The sun., 1900-08-05

| Legislature, carried away by his arguments
submitted 70 the people inc QUESTION 9t no,SnS ba
at the same time TO elect delegates t2 thls S oon,
vention. The proposition was carried by an
SesfSn s, %S. gsss.o 10 Sha Tame ave H
tuition for the State. to be based on the Idea oi
white supremacy and negro disfTanshisement.
| The convention was domlnated oy Seiia,oi
| George who insisted on provision reqnlrlnG
education as basis OF the suffrage. But In the
latter days OF the convention strong sentl-
sSs @kes poned
out that there were ii 600 white men In Missis-
sippi, many Of them Confederate veterans
ShG could not read asd VINO toS esa .ToSs
10 resist and Senator George consented 70
the famous -unders,andiaaT ,ha, clause as a..
sSqsh aS, Il .oas,d be sssy as Il. spI q, the
Constitution Under that clause 1t was pro-
vided that In case voter could not read or
writs he might demand a. .as bs bssss ,psss toe foe
citizenship by asking him 10 interpret section
OF the Consti tuition
The provision however, s1qsq rIss1sr an sbp.ants Spa
power to register or not to register voter.
II he wishes an applicant on the rolls he Asks
hun simple auesu99M Nv VINO \ .he ~ ShsGt nsc; IAsGu s
he can 20 into some abstruse legal question as
To the Jurisdiction Of the several courts.
There were two other provisions 2f the Mis-
ont of political power. Tn, apportionment Of
the State was so framed tina the white counties
have majority OF the Legislature thus assuring
Ing 1t In the hands Of the whites, no matter
what political accident might befall the State
The other provision requires that the voter
must pay poll tax OF % year for two years
In advance of the election at which he offers to
vote, This provision, borrowed from Georgia,
has been found most effective In preventing
These provisions cut down the negro suffrage
90 per cent. and left II 40 small that ii could
not possibly elect Constable in any beat
the negro has lost the habit Of going 70 the
@ privilege 3 y Voting the EEeppblicass iicket-ior
Sry hT a Se as SSS he Is Ss
not vote. Moreover. the Democrats have
adopted the system Of making all nominations
pp pS pT%aiy aysos ss'o q the hi ranks OF whs hns
and shutting on Independent candidates. The
control over Office has thus been taken from
the regular election to the anteoedent primary.
There i "a strong vote in these primaries. which
settle the result. When the election proper
comes along a large proportion OF the whites
fail to vote because there, is only one ticket
ln the field. and the negro has even less reason
for voting. The Republican vote OF Mississippi
indicates nothing and gives no idea o. tho
number OF negroes qualified for the suffrage.
which Is three or four times as large IA the
do not care to pay the poll tax fora ballot which
they know Is In hopeless minority and can
drCVIfHllSH iVI
LOUISIANA AND SOUTH CAROLINA.
Louisiana and South Carolina began the agi-
tatlon II the Acknowledgement of the negro
about the same time. Both states had reason
for the change. In South Carolina the negro
voter are In excess OF the whites by 5ov@.
every county. with the negro voting, there
fore, and his ballots counted, the administra-
ton of state, county and local affairs would
be entirely In h; hand When s-l ,hf I whites S
vented various tricks whereby the negro ma
jorities would he wiped out, IL Is unneoes-
ssry to enamerate these tricks heTe. Among
and thin that ballot-box stuffng was easy.
When the farmer or Red-Shlrt crowd came
to the front with Tillnan at their head and
split occurred between them and the conserva-
tive faction of the Democracy. the rich and
nrstocratlc planting element, the ex-slaVe.
holders wh9 had taken South Caroline oyt Of
chise the negroes became powerful. IL is
impossible. or az least difficult and dangerous,
TO stuff ballot boxes and misco,lnt the vote
in the field. and there is always great danger
that one OF the factions will seek TO utilize the
negro vote and demand its protection
South Carolina took a short cut in accomplish
ing Acknowledgement and therefore attained
latter err state and nd Mississippi could make ma the the
change only by constitutional provision, and
Conventions to do So The Palmetto state"
however, needed only an act Of the Legislature
to eliminate its blacks from, politics,
chisement Is the most brutal OF any In the South
ern States and Ia without any recommendation
whatever. The negro is ditfranchised by
In March. 1890, providing for complete new
registration OF the State 10 be completed by
January, 1898. After that date an educational
or property qualification went into operation,
and no voter is allowed To register. and there-
fore 70 vote, unless he can read or pays taxes
on $500 Of property. Two serious. objections
OF the whites; Frst. that while illiterste whites
coming Of age before 1898 can vote.
those coming Of age a'terwsrd art. shut out;
provision Ia subject TO amendment or repeal
In case a hostile Legislature should. by any
accident. be elected.
"0NE GRAND STEAL, AND THEN TURN HONEST"
Tn, South Carolina Registration act pro-
vided that between March. 1898, and january,
1898. special Boards OF Registration "reated In
every. county should make up a, permanent
roll of voters. which roll is to continue 10 1908.
On that roll these boards were 10 place the
names Of all voters who could read. and such
plain any section OF the Constitution Of the
State when read to them" In other words
the south Carolina Ierislaturs adopted the
stitution, 10 be applied, however. not perma-
n.nty. but only 20 the preparation, OF this roll
Of voters. The law seems somewhat fair on
was made In Its application.
We Will have one grand steal and then turn
honest" was the watchwcrd. The boards
~ registration were made to Understand that
the Legislature had deputed to them the work
of preparing a roll Of voters that would include
every white man. Ia south Carolina, iliterate
or llterate, and shut out all the negroes. All
white applicants were passed by the rpgstra-
ton boards. being asked questions about the
Constitution that no man OF the rqdest inteli-
gence could fail 70 understand while the Ques-
tons rropounded 10 the few negro applicants
for registration were such as to shut them
tcally all the white voters Of the state, but Of
only those negroes who could read or who
owned property This roll i. TO prevail until
1905 the voters coming Of age in the mean
while who can read or who own property be-
ing added 10 II annually. In 1908 new roll
Is 70 be made
THE LOUISIANA PLAN.
In 1892, the advocates Of the di-franchlsement
Of the negro secured n majority In the
Louisiana Legislature in consequence of a
70 get rid of the negro vote, but
It was thought unnecessary 10 call a Con-
stltutional Convention, as Mississippi had done,
and It was resolved to submit the matter in
II was also decldAdto submit the straight propo-
sition TO diSfranchise all illterates, white IA
well rs black. The Louisiana suffrage amend
ment voted on IN 1885, Sas the mS,t h9ne.t
ment rs i applied equally In all respects to
whites and blacks The result OF the amend
ment was unexpact@d. II laid out" the De-
mocracy Of the State and came within an inch
Of turning louisiana over 10 the Renublicqrs;
the Republicans still claim that they
carried the state in 1909 and were counted out
4 panic seized the Democratic party, The New
Orleans Democracy repudlated the suffrage
amsndment although y was plank in the Dem.
ocratic platform Candidates rushed forward to
declare that they did. not think education