chise every good honest citizen who
unfortunately cannot pay his taxes by |
the hrst of March preceding the cleo
tlon, but further to try to bride the vo
Ter Co surrender his suffrage at the ex
pense IF the public school fund of he |
state, which is derived from poll taxes
Theie turks behind this proposition |
still, greater danger to the public |
schools of the State, for with the adop
tlon of the amendment the opponents
OF free schools In North Carolina will |
at once raise the cry that every dollar
raised for public instruction means the |
increase of the number of negro vo-
ters, and thus the poor white mans
son will be chained in bondage of i9-
norance and disfranchissd to prevent
the education of the negro voter.
There is no white supremacy In this.
The constitutional question pre-
by the proposed amendments is
one that must be determined by the
judgment and conscience of eac indi-
vlduai voter. Therefore, we do not
make 1t party question. We state tn.
evils and dangers and leave the voters
OF all parties 10 pass their verdict in
the light Of these facts. The question
IL above party, and no one should be
more active and anxious in our iudy
ment to defeat it than the rank anc
hle Of the Democratic party.
The Peoples Party ia and h-s always
been more distinctly than any orh-.
party IN North Carolina white msp's
party, and is more anxious than an,
OtneT party TO snlve1fhe race problem
and TO force all parties to a discuss...r
OF the great economic Issues sn y,rsI,,
affecting the welfare of all wealth IRA
dncers OF the State and nation and do
cency in politics.
Therefore, We propUse in lien nf tbs
dangerous amendment, the best solo
tlon OF the race question that is possi
Die as long as the 10Th amendment r.
the Constitution of the United States
stanos-a solution which deprives no
white man in North Carolina now or
hereafter OF his right Of suffrage, to-
Amend Section 6, Art. 6, Of the Con
stitutioD of North Carolina BY insert
ing among the disquali6cations for
office, enumerated therein, the follow
ing, VIE: All negroes and all--persons
OF negro descent to the third genera
ton inclusive.
Ii the Democratic Legislature which