The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-30
NO B1ACx BELT DoMINAr1oN.

NO BLACK BELT DOMINATION. The Advertiser copies from The Gal weston News an article to be found on this page, in which is embodied erron- eous, misleading and unjust state- ments of The Birmingham Age-Her- aid. Our Galveston contemporary should not base it's comments about Alabama affairs upon the jaundiced declarations of the Birmingham paper, which started out with a chip on it's shoulder and has been unhappy ever since. The facts all go to show that plan an educational qualification. and yet withhold from the barefoot boys and girls of the State the means of a common school education" It suited The Age-Herald to adopt that view of the case. and since the Convention has been in session it has added to its catalogue of charges one to the ef- feet that everything displeasing to it lis done at the dictation of the Black Belt counties"
 Now the revenue of Alabama in round numbers. is, Say $2,5e0.000. The appropriation for schools is about $l,- 00e.000 or two-fifths of the entire amount that reaches the treasury. If the property of citizens advances in value the amount available for schools will increase accordingly. The plan now before the Convention, to be em- bodied in the Constitution. is mills for schools. out of a total of 1-2 mills tax. Does that look like Alabama is to have an educational qualification and deprive the barefoot boys and girls of the means of a common school education?" The Age-Herald is sim- ply slandering it's State. that's all.
 It is equally as unjust in it's talk about black belt domination. The members from the thirteen counties which have a larger black than white population, are as patriotic as any men on the floor of the Convention. They are the peers of any in ability, influence and patriotism. They have divided on every proposition that has come up. just as delegates do from other parts of the State, and The Age. Herald's silly efforts to create dislike for the black belt will fall to the ground.
 The black belt counties are. consid- cred to be Autauga, BarbolN, Bullock, Dallas. Hale. Greene, Lowndes, Ma con. Marengo, Montgomery. Perry, Russell and Wilcox. That is, their white population is much less than the black. The total white vote of these thirteen counties is 25,259 and only 1791 of them are illiterate. The black vote is 74,o0S. The black belt delegates, however. are just as anxious to protect the white man in the right other part of the State and are domi- hating no plan of suffrage or any edu- cational plan of exclusiveness as the Age-Heraid has contin dally asserted.
 There are other counties than those above mentioned. in which the negroes cut a very large figure. In the Bir- mingham papers own County of Jeff ferson. there are 23, S5S white and IS, ,459 colored voters. In the thirteen coun- ties of Butler. Fillmore, Chambers, Lee, Limestone. Pickens, Pike. Clarke, Choctaw. Colbert. Madison, Tuscaloosa and Washington the total white vote is 39.00S and the colored vote is S5,757, and in several of them the negro vote is larger than the white. These coun- ties are all put down as white coun- ties. when in point of fact, there is a tremendously large negro vote in each one of them.
 The Advertiser is glad Co say it does not believe that there is any prejudice in the Convention against the black belt. The members know too well through what trouble these counties have gone and they know, too, how many thousands of dollars they an- nually pay into the State treasury in excess of their proportion of the States