The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-12-13

made a great and fatal blund-
er when in revenge upon the south
they gave the ballot 10 the unframed,
inexperienced, unlettered, ignorant ne
sroes. 1t was indeed an unmixed curse.
1t has been the chief source OF all OF
the southern woes. Fol thirty-hye
wears the southern whites submitted to
the afhiction and as best they
could, although it brought Upon them
countless robberies, huge debts. wicked,
senseless legislation, and ills Of various
kinds without enumeration. They even
attempted to educate these I'M
worthy, incapable voters, but mostly in
vain. They expended of their poverty
and oil millions of dollars to give the
negroes primary education. This could
only reach the non-voters, the boys.
while the negro electors remained in
their stupid. stolid condition inacces-
sible to gratitude for aVors granted.
while delighting to vote against self
sacrificing whites VINO toiled to help
and educate the children. The voters
of the black stripe-the enfranchised
Egnorance-uniformly, invariably. in
hexibIy voted for the whites who de-
serted their race and heaped ruin and
rapine upon the real men of the Anglo
saxon and other white races.
Every one knows OF the great error
and unmeasured calamity by enfran-
chising the negrOes-that is the men of
andor and intelligence. AS We have
said many leading men in the powerful
north have admitted that a vast folly
and crime was committed against CIV
nization and the prosperity of the
south.
And yet in the face of cumulative,
compelling facts, and with the best in
telligence of the north awakened to the
gravity of the wrongs perpetrated and
the great mistake made, there are re-
publicans in the congress-many of
them-who are now seeking and plot
ting to punish the south for attempting
to free itself from the accused. unbear-
able thraldom of negro supremacy and
negro influence through the power of
the debauched ballot. One Moody,
member of the house from Massachu-
sets. is burning to inquire into the
action of southern white constituents.
Other members are scheming to curtail
the representation of the south in the
congress because it has tests for voters
as have Massachusetts and other north
ern states.
1t is noticeable that Representative
Fleming, of Georgia, Is disposed to give
the Moody man "a Roland for an
Oliver" Moody wants to investigate
the votes for members of the house
from Louisiana, asserting that certain
voters were DISTINGUISHED. and there
fore, the election of the representative
was invalidated. Mr.. Fleming wishes
TO investigate the right of the Massa-
chusetts members to their seats That
state has tests, conditions, qualiiCa-
lions for electors. Mr.. Jennings reso-
buttons read as follows:
Whereas, the constitution of the state
of Massachusetts. in contradiction Of
the provisions of the federal conStitu-
ton. imposes additional qualifications
for suffrage by declaring that 10 per-
son shall have the right to vote who
shall not be able to read the constitu-
ton in the English language and write
his name:
Resolved, That when the said select
committee shall be appointed it shall
be charged with the'further duty Of in
quiring and reporting by bill or other
wise whether the repi esentatives from
the state Of Massachusetts are entitled
to membership in this house. n
whether the number of representa-
tives from the said state should not be
Ceduced."
What is sauce for the goose should
be sauce for the gander. If a north
ern state erects an electoral test and
thereby shuts out a certain class or
classes of voters, let it's representation
in congress be reduced. if a test in a
southern state is to result in curtailing
its representation in the federal con-
gross. Let there be no mercy for
Moody when there is no mercy for
louisiana.
1t is noticeable in this connection
that one of the brothers Kitchin, from
North Carolina, has Il joint resolution
before the house looking to the repeal
OF the outrageous fifteenth amendment
the bette noir of the south. If adopt
ed as it should he without a dissenting
NOASNf II WYNN NoN NAC III
and give eternal surcease to crime and
trouble and rascalities and expressions
The remedy will be complete. The air
will be purified for all time. The
Richmond Times thinks we'll of Mr..
Kitchin's resolution and says:
I'VE believe that the great majority
OF the white people of the United States
Nare, at heart, in favor of Mr.. Kitchin's
rASolution, and if they had the courage
vote as they think, a dark cloud
= which hangs over this country would be
dissipated and the political atmosphere
would be much clearer. We believe that
b very best thing that could happen
to the black man would be the repeal
Of the fifteenth amendment. An hon
est, straightforward suffrage law would
then be enacted in each of the southern
states and the black man would be ad-
mitted to the suffraye as he showed
himself to be qualified to vote intellig-
IDLY.
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