The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-28

| about crime on tniS occaSion, exCSPt | the great crime of the fifteenth amend ment of which I have already spoken but in this book l find the Constitu- | tion of 17S7, and now I want to read you q very ancient document: we, the people of the United States. in or der to form a more perfect union, es- tablish justice, ensure domestic tran quility. provide for the common de- fence. promote the general welfare. and secure the blessings Of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America" The two words to which I desire to call your l attention are ourselves" and "our" posterity. 1t was honorable to be a granddaddy in those days. and 1t was something to be proud of to be the posterity of one of those granddaddys. | When you go on to the Constitution of Alabama of 1S19 you will find practi- cally the same preamble ourselves and "our' posterity. You come on | down to the Constitution of 1881 at a time that tried mems souls, MT. Pres | ident. at a time when the very civili- | zation and institutions of these South | ern States and their very existence | were at stake. even then they did not | fail to recollect "our posterity. our | cClNGS anu Oul PoSSCLAtys ~Aa~N acN~--- | in 1865 when our people met here to
 make a Constitution. that Constitu- | ton said Ourselves and "our" pos terity. The Constitution of 1868 that was made. as I understand 1t. by the l scallawags. even. that contained our selves" and "our posterity." The Con- stitution of 1875 contained ourselves" | and tour" posterity. And even the
 preamble of the Constitution that we now propose in this declaration of rights did not forget to put in the
 words ourselves" and "our" posteri- | ty. I say that this grandfather clause | is not only in keeping with the laws | of nature. but is in keeping with the
 fundamental principles of patriotism | because it recognizes the men that | fought the battles. (Applause.) Point | to me a single civilization that was ever established except in bloodshed, and I will scorn the grandfather
 clause. Now. I cannot get in on that proposition unless you go back to the revolution and then l come in, and 1t | will be the proudest moment of my | life to stand up before that Registra- | ton Board and say in answer to the question Are you the descendant of | a seldier?" so far as the late war is | concerned I would have to say my | father was too old to go in, and l was | too young, thank the Lord, but my great granddaddies struck it for their | country and that blood is still here and he struck it for me. Did you ever l hear of soldiers going to war to fight
 merely for themselves? Was that the purpose for which these veterans went
 to the war and fought so gallantly for
 four years-for themselves? It was
 for their posterity. Therefore. I say t0 atn nd a i distinction to be a descendant from
 any brave man who ever struck g lick
 for his country, and because of this I
 say that he should be permitted to
 vote without money, without price and | without education. and I say that ne- gro Bill over in Barbour County allud- | ed to by Governor Oates ought to vote,
 because it was heroic of him, and he
 merited that. that is if he has not lost l his patriotism since. Let me read you
 in this connection a little clipping
 from The Brooklyn Eagle. you will
 find it in The Daily Register of July | 18th:
 ACCORDING TO HUMAN NATURE. Brooklyn Eagle.
 | Human nature Is higher constitu-
 tion than a Federal compact. White
 control is better preservative of gov ernment and civilization than consti- | tutional amendments which threaten l to ignore or cross 1t.
 .(That fellow is a genius that wrote
 that)
 The nation, under a mixture of sen-
 timent and of political gambling,
 snarled itself up in the fifteenth and
 fourteenth amendments. But the
 States that were seriously involved in
 that snarl have extrlcateI themselves I f md he nth raptina L.
 ly unaffected by the consequences of
 the snarl. are glad that their Southern
 sisters have made their escape from
 the complication"
 You see they are getting little more
 neart up in that country. They are
 getting judgment back upon its throne,
 and they gre beginning to look at the
 situation with their natural eyes and ! from a natural standpoint, and from
 the standpoint of philosophy and hu-
 man nature.
 The next generation may or
 may not reconcile the technicalities
 of the case with the actuallties of it..
 This generation is satisfied with the
 actualities of 1t, and Is willing to take
 it's stand by the side. of human nature,
 of history and of rightful race in-
 stinct. leaving to the future the re-
 moval by whatever surgery may be de-
 vised, of a moribund vermiform ap-
 pendix affecting suffrage and repre-
 sentation, which remains inOperatiVely | attached to the Constitution. not Of 1 the body polite. but of the political
 fabric called the Union."
 Now, sir, we are here for the pur-
 pose of performing apendectomy, that | is the technical name for removing
 defunct veriform appendix. and the
 distinguished lawyer, the chairman of
 the committee, is the presiding surgeon
 and the distinguished gentleman from | Madison gave the anesthetic when he
 made the unanswerable argument as
 to its constitutionality. Now shall we remove the appendix or shall we give
 d dose of salts and trust to nature? | That Is the question. Shall we con-
 tinue because of little personal bias
 and prejudice, because of little | pique, because of a little disappoint-
 ment, or because our own particular | kid has not been named and christen- | ed, or shall we all pull in the interest | of our great State, and in the presence | of the Almighty and assist in the Op- | eration? l say let us do 1t. and let the 1 grand daddies and descendants and | the good character fellows do the
 work. Now, Mir. President, what is the | duty of this Convention and of the | people of the South towards the negro.
 Mir. President. I would prefer to con
 sider that question in accordance with
 the rules and teachings of the dispen- pensation that had it's promise when l ha Af