The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-25

| to stand in solid pnatanx 10 the detrf- I ment of their political life. forgetting | all differences of opinion on political | and governmental questions. casting their ballots solidiy for the Democratic l party. Division amongst them meant ruin. If they divided into factions here | was this great mass of illiterate. pur- | chasabIe votes, easily influenced by the appeaI of the interruptions to passion or oreiudice. a constant menace to our peace and security, and standing be- | tween. holding the balance of power. Mr President, the white race must dom,nate because 1t Is the superior race. and in that domination the negro will find the safest pledge and guar antee of just and impartial adninis- | tration. We remember with gratitude | that during the dark days of the war, when our fathers and brothers were at the front fighting the battles Of the Confederacy, the negro was left at horne. ana in many cases was the sole nrotector of the helpless and defense | iess women and children of the South. We recall with gratitude the fact that | In not a single instance did he betray | his trust. He worked In the cotton and corn field to feed the armies that were fighting to rivet the chains of sla verv on his limbs. No higher tribute could be paid to the, institution ot sia- very While all this is true, while we propose to accord to the negro all his rights in the courts. to share with him more than his just proportion of the educational fund and to accord him that justice which the strong always owe to the weak, we can never consent to share with him the responsibilities of Government. MT. President. this is not a sectional issue, the race problem Id no longer confined to the States of | the South. The acquisition of the Sand wicb Islands. the Philippines, Porto Rico and the control of Cuba has forced the race problem to the atten-. | tion of the whole country and In the wise solution of this question we have I the sympathy instead of the hostility | of the North. MT. President. wherever | the white man has come In contact with an inferior race. whether In Mas
 sachusetts, in Kansas, In California or | in Alabama, whether with the Monso- Han. the Indian or the Negro race, race instinct will assert itself and the white will dominate and control. It has been wisely said that this race instinct is of divine ordination. It should not be decried. derided or denied, because It preserves the integrity and purity or each race. The races of men are the creations of God, the markers Of his will He who attempts to overcome this race instinct is defylng power
 which Is higher and wiser than that Of man. and which will In the future as 1t has in the past preserve the social purity and integrity of each race, pre- venting that assimilation and debase-
 ment. the very contemplation or whicn fills our minds with horror and re- puRnance.
 MT. President. the whole force of the opposition to the suffrage plan seems to be directed against Section 4. It Is claimed that it violates the Federal Constitution by indirectly denying the
 suffrage to the negro. It Is not true
 that this section denies the right of
 suffrage to the negro for 1t simply al-
 lows the lawful descendants of soldiers to vote. The son of negro soldier Is embraced in this class to the same ex- tent as the son of the white soldier. It cannot be claimed. however. that be- cause there may be more descendants Of
 white than coiored soldiers that this renders the provision unconstitutional. The same argument could be made against the soldier clause itself. It could be said with the same force of argument that because an educational and property qualification or even poll tax affected more negroes than whites it was unconstitutional. 1 am wholly unable to comprehend the con- sistency or logic of the argument which
 assails the descendant clause as un-
 constitutional and admits the legality
 of the section which excludes all sol-
 diers from the operation of the suffrage qualifications. Neither section singles out the negro as a subject of hostile
 legislation. It is not class legislation,
 for the class legislation denounced by the courts is legislation discriminating against some and favoring others. AS
 Judge Miller declared in the Slaugh- ter House cases the action of the State must be directed by way of diecrimi- nation against the negroes as class,
 on account of their race in order 10
 be violative of the Federal Constitu-
 ton. It may be conceded that the
 clause erects an arbitrary standard Of
 qualification. but the state in the exer-
 else of its sovereign power to regulate
 suffrage can act arbitrarily provided 1t
 does not deny the negro the bal
 lot on account of one of the three
 grounds mentioned in the fifteenth
 amendment AS Senator Morton de-
 clared the State might deny the right
 on the ground that the negro was in-
 competent to exercise the suffrage in-
 telligently It is claimed that the test
 required is not a rule or condition to
 which all citizens similarly situated
 may conform and which is required
 under the decisions of the Supreme
 Court. I challenge those advocating
 the minority report to cite @ single
 decision of the Supreme Court which
 sustains their contention. If the ar-
 gument is sound the soldier clause Is
 equally objectionable for a man who
 was not a soldier in any of the wars
 mentioned could by no exertion on his
 part become a soldier now. It Is
 claimed it establishes a permanent,
 hereditary governing class. which Is
 undemocratic and unAmerican. The
 argument is utterly misleading. The
 descendants of soldiers admitted to the
 suffrage by this clause are already
 voters The son of the soldier does not
 inherit from his father the right to
 vote. He simply retains what he al-
 ready had under the system of uni-
 versal manhood suffrage which has
 heretofore prevailed in this State. It
 Is claimed I've had better pursue the
 course which our fathers travelled and
 use the helm with which they steer
 ad." Mir. President. the conditions
 which surround us are not the con-'
 ditions which confronted our fathers.
 Extraordinary conditions require ex-
 traordinary remedies. l venture the
 prediction that if they had been sim
 ilarly situated, if their slaves had been
 clothed with suffrage and good gov
 ernnent honest elections, and the
 preservation of the splendid clviliza.