The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-27
LETTERS TO
 THE EDITOR.
UNIFIED STATE.
How South Carolina Solved Dlm-
 cult Problem.


 cult Problem.
 Editor The Advertiser: ,.. M:. Lowe. O. Jefferson, saio m ms speech of Tuesday. July 24' ihst., ana the features of registration or QuaIheo voters. in the plan of the Committee on Suffrage and Elections, would oper- ate to place undue control of eleetions in this State with certain counties because of the effect of reglstratlon upon the larger proportion or class or race found there than In other coun- ties. In word, Mir. Lowe IS appre- hensive of the Black Belt ambition to dominate in the government or Ala bama, and he believes the system or registration of voters recommended py the Committee will result, If adopted, in an advantage to Black Belt amol- tion.
 There ia a geographical division of Alabama known as the Black Belt, and hereafter, If not in the past, there VIII arise 6 question of competitive influ- encc in Alabama politics and Alabama government between this geographical division and the county of Jenerson. for example, and other geographical sections united in a common cause by common interests.
 1 propose here to cite an example where a State was rent in twain by geographical division within itself and where the rent was mended by Con- stitutional proviso that for more than half century the State was phenom- enally unified political community. quote from the Works of Calhoun, Vol. l., D.. ST.
 'It Is much more difficult to give to the government of the States this con- ctf ftxrtt ha | mens O. the United States; for the same reason that it is more easy to form constitutional government for a community. divided into classes or or- ders, than for one purely popular (for example, Alabama Artificial distinc- tions of every description, be they of States or Estates, are more simple and strongly marked than the numerous and blended natural distinctions of com munity purely popular. (For example, Alabama But difficult as it is to form such constitutional governments for tho separate States, It may be ef- fected by making the several depart ments, as far as 1t may be necessary tho organs of the more strongly marked interests ot the State, from whatever | causes they may have been produced; and such other devices, whereby the sense of the State may be taken by its parts, and not as whole" etc. The controversy now pending be- tween MT. Lowe and the Majority Re | port Of tho Committee relates to the parts of the State which require a | common organic law.
 I quote Mir. Calhouns narration | of the successful effort of South Car olina in the early years Of the last century to harmonize the jealous sec l tions of the flow country" where the sources of taxation lay, with small vot- ing population. and the up country where population was far greater and wealth far less
 Such a state of things" he con. | tinues, could Tot long con. tinue without leading to dis. content. Accordingly a spir. ited movement or agitation commenced Gin the up country) openly, in 1794, the object of which was to secure a weight in the government. proportioned to it. population. Once commenced, 1t con. tinued to increase with the growing population of that section. until its vi | olence. and the distractions and disor. der which 1t occasioned, convinced tht reflecting part of both sections, tha i the time had arrived when a vigorou: effort should be made to bring it to 6 close.''
 The close of the dispute be- tween the tax-paying low country, with its rice and sea island cotton plan. tations and vast numbers of negroe: owned by individuals, some owning two to three thousand, and the popu. lous up-country of Scotch-Irish farm. CTS. was settled by an amendment tC | the State Constitution. I bring MT Calhoun's narrative again into use:
 "To effect this. the Senate, which consists of one member from each cleo. tion district. (county) except Charles ton. which has two (one for each ot its two parishes) remained unchang. ed. To give the upper sectior a like preponderance in the House ot Representatives. it became necessary to remodel it. For this purpose, there were assigned to this branch of legis. lature one hundred and twenty foul members. of which sixty-two were al. lotted to white population and sixty. | two to taxation; to be distributed ac. | cording to the election diStricts-givins to each the number 1t would be enti tied to under the combined ratios o | the two elements"
 The effect was. increase of power O the "up-country' In the House of Rep
 resentatives. while the State census
 provided for, indicated the growth O wealth that was apportioned in tn, plantation region. or How country. Every election district or county haC its representatives in the Senate. re gardless of wealth or population. anC this was the security of the rural coun | try against the city. Every white mar not a criminal. was all elector with out qualifications of letters or property
 MT. Calhoun wrote. in 1S49: The con
 sequence was, the almost instantan eous restoration of harmony and con
 cord between the two sections. Part! divisions and party violence. with tn,
 destruction and disorder attendant up
 on them. soon disappeared. Kind feel
 ings. and mutual attachment between
 the two sections, took their place." etc
 From that day of constitutional re
 vision South Carolina was a united
 community. on all State issues. how
 ever, for brief while. a federal ques
 tion may have distracted the people.
 Alabama is now striving to unify he
 sections. She cannot eliminate tn
 fact of sectional division of her terri
 tory her people and public sentiment
 Honest elections for all is absolutel! essential. Honest elections cannot b.
 reached without some kind of reconcil fation of sections upon the problem O sectional representation in the govern ment of the State. Can this represen
 tation be reached by a reorganization of the Senate? Or by a re-apportion ment of the House? It can be reachet by the trained minds of Alabama statesmen and not otherwise. William Lowndes was the author of the consti | In In,