The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-14
EX-GOVERNOR OATES
WRITES ABOUT COMING CON-
 sTITUTIoNAL CONVENTION.
He Has Some Decided Views or Some Very Important Proposi- tions That are to Come Up.
 An Interesting Letter.

tor Of The Age Herald, Gen. w, C. Oates. ex-Governor of Alabama writees:
 E. W. Barrett. Editor of The Age Herald:
 In reply to your request for my opin- ion as to what the suffrage clause of the new constitution to be framed by the convention should be, l say that, although the vote for convention was smaller than was anticipated, yet the delegates should not be intimidated nor frightened from the manly per- formance. of their duties. They should make. in every particular, such a con- stitution as a great and progressive State should have.
 Chairman Smith may, by the small ness of the vote polled, have been de- moraiized into giving to the delegates his advice to do as little as possible. and 'the less done the better," says the prudent John V. That sounds like the voice of the trembling captain in bat tie when he commanded his company: Fire easy. boys. or you will make them too mad.'
 I heard the speech of MT Knox be- fore the committee in which he advised against a campaign of speech-making, and that if speakers were sent out they should be cautioned not to discuss be-
 
 strictions put upon the convention, that is, to tell them nothing except what the convention was not going to do. That committee acted on that ad- vice. which instead of enlightening the inquiring minds of the voters as to why a Constitutional Convention was desired they were asked blindly to vote for it, which caused men to sulk and not go to the polls. The time was too short, and the season a very busy one with the farmers. But let the conven- tion make a good constitution and ex- plain it to the people and they will rat ify it.
 The Suffrage Clause.
 You asked me last January what I thought the suffrage clause of the new constitution should be; I told you, and you published it. Some of the dele gates to the nominating convention made that letter a pretext for an un- successful effort to defeat my nomina- tion. and now I am relibaly informed that some of the delegates elected de- sire me defeated for President of the convention because of the views I ex- pressed in that letter on the suffrage question. They say that I have laid down a platform which they cannot fn- dorse, and to vote for me would be an indorsement Of my views, very er- roneous and unjust conclusion. Why don't you call on others, especially my honorable competitors. for their views on the suffrage question! I venture the prediction that If you do so you would find some difficulty in obtaining them for publication. I am less pru- dent. I have confidence in the capacity of the people fo- self-government and never have any political secrets from no 10 C. cessful way of obtaining office. Some men obtain political preferment by playing owl-looking wise and saying nothing; thank God that l am not made that way. T had az lief not be as to live in awe of such thing as myself"
 I have found no good reason to
 change the views I expressed in my
 letter four months ago. On the con.
 trary, study and investigation of the
 subject have confiBmed me In the be- lief that I was right and that the the ory advanced is perfectly practicable. That letter was as follows:
 "I am in favor of honest elections, which are the basis of our govern ments-State and Federal-which can not be uniformly had in Alabama ex- cept by a revision and qualification Of the elective franchise, by extirpating inerpfr0m ton. This is a delicate and difficult question to deal with successfully, and nothing short of the aggregate sGom of a convention of our best and abiest men can accomplish it in just and satisfactory manner.
 The suffrage clause in a State con- stitution should not, in terms, exclude anyone from the elective franchise on account of race nor require an educa- tional or property qualification; out intelligence and good character should be made the test. No felon, no man of notoriously bad character, no man who has not paid his poll tax, no man who has ever sold his own or bought the vote of another, nor anyone who cannot read intelligently, or under stand when read to him, any section of the constitution should be allowed to register as voter. And in order that no injustice be done by registra- ton to anyone legally entitled, an ap- peal should be given from such decis- ion to the courts. Those who are dis franchised for crime committed should be restored to their rights of franchise. if at all, only by the vote of two-thirds of the members of the General Assem- bly,.
 Disfranchisement.
 ."The disfranchisement of the whole negro race would be unwise and un- just. They constitute large minority of our State population-over SOO,000. Among them are many honest, indus trious and good citizens. capable or fairly understanding the issues of campaign and for what they would be called upon to vote. Such men arc pa- triotic. When volunteers are wanted to fight our battles they furnish thciri ouota Some have acquired property and pay their taxes but the great mass of them are propertyless and ut terly ignorant of the fundamental prln- ciI.es of government, and the ballot is a weapon which they know not how to use for their own good or the good of anyone else. The ballot is an in- jury to such men. But if you make in telligence and good character the test of the right to vote, you present an incentive to every man. without re, gard to color, who aspires to full-fledgA ed citizenship to acquire intelligence whether he has any book learning or moi. and to establish a good character among his neighbOrs; and no man pos sessed of these should be denied the right to vote in all elections.
 "Such qualifications as l have briefly stated above are practicable and would elevate and tend to purify the suffrage hv eIirnir ating the corrupt, the dense- Iy ignorant and purchaseable. who, un- der the present. Constitution. have the right to vote Who will say that Book CT Washington, Councill Grant, Cal houn and hundreds of other citizens of Alabama shall not vote ie they choose?