The age-herald., 1901-10-09
ANSWER TO GENERAL SHELLEY.
Charles Denegre Discusses Sections of
 the New Constitution.

To the Editor of the Age-Herald:
 General Shelley's reply to MT. James Weatherly brings out some points of the suffrage plan" that certainly must ap- peal to the people of this state as an ar gument in favor of ratification.
 As your esteemable paper is open to dis cussion on the merits of the points at is- sue, will endeavor to meet the generals argument and show that, though honest in his conviction, he imagines evils that will not exist.
 At the outset wish to say that hard ly think 1t fair to accuse such distin- guished gentleman as General Shelley of being Ian adept at vote suppression" and 'an expert at ballot-box stuffins" firm ly believe that he is absolutely honest in his conviction. This would be a funny world if we all thought alike. In this case General Shelley is honestly working, as he thinks, for the best interest of the state.
 In the first place he Is opposed to the plan of registration. There is too much chance for dishonesty. I would like to call the Generals attention to the fact bI, nothing under heaven will stop him. Such Is beyond the power of human law It is also necessary to consider that a law which works harm to no one has never been enacted. Then again the general must not suppose that all the registers are going to be thieves. As a general rule most men are honest. Thieves are the exception. It seems that this state has fair share of men who would not sell their honor for few votes. and who know there is God in heaven. We must trust something to the honesty of our fel- low-citizens. Otherwise government is at an end and anarchy must prevail By re- sorting to such line of argument, Gen. eral Shelley confesses the weakness of his side.
 The next question that concerns General Shelley very much Is the "get ting rid of the ignorant negro" He claims the plan will not accomplish this end To fully con sider this question 1t Is necessary to take the fifteenth amendment of the constitu- l tion of the United States into account Can General Shelley or any of his friends devise plan to get around this amend | ment? Can he disfranchise the ignorant negro with as little harm to the white man ,as is provided in the new constitu- tion? I dare say he cannot. As I stated in former article, 1t is impossible to dis franchise the ignorant negro without the white man to a certain extent, and at the same time not violate the constitution of the United States. In view of this fact the new suffrage plan Is the most per- feet ever devised by man.
 In regard to "carpet bag days" General Shelley justifies the practices that were resorted to then to get rid of the negro. Can he truthfully say that the same evil does not exist now? To my mind 1t does. The evil is with us in another form. The negro is more educated than he was then Consequently he Is stronger in his own power without the "carpet baggers" He Is not only stronger but he multiplies like the Belgian hare.
 To cope with the situation we must have a disfranchising suffrage plan of tbe strongest type or submit to negro rule. If the new constitution possessed no other blessing than its suffrage plan it should be adopted. Ratification means victory for the welfare of the state Non-ratifica- tion means defeat, the echo of which will be heard when all will have passed to that land where all. can vote alike. CHARLES DENEGRE. Birmingham, October '. 1901.