The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-12

II
 mission three registrars in each county
 These three men are 10 pass on the crt'-
 dentials of all who may offer to
 register before January 1st. 1903. They
 are to admit as voters. for life. all whom they want to admit: they are to
 reject all whom they wish to reject.
 10th by the nature of the oath pro-
 vided for them and by the expenses
 and difficulties of appeal. the decisions
 of the registrars are practically arbt. trary and irrevocable. Three wholly
 irresponsible men in each county. pro-
 tected by the organic law from being
 made to suffer for any wrong done in
 their official capacity, are made the supreme judges of every mans charac- ter and right to vote.
 1 Now who are these men? To what
 grade of man and to what kind of functionary are we asked to commit
 this sacred and august authority?-to
 the kind of man who will do this work. for weeks at a time. at g a day! The | best men of the county might be
 secured If the work were made a labor | of love without compensation, or if the | work were made labor of gain with
 adequate compensation. But we are ask ed to commit the sacred and responsibl | task of fixing, for life, the electoral
 standing of the whole adult population
 of this State. in every precinct and in every county, to the hands of g men. Does anybody doubt what these men | will do? Does anyone imagine that dis 1 criminations will stop with the negro? | Does anyone dream that in the fac- tional politics of each county, the fac
 tion which controls the registrars, will,
 In single night. pass from the bitter
 mood of the neighborhood broil into
 the mood of that serene political catho-
 Iicity which welcomes the registration,
 and embraces the representative, of an | opponent? Are white men going to be
 fair to white men? Is this provision
 going to make for honesty, for peace,
 for party unity in Alabama?
 l And how about the negro? Doea
 anybody suppose that counties like
 Lowndes and Dallas and Perry are
 going to yield their dominant influence
 In the councils and conventions of the
 party? They have been promised a representation based on population
 They will continue to exercise an in-
 fuence based on votes. With no pro- vision Tor the correction of regis.ra.
 ton lists. with no poll tax on men over
 45 (which may be made to include every
 adult negro that doesn't know his age)
 who Is to say that the black counties | will not register. for life. practically
 every negro man in sight? Of course
 the negro won't know it. The white
 men will possess the lists, hold the cer. tificates. and continue to cast the bal | lots. And what beautiful reserve" those votes will be-agsinst the hour of need! Verify the Black Belt is ! writing it's name across the new Con- | stitution in letters of consumate dis. tinction. They are sticking for the pledge plank in that platform. and the are going 1t one better. They are net | only disfranchising the black man
 without touching the white man; they | are disfranchising the black man
 without touching the negro! There are
 some people who know their business pretty well.
 This is the fulfilment of the platform:
 platform which. for many reasons, need not constrain the conscience of i any sane man. In the first place. the | majority of the committee have them | selves abandoned 1t, for they propose to disfranchise for"vagrancy." and
 vagrancy is not an infamous crime" In the second place two-t thirds of the Democrats of the State failed to vote affirmatively for the Convention, and therefore the platform does not repre- | sent the mandate of an actual ma jority of the party. Tn the third place, there can be no violation of the con fidence of the people, in case in which | the completed Constitution is to te referred for ratification to the people | themselves.
 Yet this is the platform-which many
 have the wisdom to lament without the
 courage to dlsobey-under which we
 are invited to take the status of the
 voter out of the hands of the law, and
 put 1t into the hands of % nh
 put faction over faction; men
 who free of cost" can register thou
 sands of negroes that will never be
 allowed to cast a voluntary ballot. but whose votes can be reserved for tho emergencies of the controlling clique of the county; men who may make on ? standard for the citizen in Macon, on; in Butler. and still another in Mohil!i
 men who, without remedy, may register
 for life. at their own sweet will. all our adult illiteracy. incompetency. and
 venality (black and white) in the proud electorate of this loved and honored State!
 And this is "Reform!'' This is the
 result of the plea which MT. Knox | made, with such truth and dignity or | feeling, at the convention which nom mated the lamented Sanford; the plea which has moved the hearts of many | of our people; the plea Tor a purer
 atmosphere and for fairer political con ditions in which to rear the present generation of the boys of Alabama. | Verify the mountain in its labor has
 brought forth the mouse. And it is not a mouse; it Is a viper. born into
 the silken lap of law. and turned into
 the fair breasts which girdle the peace
 and dignity of great State.
 For. indeed. 1 can see nothing Tn the
 scheme but the formulating of our per
 ennial fraud. The grandfather clause 1 is bad enough. with its maudln and in-
 sulting concessions to men who are
 just as brave. as able, and as willing to
 meet the conditions of peace as they
 were to bear the burdens of war. No
 self respecting soldier or descendant of | a soldier wants 1t understood that 1t | is so doubtful about his getting in"
 as a man of good character" th&t hs
 must be counted in as a special class. The grandfather clause is bad enough, but that clause is not the towering front of the ofense. The front of the offense lies in the very essence of the
 measure; q measure which puts into
 the law itself the frauds that are done
 outside the law. and which transfers
 the informal chicanery of the indi.
 vidual culprit to the very sanctuary oi the processes of the Constitution.