The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-08

taker of the bribe, or the party guilty of
 the corruption.
 | Twenty-first-The Legislature Is re-
 quired to provide by law for the regula- | ion, prohibition or reasonable restraint | of corporations, associations and combi-
 nations of capital, so as to prevent them | making scarce articles of necessity, trade | or commerce. | All of these provisions are new and are decidedly beneficial. and other good | changes could be mentioned.
 Suffrage.
 Another most important provision is | that regarding the suffrage. The neces- | sity for some provision of law. whereby | intolerable conditions, which have sur ' rounded the exercise of the elective fran | chise in this State could be relieved and | guarded against was one of the main motives for a Constitutional Convention. | 1t has been charged that first. force, and | afterwards fraud, were repeatedly re- ssorted to in portions of the State. to | carry elections Complaints have not been wanting, in this regard from other | sections than the Black Belt So long as 1t is necessary to maintain white supremacy in the counties having negro ma ajorfties, and to prevent the in- fiction upon any of our people of negro domination. there has been a disposition, | in other parts of the State. to condone | tne methods necessary to suppress tne negro vote. But to do that, involved the | doing of things which the white men in these counties have never d sired to do, and which. if done at all, wore done only l because of what they regarded as a ne- | cessity for their own protection and good | government. They have continually
 cried out for relief against the conditions,
 which made these things necessary. The call for Constitutional Convention was l t,,n nf ha Ctnta | Democracy to this cry for help. The new Constitution offers plan which will se- | cure white supremacy anL will. under | the guidance of white men, purify our | politics and secure honest elections. Two l plaVs are proposed, one known as the l temporary plan and the other the per- | manent plan. Under the former. during | the year 1902 all voters are to be regis | tered who come within the term of the l temporary plan. ny three re gistrars, ap- | pointed in each county by three State | officers, namely. the Governor. the Audi | tor and the Commi sioner of Agriculture. On January 1st, 19O}, the temporary plan of registration will cease and the per- manent plan will tben be in force. Reason for Two Plans.
 The reason for adopting two plans-one temporary and the ether permanent-is best shown by the difficulties which the 1oHNeHliOn Hdu lO meet. Amendment to the Federal Constitution
 was the principal barrier, but there was | another condition. which good faith re- | quired the Democratic members to ob- | serve, as fully as possible.
 The act of the General Assembly hav- | ing submitted the call for the Convention, the Democratic party, in State Conven- | tion, indorsed the call, and under an cleo
 ton. advocated by that party, the Demo- nf ho elected.
 -s < Party Pledge.
 The party platform pledged that white | men should not be disfranchised. To frame a provision that would observe this pledge. and eliminate the mass of vicious negro votes, and yet be Consti- tutional, was no light task, hut to it. the Dc mccratic members of the Convention | addressed themselves. They realized
 that there are but three ways of ehmin- atiEg the vicious vote namely. first by force, second by fraud and third by law. The first two of these methods were not | to be thought of, and the effort of the
 Convention was to put an end to them. | It adopted the third method and has pre- | sented a plan which will accomplish the | object in view, namely. the elimination of
 the vicious element from the electorate. And we unqualfiedly renew our party's
 pledge that under the operation of the | registration feature of the new Constitu-
 tion no white man who can now vote will
 be disfranchised.
 Temporary Plan.
 That plan, in brief, is, first, under a | temporary plan, to register during 1902,
 all soldiers, the lawful descendants of
 soldiers and 'all persons who are of good
 character and who und rstand the duties
 and obligations of citizenship, under a | If
 one years old and upwards. It will be
 observed that each and all, of these per | sons are entitled to egister and vote un- | der our present laws. No privilege or
 right is conferred on any per son, there | fore, which he does not already possess,
 under existing laws. For under existing
 laws, all soldiers can register and vote;
 all descendants of soldiers can register
 and vote. and all men of good character
 can register and vote, provided, of course. they are of age and have resid d within
 the State and county the requi. ite length | of time. But under existing laws the vii
 cious and ignorant negro also is entitled
 to register and vote, whether he under
 stands the duties and obligations Of cit- zenship Or not.
 Most Negroes Cannot Register.
 Under the temporary plan, the bulk of
 the negroes cannot register. The regis I utable and suitable persons" in each
 county. appointed by three Democratic | State officials, and whose duty it will be | to vi it every pr cinct in the county at
 least once. and oftener if necessary, prior | to August 1st. 1902. 70 register qualified l electors, and they shall also hold sCs-
 sions at the court houTe of the county
 to enable persons to register. This regis l traion will continue Il lti in December. l 1902. They will give at least twenty days
 nc tice of the time and place they will
 attend in q precinct to register the cleo | tors. by posting notices at five or more 1 public places in the precinct and by ad-
 vertisement published in the county pa
 pers.
 White Men Can Register
 When man applies for registration. he l will not be ask to specify under which
 class he is entitled to register. The list l will not show under what clause he is | re gis tered. When the party's pl dga not | to disfra hise any white man is remem- bered, it is easy to see that the above plan will effectuate 1t. There is a general presumption that white men are of good character. and understand the duties and obligations of citizenship; the history of the race attests this It is safe to say that the registrars will observe this pre- sumption.
 This plan will not disfranChise all ne- groes. It is well known that there are men of that race who are entirely compe- tent to vote inteligently, and these will have no difficulty in registering.
 Appeal Secured
 If the regi ju ars should from any cause. refuse to regis,er an applicant, this does fs. -G,~rI>t