The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1901-03-07

"Au courts shall be open, and ev-
cry person having al injury done
him In his lands, goods, person, ar
reputation shall have remedy by due
course Of law, and right and justice
administered without sale, denial,
or delay"
1t will be observed by reading
the foregoing section that the bill of
rights of the constitution Of my
State provides that all courts of the
State shall be open at all times for
the purpose of granting such RENE
dies a. are necessary Ia secure TO the
citizen substantial justice In all mat
ters that affect his person, property,
or reputation, and that such remedy
shall be granted without delay.
A registration act to be valid must
be thing of regulation simply, and
the regulation must be necessary
and reasonable; 1t must be to secure
and facilitate the right of suffrage
and not impair, abridge, or destroy
1t; registration must be subordinate
to suffrage and not its master and
destroyer.
In Paine's Law of election page
30O) is the following:
"The question whether a legisla-
tive provision is or Is not constitu-
tional, its validity always turns up.
on the question whether it is or is
not reasonable and convenient reg
ulation of the right to vote, or is,
under pretense Of regulat ion and
abridgment, a subversion or re-
straint of that right"
Judge Cooley thus states the law
at page 757 of his work on Constitu-
tlOnal Limitations:
Cali regulations of the elective
franchise, however, must be reason
able, uniform, and impartial; they
must not have for their purpose de.
rectly or indirectly to deny Oh
abridge the constitutional right OF
the citizen to vote or unnecessarily
impede its exercise-if they do, they
IL ust be declared void"
In Page vs.. Allen (58 Pa. Report
page 338), among other things, Mr.
Freeman, in reporting this case il
the American decisions, says in {
note:
"The elaborate dissenting opinions
of Justice Thompson and SharsWOOC
clearly enforce the rule that regis
tration laws should not be made 81
vexatiOus or SO embarrassing as tC
impede or to discourage the attempt
to register"
In the case of Monroe VS.. Collins
az Ohio, 665) it is very properly
said:
"That the legislation should be tC
facilitate rather than to impede the
right of suffrage. Between the leg
islative power and the legal elector
no matter who or what he is, th'
constitutional provision stands as
bulwark for the protection of hi
right to vote.
In the case of Kenner vs.. Welf
144 Mass, page 497) we find:
'Statutes can not impair the righ
to vote. Though they may regulate
it. exercise, every statute regulating
it must he consistent with the con
stitutionally qualified voters righ
to suffrage when he claims his righ
at an ele tion-these statutes ma,
require proof Of the right consisten
with the right itself, not to abridg
or impair the right, but to requir
reasonable proof of the right.
Any legislatation by which th
exercise Of his right is postponed
diminishing them, must be I'LL
constitutional, unless it can be dt
tended on the ground that it is reasor
able and necessary in order that tn
right of the proposed voter may b
ascertained and proven"
Brightly in his leading cases O
Elections, says:
= "The power to enact registratiO
laws, SO as to insure orderly exercis
of the right Of suffrage within tn
limits prescribed in Capen vs.. Fo
ter is now generally admitted; that
to say, they must be reasonable all
uniform regulations, and not undt
> the color of regulation subvert or il
! juriously restrain the right ITSELF"
Among the numerous other CASE
!, bearing on this point are the fo
lowing:
"Del VS.. Kennedy, 40 Wiscol
sin, 500.
Steanes VS.. Connor, % Nebr., %
! Morris VS. Powell (Ind.)
American Law Register, $50, l:
r Ind, 291.
: "White VS.. Commissioners
o Multnomah Co., 13 Oregon, 317.
+ "Daggett VS.. Hudson, 43 Obi
g 54s."
$ These decisions leave no doubt
J. to the restrictions that are place
d upon the legislature when it unde
It takes to frame registration az
IS After the legislature had adopt
r the sections which I have quot,
e with respect to mandamus, it W
l. an easy matter for the Democrats
l. carry the State of North Carolina
is any kind Of a majority which tn
G. might desire to have counted al
% returned. The provisions contai
[e ed therein rendered it absolute
le impossible to secure an adjudicati
= of the right Of the citizen to We
Is until after the election had be
le held, which necessarily postpon
10 and deferred his right to such til
le as to render it impossible for him
a. exercise it as provided by the ce
N stitution of our State.