The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-28
The Fourteenth Amendment.

Some think that the Fourteenth Amendment. in conferring citizenship
 upon the negro. conferred upon him, | unassailably, the right to vote and to | hold office. and clinched the matter | when it said: r"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge | the privileges or immunities of citizens
 of the United States" That this idea
 in reference to citizenship, and its
 privileges and immunities' is erron-
 eous. is sufficiently proven by the pass ing of the Fifteenth Amendment. The negro may have been permitted under the Fourteenth Amendment to vote and hold office. but if it's provisions guar anteed to him beyond the interference of State. even the right to vote, there would have been no earthly need for the Fifteenth Amendment-it would have been superfluous.
 While the above is sufficient. there is additional proof that mere citizenship alone. does not carry with 1t either the right to vote or the right so hold office. and also that privileges and immuni- ties do not include these rights The following facts contain some of these additional proofs:
 Ladies are citizens, but in most States they can neither vote nor hold office;
 neither in some States can criminals,
 paupers, illiterate persons, those fail
 ing to pay their poll taxes, and those paying taxes on less than a certain specified amount of property; and yet
 all these classes are still citizens, though they cannot even Vote and the fact that their rights" to vote and to hold office have been denied and
 abridged'' IS plain proof that citizen
 ship alone. does not guarantee these
 things. and it is also another sufficient proof that there rights" do not come
 under the head of privileges and inn
 munities of citizens of the United
 States" spoken of Ia this Fourteenth Amendment. for the latter are com
 piete!y and unqualifiedly forbidden to
 be abridged-the language in reference to them does not say they shall not be abridged on account of certain things, but it absolutely forbids their being abridged on any account whatever.
 Now as privileges and immunities are unquaifiedly forbidden to be abridged, 1t surely follows that the rights to vote and hold office are not included in them. for these rights are now. and to some extent, always have been "de- nied and abridged in every State. And. exactly as each State still has the power of discriminating between it's citizens in reference to these rights" "on account of sex. and 'on account of" a number of other things, even so at that time. under the Fourteenth amendment. each State had the power to similarly discriminate between It's citizens in reference to both of these rights" on account of race. which fact as said before is recognized by the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment, which took away the previous power of a State to deny "on account of race" rio hut 1aft lie it1 reference to the right of office-holding untouched.
 The Fourteenth Amendment even contains. within itself, recognition of the distinction between the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States" and these rights for its first section absolutely forbids even abridg ing the former. while its second sec tion makes provision both about deny ing abridging the latter; and, in addi tion to this. the plain inference from the language in the latter part of the Fourteenth Amendment is, that under it, and until the adoption of the Eff teenth Amendment. each State had the power to deny negroes even the right to vote. Bear in mind that this amend ment was intended specially for the benefit of the negro, and yet after for bidding any State to ''abridge" his privileges and immunties,' it goes on to say: But when the right to vote is denied to any of the male inhabi- tants of such State being q years of age. and citizens of the United States. | or in any way abridged except for participation in rebellion or other | crime. the basis of representation shall | be reduced in the proportion which the | number of such male citizens, being | 21 years of age, shall bear to the whole | number of male citizens being q years | old in the State"
 Read logically, in its connection l