Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1900-09-20
RESTRICTED SUFFRAGE.

hES niO EO OUT hHVS'
There has been persistent and contln-
ued effort on the part of the Virginia De-
mocracy 10 restrict suffrage, and to place
all political power in the hands of a few-a
preferred class Of citizens.
The fret effort in that direction was
made by an amendment to the State Con-
stitution which required the prepayment
of head or poll tax as qualification for
voting, At the time the amendment was
offered and adopted by the Democracy, 1t
was pretended that the measure was in
tended to increase the revenues Of the
State. Very coon it was discovered that
the real purpose Of the amendment was
to deprive the poor men of the country of
the right to vote. The Republicans and
Readiusters gained control of the State for
brief period and repealed the poll tax
qualification for voting, once again restor-
ing free suffrage to the citizens Of Virginia
When the Democracy regained control
of the State in 1888 no time was lost in de-
vising new schemes for restricting or sup
pressing suffrage. Before, their purpose
had been effected by Constitutional enact
ment, but the plan was changed, and un-
fair election laws ard methods were put in
operation. The Democracy began to coz
struct an election machine that has at last
been made perfect in its capacity for prac-
ticing unmeasured fraud without giving
the persons dehauded any means for as
serting their rights or Furnishing those who
robbed them of their votes. In this way
the negro counties were the first to be
made Democratic, and for some time the
election machine did not find it necessary
to extend its fraudulent methods to the
white sections Of the State. But as soon
as it was damonstl ated that the white dis
tricts-the Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Con-
gressional Districts-were becoming large
ly Republican, the machine began to use
systematic frauds in those districts, to try
to keep them Democratic. At last they
effected their purpose in those districts
and succeeded in counting in Congressman
who were not elected.
At first the Democrats denied that
frauds were being committed in the State,
but the exposures became too frequent to
be denied. Then they began to admit
that cheating was done, but justified their
conduct by claiming that it was the only
way to prevent negro supremacy. There
might have been some reasonableness in
that claim had the frauds been confined to
the negro districts. When it became gen.
orally known that they had been put in
operation in the white districts it became
apparent to the Democratic machine that
it could no longer shield itself behind the
negro supremacy scare, and that it would
have to change its plans again for restrict
ing suffrage. Then they rut forward their
scheme of holding constitutional conven-
ton, with the avowed purpose of making
an educational qualification and, perhaps,
property qualification for voting. The
Legislature at its last session passed an act
which provided for submitting to the
voters the question of whether a constitu-
tional convention should be held. That
act was partisan, unfair, dishonest and
outrageous. 1t gave only about eighty
days time from the passage Of the act to
the time of holding the election. 1t gave
great advantage to those who were the
advocates of convention as against those
who were opposed to it in the means that
were furnished for casting ballots. There
was a very email vote poled at the cleo
ton and less than one-sixth of the quail
fed voters Of the State voted for holding
the convention. The white districts voted
against and the negro counties for it. Yet
the Democratic machine brazenly boasts
that the people of Virginia have demanded
and voted for constitutional convention.
The Virginia Democracy are now trying
to keep the constitutional convention from
being made an issue in this campaign They
are afraid to talk about their purpose to !