The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-18
CHANGING THEIR TACTICS.

| Sx1AN94N0 IAS44S0. | Two of the foremost of the few oppo- nents of the ratification of the new Con- stitution are ex-Governor J. F. Johnston and ex-Congressman William H. Denson. They were once advocates of the very things which they now oppose. Governor Johnston was so insistent and vehement that he sought to have a call for Con- stitutional Convention made part of the Democratic platform in 1892. At that time the white people were divided as they never had been since the days of Whiggery and Democracy. The thrust ing of demand for Constitutional Con vention before the people at that time was perilous to the degree of madness. Yet he persisted to the very last. and un- the proposition ll-timed and dangerous. Then 1t was that he compromised by accepting the thirteenth plank, which was his production, and declared for the rule of the intelligence and virtue of the State.
 That he still cherished the same views in 1896 was illustrated within an hour l ] Governor of Alabama. In a message which he sent to the Legislature simul- | taneously with entry upon the discharge of his duties as Governor, on the 1st of December, 1896, he said:
 The duty is upon you to consider the necessity for a new Constitution for our State. That the present Constitution has served its purpose and now embarrasses rot fhDF- ha hn nhi should subserve, Is manifest to all think ing men. We should approach the con- sideration of this question divested of all party spirit, and with a patriotic pur- pose to consider only the good of the State and the prosperity and advance ment of all its people. Various attempts | to secure amendments to our organic law have demonstrated that the very re- | quirements of the Constitution prevent any amendment. It is essential that some of the iron bands that have pre- vented our growth and development should be struck oq The fear of im- proper restriction of the right of suf- frage should not be allowed longer to stand in the way of relief demanded more strongly each year.
 Not word did he then have to say in commendation of the present Constitu- tion, the perpetuation of which now seems to be his chief political aim. Peo- pie are not apt to understand such vio- lent changes.
 When the act calling the Convention reached him in the Legislature of 1S9S-s he promptly signed it. All are familiar with his change of front after delegates who could not be used as putty in his hand had been nominated by the Demo- crats. A subservient Legislature followed his behests and repealed the act. An other Legislature however, asserted the peoples will and passed an act calling a Constitutional Convention. It has been held and has submitted a Constitution which Is the wisest and most satlsfac- tory document that an able and patriotic body of men could prepare. The man who was once foremost in the demand for this very work is now the chief of those who seek to defeat its ratification. The people can not be made to swing from one extreme to the other to aid him in wreaking vengeance upon those who have the confidence of the white voters of the State.
 Another of the extreme opponents of
 
 He. too. has boxed the political compass and is now warning upon the very prin- cipes he once strongly advocated. He was the very first man in this State to publicly advocate property and educa- tonal qualifications as a prerequisite for voting, with the proviso to except old soldiers and their descendants He fixed fh of very sum fixed by the Convention and incorporated in the new Constitution. He is warning upon what if he had re- mained true to former declarations. he might claim as his own bantling. When the Democratic Convention assembled in this city on the 29th of March, 1899, he was made the temporary President, and in his address on taking the chair he said:
 We must meet the great question of | suffrage. Representative government is involved in this question. That is the great spear, the great power by which the individual protects himself against organized sociAy in its efforts sometimes to trample under foot individual rights
 Now, who are to exercise that right ? We have borne the white mans burden, emu IhC WlilS tOudy IS the carrying of the balckman on our should CTS in Alabama. and theaopportunity has come of solving the question of society on the one hand and individual rights on the other. Now what are you going to do? You have met here, and is there a man among you harboring a disposition to suppress anything? If so, you are in your own light. Let us be true to our 1 selves. You want to limit the suffrage !? Yes. What do you want to limit the suffrage for? To eliminate the negro from the ballot box is the plain English of it, and in that meaning. in that step l give my heart, my hand and trust to the God that made us to preserve the ! supremacy of the white race, and let the | consequences be what they may. Now how are you going to limit it? Put an ] educational qualification? Yes Will 1 that be sufficient? No. How are you going to do it? Put a property qualification in it, Now don't get frightened. Say $300 and the man that did not possess that much cannot vote You say that would knock out the white man? Not a man, if you will just fol- low me along. You have an educational and property qualification, and after that say provided-provided what? Provided that no qualification of the right of suf- frage contained in this instrument shall apply to the men who fought in the Mexican war, in the war between the States on either side, and you may put in the Spanish war if you want to, but it | shall not apply to those men, or their