The age-herald., 1901-07-30
The Constitutional Convention Spent the Entire Day in
 Speech Making
INTEREST HAS DIED OUT
Final Vote Will Take Place Today, and Everybody Is Happy-Speakers Have at Last Emptied
 the Galleries.
BY FRANK HARVEY MILLER.

Montgomery, July 2.-(Special )-Th convention spent today as 1t has the pas four days, in speech-making on tn grandfather clause Interest has died ou in the debate and everybody will be glat when a vote is taken on the question to morrow at 12 o'clock. The gallery wal comparatively empty at the morning session, and there were only four negroes present to listen to the remarks about their race. At the afternoon session there were none, and not over a dozen white people.
 Among those who spoke today in favor of the majority report were MT. Black. well of Morgan, MT. Miller of Wilcox Mir. Sollie of Dale, MT. Maxwell of Talla. dega, MT. Ashcraft of Lauderdale and MT. Rogers of Lowndes.
 MT. Porter of Coosa, a Republican dele gate, spoke against the entire suffrage plan.
 Convention Opens.
 The fifty-seventh days session of the constitutional convention was called to order by President Knox at Il o'clock. A prayer was offered by Rev. MT. Marshall Roll call showed 91 members present.
 MT. Williams of Marengo, introduced an ordinance to allow commercial drummers school teachers and ministers to vote at any place on the day of election when the polls were open, provided he was en- titled to vote at his home
 Mir. Gilmore of Clark Introduced. a roso. lution to have printed 5000 copies of the speeches of Governor Jones, Governor Oates, Captain White, MT. Dent and others who had favored the minority re- port.
 Mr. Carmichael of Coffee introduced q petition from citizens of his county asking that the railroad commissioners be elect ed by the people.
 on motion of Mir Long of Walker the privileges Of the floor were extended to Hon. F. $. Blackman of Calhoun.
 The convention then took up the pending question, which was section of the arti- Gle on franchise and which contained the grandfather clause.
 MT Porter of Coosa, a Republican dele gate, spoke against the suffrage plan. He said that anything he might say would probably fall off the delegates minds like water off a ducks back. Yet his duty to nls people made it necessary that he should state his position. He referred to
 
 teenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amend ments to the constitution of the United States. This was medicine which the State had to take. For twenty-five years we had taken this medicine, but we were here now trying to get around 1t, and he feared preparing for more reconstruction. Whatever man sowed he would reap. This applied collectively and individually, When this convention met in May the del neya4 4ae.x
 tion was fought at the time because 1t would give Republican and PopuIist dele gates the same chance. Forty votes were given In favor of this objection, and vet many of these Republicans and Populists were old Confederate soldiers. He thought the Democratic platform had handicapped the convention. Under the present cleo tion laws many white men were already disfranchised He thought the poll tax was the only solution to the question. and that if any voter was to be disfranchised he should disfranchise himself. He paid a tribute to the behavior of the slaves dur ing the war and thought they should not be discriminated against. This was u white mans country, but 1t was large enough for the negro also. The only right the negro had was to choose who should rule over him, and this right he should have The fifteenth amendment took away absolutely from the power of the States the right to exclude the negro from the franchise. He paid tribute to the Black Belt Democrats, who he said were as fine body of men as he had ever seen and were all that they should be, except in politics
 Blackwell of Morgan.
 Captain Blanchard of Morgan spoke in favor of the grandfather clause He said it was little late but 1t was not his fault and that things said by local men would be read by local people who might not read what others said He the dinner table after the others had fin- ished and there was very little left for him to say.
 It was not to be expected that we should all agree but we could still be friends We come from different parts of the state and it Is natural we should see things differently. We might also ex pect opposition-it is the obstacle which the water meets that makes it's melody, and a kite cannot rise except against the wind.
 In spite of opposition no one has sug- gested anything better than the majority report.
 As Jefferson said, the art of govern, ing successfully is the art of governing honestly. We are sometimes inclined to govern too much. think the majority report forever fixes the pendulum at the right place. tla
 Whenever we leave suffrage in the hands of a large number of incompetent men the hands of the competent voters are tied and good government is preven- ted It has been said that to make the negro useful you must make him content ed. but does anyone think it will make him contented to bring about the state of affairs we had here number of years ago. I may be myself partial to extend- ing the ballot to the old Confederate sol dier in Alabama. I went into the army at fourteen and spent my fifteenth birth day as a prisoner I know the hard ships the Confederates went through and I would not take from them the right to vote.
 The majority plan gives the negro more