The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1901-10-10
WoRKINcMEN.
How Do You Like This Demo.
cratic Record?
Were Alabsma's Constitution In Force
In Ohio, How Many Of You Would
Have q Vote?

In Ohio, How Many Of You Would
Have q Vote?
Whether force or fraud have carried
the Southern states at their elections
in the last 25 years, 1t is evident that
the ofiice-holding class, who have pro
flied by what has been done, are get
ting mighty anxious lest they lose
their grip upon their salaries, and
hence, we see all along the line IN the
ranks of the Democratic office-holders
of those states, eagerness to clamp
themselves into their positions by state
constitutions. The latest attempt in
this lines is that just framed for sub
mission to the people of Alabama, with
a provision which prohibits change
in representation by an amendment to
the constitution; that is to say, that
seeks to tie the hands of the people for
all time to come from making any
future change In the constitution it.
self. The remarkable feature of the
constitution Just enacted entirely by
Democratic votes,-132 to lis that
It hits the poor white man of the state
as hard as 1t does the black voter.
There are In Alabama still a few out
spoken citizens and newspapers that
point out pretty clearly this remark
able phase of the pending constitution,
and denounce 1t as It deserves. The
discrimination against the white voter
who Is poor man pretty effectually
refutes the claim Of the Democratic
party made in the Northern states
that 1t Is the poor mans friend. In
this section, that party would stand
no change except by such q claim; but
the political machinery in the South
ern states 1t has controlled 20 long,
irrespective of the wishes Of the vast
body of voting citizens, permits It to
do as 1t may please there. and to en-
act such legislation as II likes. Thus
the Alabama measure may be taken
as fair gauge Of what the Democrats
would do anywhere II their party had
the power; not all Democrats. of
course, but the ofiice-seeking man
ayers, for It is one Of their boasts that
their party is the same always and
everywhere, never has changed. and
never will change. The Alabama con-
stitution proposes to make $500 Of pro-
perty the main test Of suffrage after
1908, whether q man has 1t himself or
has a wife who has 1t. The Birming-
ham Times, among its comments. has
these caustic expressions:
when Kolb was elected governor
Of the state Of Alabama in 1892, he
was elected by white men, and the
Democrats counted him out, and de-
vised the Sayer Election law for the
purpose of disfranchising, not colored
men, but white men, In future, and
1S days only being given In which to
register did disfranchise many. The
new constitution does not require the
registrars to give more than one day
to each beat for registration, and II
is natural to presume that there was
a purpose in so making the law, and
that the intention Is to have thous-
ands to fail to register.
why should the poor be disfran-
chised; and did not the same God
make the rich and the poor?
three registrars in each county can
perpetrate all frauds they see proper
without fear of punishment.
'"The only way the poor and Hitter
ate can save themselves from disfran.
chisment II to 60 out In mass and vote
against the new constitution.
"The Democrats have pretended tc
be the friend of the poor white man
but now they say they must disfran.
chise him In order to disfranchise the
negro"