The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-24
VOICE OF THE BLACK BELT.
Its Appeal for Relief Forcibly Ex'
 pressed by MT. Rogers.

| In the Cebstltutio nal Convention of
 Alabama, Mo nday, July 29. 1901, MT. Rog- CTS of Low ndes, me mber of the Com mittet on Suffrage and Eiections, made
 the following remarks which should be carefully considered by every white voter in the Stat, st this time:
 Mr President, the Committee on Suf- frage and Elections consists of twenty five members, twenty, ne of whom are able lawyers, learned in the law. and four others of the number. who are nol learned in the law. Four of these able lawyers say that the grandfather clause Is unconstitdtional. The other seventeen able lawyers say 1t Is constitutional. Ths legal features have been ably explained by both sides. Ts king counsel from the multitude of wisdom and believing that it is not a proper thing to ask a man to sign his own death warrant, for We have got to submit this Constitution to the peopia wno already vote. I heartily fa- vor it's adoption, as it will help to &C., complish the purposes for which this Constitution was called.
 Coming from the county of Lowndcs, where there are 4.762 whites and 3U,89l blacks or : to 1. or more negroes to the square mile than In darkest Africa. I am heartily in favor of a measure that will bring to our relief 10000 white votes in the State for our redemption from ulti- mate ruin. The majority report embodies the best and most practicable ordinance and I trust that it will be adopted His tory repeats itself. I have seen in thls ntSIDTlC nall lHlTLy negroes dl DIc tliiit, members of the Legislature selling their votes for a drink of whiskey or a mule. and enacting laws for us that inflicted millions of dollars of indebtedness on the State of Alabama aud which we are now paying and will have to continue to pay for fifty years more as we have for the last twentv-iive years. Under the pres. ent Constitution they can come again. All they need is courage and leadership, all that he have to prevent 1t is the indom itable pluck of An6l0-Saxon manhood. No white man who knows why this clause was adopted Is going to offer sentimental objections to it, they are too level headed: and they are in favor of white supremacy as far as the fifteenth amendment will permit then to go. For third of century the negro has voted against tho interests and welfare of the State. I would rather have a military despotlsm than to be ruled by negroes and barbarism.
 tains 1,001, ,152 whites and S27. .3o7 blacks; in thirteen central counties of the State. in one of which this Capitol Is situated. em- bracing 9,7s6 square miles. or one-f1fth of the area of the State. the most produc- tive portion of it. there dwell 373,3l1 me- groes and l00.0 whites, or three-eevenths of the black population and one-tenth of the white population; Al, GOO blacks and 100000 whites dn round numbers) live In the other fifty-three counties of the State containing 41, 754 square miles. In eight counties of the fifty-three the white pop ulation and the black is nearly equal. and in the forty other counties of the fifty three the negro holds the balance of pow CT. In only five counties of the whole State he cuts no figure.
 So in sixty-one counties of the sixty six of the State he holds the balance of power and is a menace to good govern ment in a social and political sense.
 Consider these facts and see what q grip he has on us. Restrain him and treat him kindly and justly as God in- tended that he should be. he becomes a useful citizen. Remove restraint and he reverts to barbarian and lust.
 We have been told that white suprem- acy in Alabama Is assured. White su- premacy. MT. President, means the rule of intelligence prevails in the black belt of Alabama by methods repugnant to our feelings and Justified only by the intol- erable alternative of tame submission Adopt this suffrage plan and peace and order will be assured under conditions fixed by law. and racial conditions will adjust themselves like the law of gravi- ty or of water seeking It's level.
 In my judgment this i1rthe last oppor- tunitv that Alabama will ever have to redeem herself by force of law from the curse1 Inflicted on us by malice and hat red. A returning sense of justice seems to pervade the Union and now let us re- member. that there is a tide In the af- fairs of men, which, taken at the flood. leads on to fortune" Let ns turn from ly and pass this measure and carry 1t to the people and explain 1t to them from the mountains to the sea and our be- loved State will be redeemed,