The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-01-30
EXTRACTS FROM REPRESENTA-
TIVE KITCHENS LETTER.

We read with genuine pleasure the
pointed. earnest communication in the
Washington Post from Representative
Kitchin, OF the Fourth district. It is
capital. and is as successful as well
written L is ar excellent produc-
ton throughout and abounds in points.
illustrations and arguments It has 50
many noticeable. quotable passages
that one is embarrassed by the riches.
1t Is highly creditable TO his discern
ment, his accurate range of informa-
ton. his faithful study Of the situation,
his strong presentation of facts and
conclusions. In his first paragraph he
glances at past conditions that were so
depIorable and hurtful to North Caro-
lima He says:
Those conditions damaged industry.
distracted public attention. excited
fear, prejudice, and violence. endan-
gered the peace of men and the safety
Of women, and rendered necessary. in
the opinion Of our legislature. import
ant changes in our qualifications for
suffrage. They arose from a mass of
voters who, after thirty years expert.
ence were too ignorant to understand
\ the issues, too irresponsible to consider
| them, and too ~prejudiced to appreciate
them Such a mass is a constant men
ace to good government.
you criticise the mendme upon
| which our people will vote next August
because il does not d~isqualify the great
| mass of unlettered White men; its oppo-
| nents in North Carolina say this makes
it unconstitutional We think a full
knowledge of North Carolina conditions
| and a Thorough CnmnrahanSinn of the
| amendment will convince the impartial
| critic of its necessity, fairness, and con-
~stitutionality."
Commenting upon the fourth and
fifth sections of the proposed amend
ment to be voted on in August next,
| he says:
Its purpose is not to injure, humili-
ate, or impede any class of our citi-
zenS. Ut will stimulate education, insure
peace remove many rue from
discussions of economis questions. We
seek not strife and oppression, but safe
ty and good government. The equal
| protection of our laws will continue to
bless those who do not vote as we'll as
those who do"
He refers to a very wrong concep-
ton of the two classes of illiterate
| voters in the two races. 1t is a blunder
to suppose that 100 white illiterateS are
no better qualified to vote than 100 il
| lit2rate SamboS. AS we have had occa-
| sion to say in The Messenger, in the
past you could find in all the counties
members of the white voters who could
neither read nor write who were real
ly fairly well informed as to public
| question:. We heard a leading citizen
of Wilmington within two years say
that his father had a White overseer
| prior to the war who was a man of eX-
cellent judgment, and rarely intelli-
gent for one who could not read. But
let Month Cardinals young and gifted
representative be heard as to this
point:
Common sense and observation
teach that those whose ancestors have
taken part in government, and who
have from their fathers and grand
fathers learned the rights and glories
of free institutions, receiving by ira
dition and inheritance a capacity and
aptitude for Independent thought and
conduct, are, though unlettered. as in
telligent-and frequently more intelli-
gent-than educated persons who have
not inherited that capacity, and
who had the advantage of no such ira
ditions.
Political motives, when the best men
of the south were not heard in nder-
taking to elevate the negro to the po-
litical position to which white men had
= IiooS oSSS oNN " II
sure his right to vote, but merely en-
acted hat it should net be denied on
account of three particular things.
The unlettered white man, on
the contrary, has the courage of his
convictions. He is intelligent. AT his
fathers feet he learned the lessons of
government end the duties and rights
of citizens. He is superior to the I'M
lette1ed NJ gro in information and intel
lectual grasp. He has for generations
attended the courts and habitually
heard legal and political discussions.
He understands American fundamental
principles He is a patriot. He fought
at Kings Mountain, at Guiiford, and
Tt enton. He was with Washington at
Yorktown, with Jackson at New Or
leans, with Lee and Grant at Apo
mattox. His moral faculty and firm
ness of purpose exceed those of the un-
lettered negro. He has claimed and
exercised political rights for hundreds
of years. Seven centuries ago he wrung
the great charter from tyTant King
John. He made Luther'S reformation
successful. He shouldered his rife,
builded his cabin on the frontier, and
laid the foundations of the country's
greatness. Is he not better qualified
to exercise a patriotic, intelligent, in
corruptible ballot than and u~neducated
man. whose race and ancestry have
never approached him in liberty, in
government, in progress, in mind? 1t
cannot be surprising that more of his
race thar of any other will vote under
any reasonable system of suffrage"
We will give something more from
Mr.. Kitchin, especially what he says
concerning the supposed "abridging
section" There is a vast amount of
writing pom the amendment that has
been DONE and is doing. Even a jour-
nalist cannot take the time to read all,
but he can read some, and give now
tracts from the discussions.
BRYAN ON ISTS