The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-26

white men rule itYI submit that ques-
 ton. and proceed further. It does not
 insult the white men of Alabama, nor
 do you put the slave of your father
 above him. when you require the slave
 to have a qualification that the white
 man does not. Gentlemen of the Con
 vention, we do not place that difference
 or that distinction on the white man.
 God Almighty Himself put the seal on
 the white man. and He put 1t upon the
 negro. He has made the distinction
 and we only ask you to stand by your
 own peopls. I was more fortunate
 when I was born in that my father
 had a competency after the direful and
 dreadful Civil War. know young men.
 who at home were the play fellows of
 my elder brothers and of myself whose
 fathers before the war were wealthy
 men, these young men today can
 scarcely write their names, and after
 it is written for them can scarcely read
 it though printed in the boldest of let-
 ters. Would you disfranchisce those
 men or the children of those men who
 were denied opportunities. because of
 the scourges of war, to get an educa-
 ton? Does not this section guarantee the right to vote to these men, grown
 to manhood. and now having children
 of their own, and who have been so un-
 fortunate as not to have been able to
 attend school. and are you not willing
 to guarantee the ballot to those who
 will not be able to give to their child
 ren's children as much education as will be necessary to compete with the negro child whose blood has possibly mingled with the Caucasian? 1t is an absurdity to me that any man who has seriously watched the current of events through their boyhood and young man hood and seen the changed conditions sweep over this country. that they can not realize and see that our country demands the enfranchisement of every man with pure white blood in his veins in this State. They say that this de- vice is invalid. shall not discuss that proposition now, because it is propo- sition which has been tried and has not been found wandng. and I think
 delegates to this Convention, when you
 get through that you will see when this matter Is tested that 1t is not found wanting in the State of Alabama. It has been said that a race war Is pos sibly imminent in Alabama don't believe it! but for the sake of argu- ment will admit 1t. and shasald race
 war come. will not delegates to this Convention want the lowliest white man that blows the cotton row in
 
 North Alabama. who works and delves in the mines. whether they are able to read or write. will you not want him to shoulder the musket and go out against the black? l say, put the test;
 say if the test is white man against negro. who would you want to place against the black man? And we ask you in this majority report to place the white man. be he ever so lowly, against | the negro. be he ever so high and ex- alted among his own people. We are 1 tired
 The President-The time of the gen. l tleman has expired. MT. Wiiliams-And I am tired also. MT. Heflin (Chambers)-Mr. Presi- dent and gentlemen of the Convention II have enjoyed the earnestness of the gentlemen who favor the minority re- port and I have the utmost respect for | the ability and convictions of those gentlemen who have followed in the lead of the distinguished gentleman | from Montgomery. This is serious question that confronts us. This Is a great battle that we are fighting and
 a great problem that we are to solve. | The historians tell us that when Spain | had pressed her conquest to the limits i of the then unknown world, she stamp | ed the pillow of Hercules upon her coin with a scroll around 1t, bearing | the legend, "Ne plus ultra" no more | beyond, but one day bold and ad- venturous spirit sailed out far beyond | and discovered new world or tran scendent beauty and riches, and the proud nation convinced of her mistake, cut the negative from her coin and left the words "plus ultra" more be- yond. Since man tasted the super natural joys of Paradise and lost that
 high estate he has been wandering in | search of an ideal country. It was this love of an ideal country that
 painted the Arcadia in the brain Of the French philosopher; it was this same love of an ideal country, MT. Presl- dent, that inspired the pen Of Sir | Thomas Moore to write his far-famed Utopia; it was this same love that | thundered in the eloquence of Cicero | and thrilled the heart of Plato. It was | this same love that inspired the men
 of the imperial Ceasar to follow him | beyond the Rubicon. It was this same 1 love that fought the decisive battle | of Hastings It was this same love | that carried the torch of revolution | through the iron storms of war, seek | ing liberty; it was this same love, MT | Preside mt, that glowed on the canvass
 before the eye of Columbus and i'm | peIled him to brave dangers uHIu ne touched the shores of an ideal country l to be. and uttered pean of praise and song, the hymn of hope fulfilled. Il
 was the same love that burned in the
 temple of the Pilgrim Fathers and kindIed the fires of revolution. which no power op earth could extinguish un- til the Goddess of Liberty waived heI sceptre over the land of the free and
 the home of the brave. It was here 1 MT. President. that the Caucasian hewed out a Republic. below whose | temples and institutions will break harmless the pillows of time and 1t was
 here that the representatives of the proudest race that ever lived estab- | lished a government that will never fall. It was here that the white man
 drove the red man from his home ir the forest and took possession of this land as We find in the Bible What God l gave His servants command, to SC up and possess the land. I verify be- Heve he reserved America, this section of the Western world, for the perma' nent settlement Of the Caucasian race and here by mutual consent, they 'came together and by mutual consent estab' lishe6 a Government for the good oi all the people. In the course of time gentlemen of the Convention
 the slaves were hunted out ir
 Africa. The negro wandering through the woods like a beast of tho
 field, and brought here to do what
 Put upon the block and sold to tht
 highest bidder to be the servant O.
 his superior, the white man in thi!
 country. I believe as truly as l be