The age-herald., 1901-05-16
Says Members Should be Guid- ed by Honesty, Patriotism
 and Intelligence SUFFRAGE IS A PRIVILEGE
pr. Cunningham Suggests Some Ideas As To Voting Qualifications and Gives Some Sound Advice To
 the Delegates.

P. W. Barrett, Editor of The Age-Herald.
 Replying to your esteemed favor of re-
 cent date requesting me to write for The
 Age-Herald my views upon the suffrage
 problem now pending. and soon to be
 solved, if possible, by the constitutional
 convention, respectfully submit the fol- lowing:
 l. There should be but one opinion in Alabama as to the government of the
 State, the counties and cities by the white people, and that, too. by honest methods
 2. Both of these cannot be had at the same time under our existing constitution. | 8. Recognizing these conditions, and the | imperative demand for reform have | been a consistent advocate for suffrage amendment or constitutional convention | to effect suffrage reform ever since the | question has been agitated in Alabama, and have, of course, given some thought | and attention to the method or manner | by which this reform is to be accom- | pnshed Ones opinion as to the method adopted for regulating suffrage will be | largely determined by the opinions held as to suffrage itself. Therefore. I should | first give you my views upon the elective | franchise. First, what it Is not. It is not
 a natural right to-wit, life, liberty, etc.;
 1t is not citizen right, to-wit, protection to life, liberty, property, etc., etc. Natur- al and citizen rights are possessed by all races, sexes, ages, classes and conditions
 of people. The first is inherent or God
 given; the second is the gift or guarantee | of government.
 The election franchise, on the contrary,
 is special and definite. It Is privilege,
 and not right. To say that the natural
 or citizen rights carried with them the
 right to vote would mean that all races,
 sexes, ages, conditions, 1. e., the insane,
 the idiotte, the criminal and children and
 babies would have the right to vote, fos' | all these have equal natural and citizen
 rights. The baby that breaths once is as | much a citizen as the octogenerafc: the
 idiotic and insane and the criminal are | all citizens with rights equal in every re- | spect with the incest, greatest and best | of earth. Certainly women and children | are citizens with equal and natural rights, yet they are not allowed to vote.
 More Than Mere Rights.
 The elective franchise, therefore, is something more than natural or citizen | rights. The voter has all the rights of | citizenship, but citizenship alone does not | carry with 1t the right to vote. The ques- | tion may be properly asked, where comes | the difference, and who confers the spe- | cial privilege of the elective franchise? | To answer this question would require a review of history and the changes wrought by super-organic evolution which would be out of place in this letter. Suf- | flee it to say, that such Is the fact and | to advocate universal sufferage, that is to | give all citizens the right to vote, would | be revolution and not reformation. Nha tfrSf nua ion ic uUh ho hos and safest qualifications for the elective | franchise?
 In my opinion they are four: l. Honesty.
 2 Patriotism.
 3. Intelligence.
 4. Personal interest. Certainly, a voter who is honest. who loves his country, who is intelligent and who Is interested in the results of gov- ernment, and therefore of political ques- tions, is the best and safest voter. An electorate made up of such electors would be ideal in it's qualifications. The problem, therefore, in regulating the suffrage, is to get as many of these fundamental qualifications into the cleo torate as possible. In my opinion they should be considered in the order men tioned, honesty first, self interest last A man may be both honest and patriotic and be neither intelligent nor personally interested so far as property is concerned. ne may De nOneSL pdLTlOt1C, 1nIeiIRent and personally interested, and yet not know a letter in the alphabet. He may be intelligent, yea learned in many things, and yet be dishonest and unpatri- otic What we waht to know is to as- certain the visible, available evidences of these qualifications, and apply them to regulate the right to vote. Let us ex- anime these qualifications and see if there is available evidence-evidence that can be used in testing the right to vote. l. Honesty-The evidence of honesty is both general and specific. General in the sense of general character of the individual: specific in the sense of con viction for crime, thus proving dishon- esty. The first is not available, the lat ter is, because it is matter of fact and record
 g. Patriotism-The best evidence of this is the willingness to fight in the wars of one's country, and to sacrifice property and life in the country's cause, and to help pay its expenses.
 8. Intelligence-The evidence of this is education and the possession of prop erty.
 4. Personal Interests-The evidence of this is property. With the above as the point of view, it appears to me that the following suffrage regulation will, in a measure fill the bill, to-wit:
 Any male citizen 21 years old and over. who can read and write, and who paws taxes upon s300 worth of property or who can read and write and has paid a poll tax of g annually for the two years proceeding any election in this State or who is an honoraby discharged soldier who served in the revolutionary war, the war of 1S12 the war with Mexico, the war between the states or the war with Spain, or who is decendent of any sol dier who served in any of the above wars. and who pays a poll tax of B per an- mum for two years next preceding any election in this State. shall have the right to vote in any election in this State.
 An AnaIysis.
 An analysis of the above proposition re- veais the following: Male citizens 21 years old who could vote
 1. All who can read and write and who pays taxes upon $500 worth of property.