The age-herald., 1901-07-19
MIR. WAITS SAYS NEGRO SHOULD
 NOT HOLD OFFICE IN ALABAMA
MEXICAN LOVER SHOOTS
 HIMSELF ON THE MIDWAY

or Mex1co' on the Nortn Midway at me
 Exposition grounds at o'clock tonight
 and after attempting to murder Conces-
 sionaire McGarvie he fired bullet into
 his heart. Zozaya is said to be connected
 with rich banking family in the City of
 Mexico. It is said that he Is a Cuban by
 birth and grandson of the Cugan gen.
 eral, Gomez.
 He came to this city from the City of
 Mexico about three weeks ago and his
 mission was a romantic one. In Mexico he had loved Senorita Isabele GaIlardo
 singer and dancer who came to the Expo
 during such term. except such offices as
 may be filled by election by the people.
 MT. Howze of Jefferson moved to amend
 by inserting after the word "created' the
 words filled by appointment, or" A
 point of order was raised against this
 amendment that the same matter had
 been discussed and voted down when the
 article on executive was being consid
 cred. Considerable parliamentary discus
 sion ensued on the question as to wheth-
 CT an amendment offered to one section
 and voted down could be offered to an-
 other section. The chair ruled that 1t
 could not, and sustained the objection to
 Judge Howze's amendment
 The section as reported was then
 adopted.
 Mir. Watts Speaks.
 Section r was then read as follows: Section F. No person hereafter convict ed of embezzlement of the public money, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime
 shall be eligible to the Legislature or
 capable of holding any office of trust or profit in this State.
 Mir. Watts of Montgomery moved to
 amend the section by adding the words
 mo negro shall be permitted to hold of flee in this State" He asked additional
 time to discuss this, saying 1t was an important question of constitutional law. His time was extended to thirty minutes. | The negro has always been an import ant subject matter of legislation, he said, | and prior to the civil war such legislation has always been unfavorable to the negro. | Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island early legislated against the negro | When the declaration of rights was writ | ten the negro was not included in the ex- pression i've, the people.% It never was considered that the negro was citizen | or should vote, and the idea of treating him as an inferior did not originate in the | south.
 | The rights which have not been ceded to the Federal government are still held l by the States in all their original power | The Supreme Court of the United States | had decided that the first eight amend
 ments to the constitution have no rela- tion to the negro. The thirteenth amend- ment gave freedom to the slaves, the fourteenth gave him civil rights only and
 the fifteenth provided that he should not | t1a ,tvo fad cf
 bama cannot put into her constitution
 this provision, 1t must be on account of some amendment put into the Federal | constitution since 1856 take 1t the only | thing that can be urged against this
 would be the fourteenth amendment.
 which says that all persons residents of | the United States are citizens of the State | wherein they reside. There are two
 classes of citizens-those of the United | States and those of the State. The Fed | eral constitution fixes the rights of citi- | zens of the United States and the laws or
 Alabama fixes the rights her citizens. In the fifteenth amendment States are | forbidden to infringe the rights of citi-
 zens of the United States-not of the
 States Privileges of citizens Of the | States can be abridged. State has a
 right to make any law 1t pleases for it's | own citizens except as to suffrage there | must be no discrimination as to race, | color or previous condition of servitude. | A State can fix the number of men to make a jury, can prevent women from | voting or practicing law. It can estab- l fish different sets of qualifications TOT | electors in each Congressional district. | The fourteenth amendment also says that | no person shall be deprived of life, lib | erty or property without due process Of l law and that no person within the juris- l diction of the State shall be denied the l equal protection of the law. It Is often | said that the fifteenth amendment g1ves | the right to vote. but this Is untrue. It | does not give any man the right to vote | It only says the negro shall not be dis | criminated against on certain grounds | only the States can give the people the | right to vote. The Supreme Court of the | United States has also decided that the | right to vote Is not one of the privileges mentioned in the fifteenth amendment Who would hold that the State Is bound to give its women and children the right | to vote? What, then, does 1t mean? Not one of these decisions of the Supreme Court has reference to the right to hold office Office Is a political right and the State has a right to dispose of it's offices as 1t pleases. But for the fifteenth amendment we could prohibit the negro from voting In spite of the fifteenth
 amendment we can prohibit him from
 
 qualifications of its office holders. So much for the law of this question. What about its policy? It is said it would show too plainly that our purpose is to keep the negro out of politics. Have we not said to the people on the musings That this was what the convention was | for? Does not our suffrage article show | the same thing? The State of Alabama | never adopted the i1Tteenth amendment. l It was forced upon us, and we have | right to make our protest against II. | I have heard 1t said that 1t might enoan- ger ratification of the instrument peiore | the people think l know what the neople of the Black Belt will say. Every city and town will be aroused ana the white men all over the State will hasten to the polls and by their ballots say to | thi. convention Well done" He con- cluded amid applause.
 Other Remarks.
 | MT. Sollie of Dale said this was an inn portant question and he was glad MT.
 Watts had gone into detail of the various decisions rendered on the question. He agreed with him on the main question.
 The provisions in the fourteenth amend
 ment applied to civil rights and had no bearing on the present question. Neither did the fifteenth amendment, which ap-
 piled to the right to vote only. He illus
 trated the situation in Alabama, where a
 Mobile negro once held an office, saying that the right to hold office by all citizens
 had been upheld by our Supreme Court on account of a provision in the State
 constitution and not on account of the fourteenth or fifteenth amendments.
 The chief aim of this convention is to reform the suffrage, but 1t is as we'll to put this clause in our constitution for