The progressive farmer., 1901-05-28
TO REMODEL HER CONSTITUTION.
The Alabama Convention Elects Hon Jno. B
Knox President-His Views.

Admission, President. Accepting
the honor, Mr.. Knox said the white
men of the North would not submit
to negro rule any moro than would
those of the South. Negro domina-
tion, if brought home, he said,
would provoke internal opposition in
both sections.
'This is our problem" said
Mr.. Knox, land Alabamians should
be left to deal with it with our
own sense of responsibility and rec
Ognized relations in the conduct of
Government. We do not hear of any
threatened or real interference with
any Northern State in efforts to pro
vide for purity Of government, and
there should be none with US. It
has not been so much the elevation
of the black man as it has been the
humiliation of the white that has
characterized this conduct of the
past, but much of it has been nulIi
fed by the statesmanlike and wise,
conservative course of the present
chief executive of the United States
who is the President of the whole
country and not merely of one Sec
tiOn.
'We may differ with him po1iti,
cally, - said Mr.. Knox, 'but we must
confess that by his policy he has
been enabled to bring about a re-
united country.
"The Southern man understands
the negro and the negro understands
US, and the only conflict that has
arisen or that is likely to arise has
been brought about by unwise and
unwarranted interference from the
pretended friends of the North. But
we must do what we propose to do,
not by force or fraud, but with
firmness and fairness to all so frame
the law that the purity and sanctity
of the ballot shall be preserved in
every section of the State"
He objected to the Mississippi plan
as a perpetuation of the evil sought
to be averted. He reviewed some
of the provisions of Mississippi,
South Carolina and North Carolina
acts, all of which provide a system
of registration and payment of poll
tax.
Hon. John Tanner, former gov
ernor of Illinois, died suddenly last
week. His death was entirely un-
expected.
OHIO's ANTI-LYNCHING LAW SUSTAINED.
NEW YORK, May 25.-The Outlook
to-day, speaking Of a recent Ohio
court decision, says:
The Supreme Court of Ohio last
week handed down d decision sus-
tanning the cOnstitutiOnality of the
statute Of 1896 making counties re-
sponsible for injuries to person as
well as property committed by mobs.
The act was directed against lynch
ing {; am when, year later, a negro
at Urbana was lynched for assault
ing the wife of the postmaster, his
heirs brought suit against the
county for the damage authorized
by the statute. The decision Of the
Supreme Court last week, confirm
ing that OF the lower court, gives
the statute immediate and complete
effect-awarding the heirs S., 600 and
costs. The decision is OF national
Importance, since the estab blish-
ment of community RESPONSE bli1ty
for mob violence offers the only
effective preventive of SUCH violence.
It is founded also in jus tt g, for mObs
are able to overthrow the authority
of the law only when their mem oors
| have some measure Of support from
the community at large. go make
the community responsible for the
discharge Of its duty to preserve the
supremacy of law enlists the inter
ests of every taxpayer on the side OF
law and order, and forces public
officials TO exhaust ali their powers
TO put down disorder. A law similar
to that in Ohio has teen enacted IN
South Caro- ina, but somehow has
failed Of effectiveness.
Governor Chus Il. Allen, Of Porto
Rico, has presented to the President,
through the State Department, his
first annual report. The Governor
expresses the opinion that scheme
of colonial administration, such as
is followed in the French, Danish