The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1900-10-25
The south and The Suffrage,
\ orfolk, Va, Landmark. !

Numbers of Northern papers are
greatly pleased with some remarks
recently made by Senator Tillman OF
South Carolina, in his frank st and
1t engaging manner. There is no
doubt that Tillman often says i'm
pressive and sensible things. There
IS no doubt that he is man of abili
ty and force. In spite of the en-
thusiasm shown by several of our
Northern contemporaries, however,
we find it impossible to 90 farther in
raise of the pltchfork. wlelder.
What gives his Northern admirers
such a high opinion of Tllman is
seen from the following editorial
comment in the Philadelphia Even.
ing Telegraph:
Senator Tillman, of South Caro-
lima. is not altogether the 'pitchfolk'
fanatic that he Is sometimes repre-
sented as being. He is shrewd q I'D
intelligent observer, and realizes
clearly just how far it is safe for
him and his adherents to 60 in the
furtherance Of their favorite politl-
cal theories. He has given his views
on the Southern Acknowledgement
movement in q current interview, in
which he displays more common
sense and sound judgement than
have been in evidence in the recent
progress Of the conspiracy against
the colored voters Of the lately re
bellious States In Mr.. Tillman's
i bo Iox,ioo IF I'll e
| grandfathers s clause by which the
disfranchisement of the blacks has
been Effected in l. ,uisiana and North
Carolina, is such plain discrimi-
nation against class of the popu-
tation on account of color that it is
in contravention 10 the AINth
Amendment to the National Consti-
tuition. and will be declared uncon-
ssitu tional by the Supreme Court of
the United States, as soon as it com s
before that tribunal for adjudica.
ton"
The Landmark is inclined to be-
leve that Senator Tillman is right
about the grandfather clause" We
have always said that its acceptance
by the Supreme Court is very doubt
full. The South Carolinian and
Mississippian plans, by which the
elimination of the ignorant and
venal negroes is effected without
any resort to an ancestral qualifica-
ton, have already been passed upon
by the Supreme Court and pronoun-
ced Constitutional.
Of course, it is not strictly correct
to say that the grandfather clause
IF Gets the disfranchisement of the
blacks, and we hardly think that
Senator Tillman said it. The object
of the grandfather clause is to ex-
cept the whites from the restrictions
which apply to the negroes. Again,
the Telegraph is in technical error
when it adjudges this clause to be a
plain discrimination against class
Of the population on account OF
color" That is the effect, to be
sure but the legal trouble with the
grandfather clause is thst it creates
q privileged class. When you say
to body of men that all Of them
who can read and write or can pr I'VE
| tuC OWuoISukp VI q AttAO pIoPoI ~
may vote, you do nothing unfair.
Men who are not now able to meet
the qualification may qualify them
selves before the next election if
they are in earnest On the other
! hand, when we say that every man
/ may vote if he Can read and write,
or can prove the ownership of a GER
tain amount of property, Or can
show that his ancestors could have
voted before slavery was dis-estab.
lished, then we open to one class an
avenue of escape from the educa-
tional and property qualifications
which is barred completely and eter
nally against the other class. The
fact that one class is white and IN l
other colored is well-known, 1st as
it is we'll known that an alternative
educational and property quahfi "a
ton will cut off ten or twenty negro
votes to every white one; but the
ancestral clause would De equally
unfair if there were not negro in
the country.