The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1901-02-21
pEsPtk's PARTY ptATFsRu


Asxn lssA. lsss.
The Peoples Party Convention
assembled In Raleigh, April 18th.
oesfdTms the principles set forth IL
The Peoples Party National plat
'orm adopted At st. Louis In 1ss.
and instructs the delegates - ina
National Convention at Sioux YpI,a
May 9th to vote for the nomination /
II William ]. Bryan for President.
We commend the present State |
Administration for its high pei
sonAl and Official integrity, and
challenge . comparison Of iss rec
ord with any and AL of its prede-
seSsors.
We condemn she Democratic Lsgis-
lature Of 1899 for its extFavaGant ex-
penditures OF public money Amousting
% II J6Sl, 766.76 in 1899, ~ opposed to
81, 1sa, Gill, expended by the proceed
ing Legislature, An excess of $3lO,-
794.65, not including the sum Of $780,
100 for public education nor the ga, $50
for purchase Of State farms.
We further condemn said Le4fsla-
tufe for the careless laundering and
careless legislation, including more
gross blunders and unconstitasional
laws than ever before enacted By any
General Assembly in North Carolina.
We further denounce the machine
leaders OF the Democratic party for
laying the whip on the backs Of the
Democratic Legislature and forcing
them into enacting and submitting Z
disffshohising constitutional amend
ment in violation of the solemn
pledges Of the party, made not only
officially in their campaign handbook
but by members of,the General Assem-
bly, and other Democratic candidates
for Office in their canvass before the
people. We denounce them not only
for doing this in violation of their
pledges, but also for submitting mea-
sure most odious in form and danger
Gus in effect. That General Assembly
being composed of. some of the best
lawyers OF the party, must have
known, or 1t least had q reasonable
doubt, not only As to the unconstitu-
tionality Of the monstr0us provision of
Section s, known as the grandfather
clause" in said amendment, but also
of the great danger Of that unconstitu.
ti0nal sectional section falling, leav-
ing the remainder of the amendment
TO stand, thus DISTINGUISHING by an ed
ucational qualification fifty or sixty
thousand white voters of North Caro-
lima, who in 1898 gave the Democratic
party power In the Legislature, and
whose ignorance is no fault of their
own but ia chargeable to the neglect of
| the Democratic party, which now seeks
to disfranchise them and make their
ignorance q crime alongside that of
the felon.
But even II the proposed amendment
were not unconstitutional Gas it clear
~ is), still it is especially objection
able in the following PARTICULARS:
(a) In that it dignifies with the right
Of suffrage the most vicious, trouble
| some and obnoxious class of the negro
population, and completely disfran-
chises the most faithful, kindly and or
derby element of that race.
(b) In that, while clamoring for white
| supremacy and declaring that no white
man shall be disfranchised under this
amendment, they have so written their
amendment that every white boy be-
coming Of age after 1905 stands on the
| same footing with the negro, and car
not vote unless he Is able to read and
write.
, , (o) In that BY the latter provision,
they have made it possible for the ed
| ucated negro after 1905 to cast his bal
| lot while the unfortunate son of the
white men who have been the strength
OF true democracy stands without q
vote at the ballot box. They slaughter
the suffrage of the son whose father
they dare not openly attack.
(d) In that this suffrage amend
ment does not remove the negro from
politics or settle the negro question in
North Carolina.
(e) In that every voter who has not
paid his poll tax as much as five
months before the State election and
eight months before the national cleo
ton, shall be disfranchised as much as
il he were convicted of felony or we're
an ignorant negro. The purpose of
this provision is not only to disfran-
chise every good honest citizen who
unfortunately cannot pay his taxes by
the first Of March preceding the cleo
ton, but further to try to bribe the vo-
ter to surrender his suffrage at the ex-
pense OF the public school fund of the
State, which is derived from poll taxes.
There turks behind this proposition q
schools Of the State, for with the adon.
ton of the amendment the opponents
Of free schools in North Carolina will
at once raise the cry that every dollar
raised for public instruction means the
increase Of the number of negro vo-
cers, and thus the poor white mans
son will be chained In bondage of i9-
norance and disfranchised to prevent
the education of the negro voter,
There is no white supremacy In this.
The constitutional question pre-
sented by the proposed amendment is
one that must be determined BY the |
judgment and conscience of each indi- |
vidual voter. Therefore, we do not |
make 1t party question. We state the |
evils and dangers and leave the voters |
Of all parties to pass their verdict in |
the light OF these facts. The question |
Is above party, and no one should be |
more active and anxious in our iude. |
ment to defeat it than the rank and |
file of the Democratic party.
The Peoples Party is and has ALWAYS |
been more distinctly than any other |
party in North Carolina q white mans |
party, and is more anxious than any
other party to solve the race problem.
and to force oil parties TO a discussion |
OF the great economic issues 80 vitalIv |
Affecting the welfare of all wealth pro.
ducers OF the State and nation and de-
cenoy in politics.
Therefore, we propose in lieu of this
dangerous amendment, the best solu-
ton OF the race question that is possi-
bic as long as the 18th amendment to
fho C0nafitutiOn NJ tho T1n;toA Co.,