The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-28

eads to fraud in something else. The teaching of the young men that 1t is right to swindle m elections Is but one step from teaching them it is right tc do it in other things. It has been necessity in the past. Let 1t not be so in the future. I have heard men in this county-men whom I know have election after election stood at the polls and carried the election for the Demo- crat:, raise their hand to Almighty God and swear that, come what will, they will not do 1t again for anybody 0; under any circumstances, and I want to be able to go back to them and tell them that if they adopt this Constitution. which we have made here, if they adopt it with this suffrage plank in it, that necessity will forever be gone. want to remove from the name of this fair State, the charge of fraudulent elections. I want to inn prove the citizenship of this section. You could not improve 1t as far as everything else is concerned. You could improve it only in that one par ticulaf, because we have as good cit izens in the Black Belt as can be found anywhere on Gods green earth, but l beG you, gentlemen, to pass this ar- ticle. Adopt this law. Send it to the people. Let them ratify our action, and by their ratification, let us of Ala bsma and of the Black Belt be relieved once and for all from the body of this curse. (Applause.)
 MT. Cunningham (Jefferson)-Recog- nizing the conditions as they exist in Alabama, and believing that these con- ditions are not for the best interest of this State, now and hereafter and being sincerely desirous to bring about the best conditions for my country, I have as citizen, and as a member of the State Senate, and as President of that body, done everything in my power to bring about this Constitutions al Convention. I would, therefore, be untrue to myself, and disloyal to those who have honored me by nominating me twice, and electing me once as a delegate from my Senatorial District to Convention for the purpose of re- vising the Constitution of the State. if l were to refuse the present oppor- tunity.
 I must submit a few remarks to the Convention, but I am free to confess that I hardly know what to say. I might indulge in throwing a few flow CTS at both the majority and minority of the Committee, but inasmuch as each has promised the other a fu- neral procession, thought I would wait and See which it was, and then I will furnish the flowers as a wreath for the monument of the ma jority report. or the tombstone of the minority report. I will wait until the people decide that question, before I make use of any flowers.
 The constitutionality of this propo- sition has been thoroughly discussed by able jurists. They are lawyers. believe, when they are at home, but they are jurists in this Convention. Many times I have wished in my life that I was lawyer This is one time I am glad that I am not If I were lawyer I would not only be expected to have conscience. but would also be expected to have an opinion, the lawyers here on the contrary only have an opinion. and leave the conscience to rest. Oaughter).
 Now as I say the question as to the constitutionality of the measure has been thoroughly discussed. and I have been on both sides of 1t every time I have heard a speech. and I never got truly strengthened out until yesterday. | The gentleman from Barbour (Mr. DenO and the distinguished gentle man from Montgomery, l mean the senior Governor in age, the junior Gov ernor in priority (Mr. Oates) got me
  tinguished gentleman from Madison I (Mr. Walker) strengthened me out. and | 1 thought I was pretty straight and content. but, after hearing the argu- ment of my friend and colleague (Mr. | White) whose patriotism is at par with any man to be found in this country, whose ability as a lawyer stands among the best ,and Democrat with out alloy, I got very crooked again and when the distinguished gentleman from Montgomery, I mean the gentle man junior Tn age, but senior in priority as Governor (Mr. Jones) discussed this | question. became very crooked, and when he laid down the proposition contained in that Chinese queue | just gave it up. daughter.) However I was told by lawyer friend of mine, very sincerely and with much fervor, | that that case had no reference to the | Fifteenth Amendment at all. and that | 1t applied to the Fourteenth Amend ment, and then got all righ4. or near | ly so, but there was still one point as to the unconstitutionality of this plan that had not been answered, and that was that any regulation that made it impossible for any class of our citi- zens to attain the requirements of the law, made it unconstitutionaA
 Now. it Is impossible for negroes to participate either as grandfathers or | descendants of those who fought in the Revolutionary War. They did. to a certain extent, of course, in the other war. But when the distinguished gen tleman from Calhoun. the President of | this Convention, in answering that ar gument yesterday made the quite mod | est remark that women were disquali- fled and it wah constitutional, and that i inasmuch as none of them could ever get to be a man, I agreed with him as 1 a physiologist. that that proposition was true and therefore l believe the re- port of the majority of this committee is constitutional.
 And yet, MT. President. I propose to discuss this question from constitu- tional standpoint. Now. don't get scared. l have no reference to the un- written Constitution of England or to the written Constitution of the United States or of the State of Alabama. | have reference to a Constitution that existed before there was history even. I | have reference to a Constitution that existed before there was a written Con- | stitution or a recorded fact in the his | tory of man. I refer to the Constitu- l tion of nature itself, and it is from the l standpoint of natural law and | few of the facts of history that I propose to discuss this report of the Committee on Suffrage and Elections.
 MT. President, it not only provides a suffrage plan that fits the case. but in my honest, candid judgment, 1t has I