Evening star., 1901-04-02
CONSTITUTIONAL CLAUSES
TEXT OF THOSE VIOLATED BY
STATE DIsFRANCHIsEMENT LAWS.
A Constitutional Lawyers Resume of
Several Phases of the Ex-
listing Situation.

land state legislature and those of other
southern states in passing laws which dis
franchise a portion Of their citizens, pro-
ceedings which are clearly against the in
tention, spirit and text Of the Constitution
of the United States. the text of these
constitutional provisions forms decidedly
interesting reading just at present, said
a member of the District bar to a Star re-
porter this morning.
"While we are all supposed to be famil-
lar with the Constitution, 1t is a long doc
ument, and many of us, well-fnformed
about other things, have very hazy coll
ception of it. The violated amendment Is
the fourteenth, and the sections applying
to the subject of discussion are as follows:
Section 1. No state shall make or en-
force any law which shall abridge the PRIV
ileges or immunities Of citizens OF the
United States; nor shall any state deprive
without due process Of law, nor to deny
to any person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of its laws.
Section 8. Congress shall have power
to enforce by appropriate legislation the
provisions of this article
Issue in a Nutshell.
'"Thus is the whole great issue. which
will soon become burning one, circum-
scribed in a nutshell. The states in dues-
ton have abridged the privileges of GER
tain of their citizens, ostensbly Ola the
ground of illiteracy, but really on the
ground of the color of their skin and their
nationality. There is no denying this point,
nor is it denied, and the question resolves
itself for solution to one Of an adequate
remedy. Foreseeng the present outcome
of racial prejudice, the trainers OF the
amendment expressly placed it In the hanos
of Congress to enforce by appropriate ies-
islation' it's provisions. During the next few
years there will be a great amount OF as
cussion when and how the remedy may De
applied and as to the character or the
appropriate legislation
THE Constitution further proVlaes III sec
ton of the same amendment that where
this right Is in any way abridged eAcept
for participation in rebellion or other crime,
the basis of representation IN sucn a,s,s stats
shall be reduced in the proportion when
the number of such male citizens small
bear to the whole number OF male citlzens
twenty-one years of age in such state.
Encouraged by the success with ~nlch
the negro vote has been eliminated IN some
states and the representation in Congress
remaining the same as II these citlzens
were exercising their constitutional pre-
negatives, there is no limit to Wnicn state
might not go along the same lines, nor Is
there a limit to the states which couio
pass such laws if they chose to act unre-
strained.
IF West Virginia had democratic ma
jority in the legislature on joint pallot
that state would quickly follow In the toot-
steps of Maryland, and would add another
commonwealth to the list where elections
are worse than a farce and personal rights
travesty on the name
Premium ON Disfranchisement.
..In the recent reapportionment of repre-
sentatives in Congress one or two OF these
states received an additional representative
Such are the elastic limits OF the la" ana
the placidity of mems political consciences.
n rycIIld a
disfranchisement, but the law must De foi-
lowed until the great main question Is oe-
termined. ,
question is not understood in the north and
the west, where elections mean something,
and every citizen entitled to vote casts
II irrespective of the color Of his skin. The
south is remote. Northern and western
peopIe. themselves obeying the law. have
an incomprehensive idea OF what constl-
tutes an election in the states in question
Having regulated polling system, they do
not fully realize that the men returned to
Congress from these states in question are
the result of a selection of few white men
at the primaries, and the subsequent cast
ing of the ballot is a mere legal formality
to secure them an admission into the Con-
gress. There Is no opposition, no contest,
none of those lively and healthy political
battles at the polls on election day, and
argumentative battles before.
'In the south the candidate tells his hear
statements for he is to be their represent
ative before the country. hight or wrong.
his arguments go. No enc controverts their
inconsistencies or inaccuracies. There Is no
one there to do it, and II there were he
wouldn't be listened to. Elections of this
kind strike at the very root of our republic
can institutions, and attach a fungus which
is sure to rot the tree II permitted to re-
main.
Republican Government Guaranteed.
Another important constitutional point
which must not be lost sight of Is that the
Constitution guarantees to the states a re-
publican form of government A republi-
can form of government means equal rights
to all citizens or it means nothing. There
is no republican form of government ex
listing in several of the southern states to-
day, and that guarantee of the Constitu-
ton Is, therefore, broken.
Here are three separate and distinct
serious and violent annulments of the Con-
stitution; yet the people have been surfeit-
ed by the cries of the democratic senators
and representatives in Congress during the
past and preceding session about the break
ing of the Constitution by the republican
party in the upholding by that party of
our national honor and almost of our ex-
istence as a great nation.
However, a fair ballot or a reduced rep
resentation in Congress Is the inevitable
outcome Of the agitation, the tide OF which
is already swelling with powerful impetus
1t Is safe to say that fair ballot will
never be conceded. The question will event
ually simmer down to a means by which
this question will surely be one of the great
issues of the campafeT Of the fall of 1QO2