The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-28

~ne of Alabama as much 70 as any
 1f citizen of the commonwealth, a
 fn who carries by his side an amply
 11ve. tfself being a passport to every
 6<ficktc heart. Judge Carmichael, rose
 nM1 stood sspon a table, So that he 0lIsnt he seen and heard of all men, 7z=<==A == <<s.s>zes-e proclaimed that no white
 Mlon in the State of Alabama was to 5 n dIefranchised. Those words rang Uuk llke a clarion note all over the U<at6. They were echoed and re-echo- &1 from Hilltop to hilltop and from | &n1IGv to valley. Your Convention n1oDtsd that resolution as part and a 9nrcSi of It's platform, and the great
 Demccratic party published 1t to the
 world that no white man in the State I of Alabama was to be disfranchised.
 Then when your Convention met to
 nominate delegates to this Constitu-
 nominated your candidates, you
 rave them instructions in the nature of a platform of principle. and among other things you said. we pledge our faith to the people of the State of Alabama that no white man is to be Gisfranchised. We, then, as candidates, went before the people. Your Demo- crxtid State Executive Committee adopted it and declared it to be a truth. Your Campaign Committee plkdged the Democratic Party to the people Of the State of Alabama and 1irected you and me to go before our people and say to them that we pledged ourselves and pledged the honor of the party that that platform should be Dtrictiy carried out We did it, and the people believed 1t. they voted for this Constitutional Convention. and they honored us with their confidence nnd sent us here. MT. President, 8 ntate of circumstances might arise to cause me to take my commission and carry it back to those who gave 1t to me and say to them that I could no 1onger conscientiously serve them. but never. no. never. so help me God, will deliberately violate the pledge I made my people. We were elected on that plafform. can we carry it out? It has pleased some learned gentlemen to say that 1t cannot be done, that we cannot steer clear of the Federal Constitution, and at the same time carry out the platform, for verify believe that has already been accomplished. I believe that if we adopt this report. we can keep our pledge and at the same time not violate any provision of the Fed eral Constitution.
 Nov. gentlemen, what does this re- port sayf It says that those who have honorably srved in the land or naval forces. of the United States or of the Confederate States shall be allowed xhe privilege of voting. What Is the right of franchise? It Is nothing more <han trust. He who holds 1t is trustee. He who holds it. holds it for the good of his country as a trustee. What class of men, therefore, do you want to confer 1t upon? Those who If who have proved themselves of the right character. That Is the class that you want to act in the capacity of trus- tees in this important matter. Now a great many negroes will be allowed to vote under. this clause. and a great many white men will be allowed to vote under the same provision. The old Confederate soldier will predominate. mo doubt. Now, gentlemen, we are not afraid to trust these men. They have been tried in the fiery furnace and came forth pure gold. They were tried an the days that put mems souls to the test. Are you afraid to risk the af- fairs<of the State of Alabama in their keeping? Why, l repeat, that in the dark days that put mems souls to the test, these men upheld the honor of your state and bore a name untarnish- cd all through the trying period of the war. Then, when the war was oyer they came back home. They found worse state of affairs than was ever before presented to their visfon. They found their property was gone. their families impoverished, their country in ruins. and tyranny staIked unoridled through this land and free men breathed with bated breath. In that day, the rattle of the saber and glitter of the bayonet was heard and seen in this building. Those patriots, ahough,- could not be deterred bv threats. they could not be seduced by zlattery, but they said to the tyrant and to the seducer. Get thee behind me' satan" True. all is gone save nonor, but that we propose to preserve and transmit as a sacred heritage to our children. and that they did.
 Now, there is another class. that fne lawful descendants of these men may vote. Gentlemen, when the war broke out we were poor people, an agricultural pople. and the rank and ale of the Confederate Army " as made up of poor men. They owned no prop erty. They never owned a negro in Their lives. but they fought for prin- cfple and for conscience sake. Now, when those men were called to arms rom their homes. they left the blow standing in an unfinished furrow upon the hillside farm. He left there a wife ana group of little children, the o!d- est. perhaps. not more than 10 or 12 years Of age. The father gone, that noy, under the guiding hand of a low ang mother. stepped between those blow aandles and years end to years end worked and ls&ored in order to supply his mother and little sisters and broth CTS with the necessities of life. Did ne go to school? No, he never went to 9cnool, for he had no time to go to school. He stood in front Of that cabin door, and with all the strength and epergy of his young life, drove back Ene wolf of want and hunger from the sacred confire es of that home. Then. when the war was over. his fathAr came back, perhaps on one leg or with an empty sleeve by his side. broken zn health and wounded in body, a hero without success, a. disabled soldier without pension. His country could mot help him and therefore that hoy continued to labor between those blow handles not only to support that moth CT but to enable that decrepit and Droken-down Confederate soldier to live, literally growing from childhood % manhood between those blow hans dles. Now, I put his case to you dsI- egateS of this Convention. I tell vou an the first place. he made those sac-S Einces for his country, and I but the question to you. before God and man VIII Alabama today, like a cruel and unnatural mother, lay the heavy hand of 0DnressiOn unOn hiuo AIvot.L.- /. - :.