The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-16

l will leave us. Such policy on oui part will bequeath a legacy to oul children of perpetual discord, race
 hatred, and it may be, here and there race conflict. Why not hope and plan for better things?
 Why does the State educate the cbil-
 dren? It is because it is 10 the inter-
 est of the State as body polite, ieav- | ing out other considerations. to have | it's citizens know something of its laws, of it's institutions, and of the duties | of life. If the State of Alabama had | the power to do this thing asked to be
 done by the minority, what reason is | there why we should discriminate in
 th.s way, by giving the negro only the
 taxes on his property. and the white
 people the taxes on theirs. All of us
 know and realize that this simply means
 to give more to one race than to the
 other, because one is white and the
 other is black? The constitutional ques-
 ton has been elaborately argued by | distinguished gentlemen. 1 will not go | into that, or cite any authorities. We | all know it has been laid down in un-
 mistakable terms by the Supreme Court | of the United States, that while the Fourteenth Amendment did not create
 any direct rights, it did negatively ere ate a very valuable one, and that IS | the right not to be dscrim mated
 against m civil rights, not in social, not
 in political, but in civil rights. We can
 not discriminate in civil rights between | citizens, on account of race, color or previous condition.
 l l ask any man here, whether he is a
 lawyer or not, suppose we were to pass | a law that the courts in Alabama should be open to the trial of evil dis putes between negroes, only so long | as the taxes derived from the property of the negroes would keep the cour.s
 open, and make the same provision as
 10 white nen,-would any man in the
 sound of my voice say that was glving
 the negro the equal protection" of the law. You cannot in a constitutional
 government, like ours, wnere these peo-
 pie are citizens and entitled to equal civil rights, use the taxing power, the police power, the taxing or any other
 power of government, so as to d fuse
 the Blessings or ills of government ac- cording to races. You can not make distinctions of that sort. To attempt
 to do so. is not only wrong in itself
 but in violation of the Supreme law. and will only entail complication and
 trouble in the administration or cur school laws. For all these reasons I am earnestly opposed to the minority report.
 MT. Browne-At the opening of the session of this Convention I introduced, and had referred to the Committee on Taxation. provision for levying a special county tax for school purposes,
 to be appropriated to the schools of the
 two races according to the amount paid by each race respectively. After that ordinance had been referred to the Committee on Taxa tion, I went into a careful investigation of the whole ques- ton. in it's legal aspect, and 1 very soon became fully satisfied that such a provision would be clearly unconsti- tutional. I read then the authorities that were this morning read and re- lerred to by the gentleman from Lau- derdale, MT. Ashcraft. But there is another case that he did not read or refer to in hls brief, which is a much stronger case against the proposition or the minority than any case read or referred to. It is also Kentucky case, the case Of Davenport vs. Cloverport, In the I2nd Federal Report. Now the plan Tn the OwenSboro case as said by MT. Ashcraft this morning, provided that there should be levied and collect cd school taxes upon the property of both the whites and the blacks, and then the amount realized separated into two 1unds. appropriating that which was derived from the taxation of the property Of the whites to their schools, ana that derived from the taxation of the property of the colored people to their schools. And he drew this dis tinctlon: That the case as provided in ms minority report, they do not propose to allow the White people to levy the tax at all upon the property of the col ored people, and that therefore this provision was not in conflict with the Owensboro case. and was constitutional mat is exactly the point that was contended for in this case of Dayen port vs. Cloverport. I will read just IeW extracts, enough to show that rect: ' WI
 "There was authorized upon the re- quest of said trustees a levy upon the property, real and personal. of the Wnite persons in said school district Iot exceeding 70 cents on each S1O0 value or property, and tax per cap!ta not exceeding g on each white male o1 years Of age. The said tax was not 10 De levied unless, at an election bald TOT that purpose a majority of the Whlte voters authorized the levy of said tax. By this law, the property of the coIoreu people and the poll tax of col ton for said purposes."
 Ahd py another Section of the law, under consideration: All white rer, sons or both sexes between and o1 years of age, living within the district constituted by this act, shall ba,,e equal rights of admission to the schools" " 'o the
 !t Is alleged in the bill. among other thlilgs that there is received annuaiI,, rom said taxes" from the white nan ple' a sum exceeding $4, 900: and tha+ IL should be divided and annortionaS | equaiiy among and for the benefit of | all the children residing in said dis lrict and said Cloverport who are of | school age" VI
 Now that was the contention The court neid-but first. I will read fur ,ner' Ihe Dill was demurred to by the detendants. because the matters ana things in the bill alleged are not Sulhclent to constitute a cause of ac- [ion against them. or either of them nor can the court, upon the matters ana things in the bill alleged, grant thn .ellef prayed for. nor any other relief" The relief prayed for was that this money should be properly divided be- tween the schools of the different races. l read further: Tt will he seen the purpose of the bill seeks a injunction, not to enforce the law of February. 1S76 but to de. clare II unconstitutional. and in effect applying its provisions to colored chil- tren &s well as to white children" The ,Ourf now f,o,,r4