The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-27
$" Jameson on Constitutional

 Conventions. page S2s ct seq.
 The Fourteenth Amendment does not confer the right to vote, nor Is the right conferred by the Fifteenth Amendment. The Fifteenth Amend ment operates only as a limitation up- on the right of the State to discrimin- ate upon the specified grounds of race. color or previous condition of sarvi- tude.' It was so held by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Minor vs. Happersett (21 Wall 17S) and United States against Reese ct al. (s2 U. S. 21D. This is made exceed lngiy clear in the case of the United States vs. Cruikshapk. (s2 U. s. 555). In this case, the coI TYespeaking by MT. Chief Justice Wa 51vJ;
 l Tn Minor vs. id ,Hs sett (21 Wall. 17S) we decided ol e,,- 3 Constitution or the United Stsa ,f,p not conferred the right Of sHt {, upon any one. and that the Unts es have no yot- CTS Of their ow Jon in the States. In the United ra,vs. Reese ct al. ts2 U. S. 21D .4ti I'd that the Fif- l teenth Amencla ss invested the citizens of the ,.e States with a new constitutior ,,sht, which is. ex- emption from dJ 1nation in the ex- ercise of the eli n'';. franchise on ac- count of race. C . or previous condi- tion of servitude om this it appears | that the right of tfrage is not a nec- essary attribute of national citizen ship; but that exemption from discrim- 1nation in the exertjse of that right on account of race. ,etc., is. The right to vote in the United States comes from the States: but the right of ex- emption from the prohibited discrim- nation comes from the United States. The first has not been granted or se- cured by the Constitution of the United States, but the last has been."
 It seems clear to me, both upon prin- ciple and authority, that while the State cannot discriminate against the voter on account of his race. color or previous condition of servitude, it may | discriminate against him on any other ground. and it is not material whether the discrimination made is reasonabis l or unreasonable. It is competent for the State. in the exercise of it's sov- ereignty. to say that only those who fought in the Federal or Confederate armies shall be entitled to vote. It is competent for the State to say that only those who fought in the Federal and Confederate armies and their lineal descendants shall be entitled to vote It would be competent, in my judg- ment. for the State to say that only married men should vote. As remark ed by MT. Jameson, "A line must be | SOIflcWHeTc uTdNn. where IL snail De | drawn is a question of expediency to be determined by the existing govern ment, like any other measure involving | mixed questions of justice and policy. | The principle of exclusion being once | established whether it shall be con- fined to consideration Of age, or be ex- tended to those of sex or social condi- lions is a matter of practical detail, to be settled by the political power" I
 tions. page 329 ct seq.
 | When the State has acted and pro- mulgated its Constitution, the motives Of the legislators, except so far as they | appear from the Constitution itself, cannot be inquired into. It Is the prov ince of the courts to declare the effect and operation of the law. but it is not their province to investigate the ulte- rior motives of those who famed the law. This principle is declared and enforced by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Soon Hing vs. Crowley Q13 U. s. 759). In that case the court, speaking by MT. Justice Field. says:
 ''The rule is general with reference to the enactment of all legislative bodies that courts cannot inquire into | the motives Of the lesi lato-s in pass 1 ing them, excert as they may be dis closed on the face of the acts, or in | ferrable from their operation, consid- cred with reference to the condition o5 the country and existing legislatio The motives of the legislators, consid- cred as the purposes they had in view, | will always be pursued to be to ac- complish that which follows as the na- i tural and reasonable effects of their enactments. Their motives, consider ed as the moral inducements for their votes. will vary with the different members of the legislative body. The diverse character of all such motives, and the impossibility of penetrating into the hearts of men and ascertaining the truth, precludes all such inquiries as impracticable and futile."
 Our purpose Is to establish the su- premacy of virtue and intelligence in this State and to eliminate from the electorate the ignorant and the vicious. | In this we are not alone. It has been the aim and end of every govern ment based upon popular suf- frage since the world began. Why does Massachusetts have an educational qualification for the voter? It is a mere expeGient to purify and elevate the electorate. Why does Rhode Island have a property qualifi- cation fer tho voter? |: is mere eX- l pedient to elevate the standard and corfine the right of suffrage to those to whom it may be safely entrusted. | Ard so. in speaking of the plan adopt ed in the State of Mississippi. the Su- preme Court of the United States, in the Williams case Q70 U. s., 11n says that the Convention in that State swept she field of expeGients to accomplish the diSfranchsement of tn negro, but adds that the expedient adopted was per missible enc in that the provision made was not limited by it's terms or effecS to any one race.
 ] MT. President 1t is much easier to l find objections to any plan than it is to furnish a better. It IS impossible to understand the difficulties which stand in the way of q solution of this ques- ton until you undertake it, and the closer you come to it, the more diff cult 1t will appear. Taking the plan recommended by our Committee cn l Suffrage and Elections, It seems to me 1t Is better than any that has been adopted by any of the States which have dealt with this subject, and it is better than any one plan which has been recomme nded. because 1t com pines the best features of all the rlans.
 The conditions in this State are ex- ceptional, being composed in one part, of what we term white counties and in the other of what We term Black Bel: counties. One plan might oper- ate admirably in one par; of the State,