The age-herald., 1901-07-25

plan to put in mans hand the ballot and make that a hereditary possession? Not at all. Those who get it under this clause get it by meausring up to re- quirements of the law. It is simply a provision not to take away the right to vote from a class of citizens who now have that right. An hereditary privilege is one that goes by inheritance
 MT. Lowe of Jefferson asked Judge Walker if there would not be different standard applied to the son of a soldier and the son of a naturalized foreigner who now had the right to vote.
 Judge Walker said he would come to that later. He continued by saying that the end of the civil war found Alabama with ample power to deal with the suff- rage The fourteenth amendment then put a penalty upon a State which re- stricted It's suffrage except for crime or rebellion. After the passage of this amendment Alabama still had the right to say who should vote. The Republicans then adopted the fifteenth amendment, which provided that no State should deny the right to vote to any class on the ground of race, color or previous condt- tion of seryitude. It will be observed that this amendment did not confer on the negro the right to vote. Before this amendment any State could have confined the right to vote to any class or race. There has certainly been no curtatlment by that amendment of the right of a State to curtail the class of voters, say to those who were of good character.
 Some confusion in the public mind ex- ists as to the fifteenth amendment on s- count of applying some language to . used by the Supreme Court of the United States in construing the fourteenth amendment The fourteenth amendment applied to all alike, but the fifteenth amendment recognized the right of state to apply rules of inequality, There is no such thing as guaranteed political equal ity.
 We simply by this provision draw the lines closer and limit the suffrage to those of good character.
 A Republican View.
 Mr. Freeman of Winston said he thought these proposed amendments as to suffrage could have been enacted by the Legisla- ture and the expense of this convention saved to the people In reference to the right of franchise proposed he did not | agree with the majority report, for if | enacted it would be failure. If 1t was constitutional why make so many other provisions in the report as to property and educational qualifications, He said the plan was so arranged that in the hands of politicians it would prove a disgrace to the State. The good character clause was an opening for fraud. The prpperty qualification would be humiliating tc thousands. He believed in some remedy for the dishonest electors but thought that honesty was the only remedy. The | Mississippi and Louisiana plans were | practical failures. The registration clause was partisan measure. The grandfather | clause was popular where 1t had not beer l tried, but where 1t had been 1t was g failure. Large numbers refused to avai themselves of it's provisions by confess ing their ignorance. He concluded by saying in answer to question from MT | Graham of Talladega that he would moi vote for any scheme which would disfran- chise any white man, but would vote fol a scheme which might disfranchise ne groes.
 MT. Banks of Russell.
 MT. Banks of Russell opposed the ma. jorty report. He said he was like the old darkey who said he was a Baptist because he couldn't explain away the Bible. He himself opposed the suffrage | plan because he couldn't explain ava, | the constitution. This convention had great authority, but it was under the au. thority of the constitution of the United | States. The south meant to free herself from this negro question. This was why she attempted to separate from tho Union. This did settle one phase of it. the question of slavery. Then came thu reconstruction period, and the question o. negro domination finally settled by heroic means For twenty-five years we have had no such thing as negro domination 1T the south. Still the negro question is un
 settled. Is not this strange? Alabama ii still sick and suffering and we are called