The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-07
STANDS BY HIS BILL
HARDWIca< AND
Us DIsFRANCHIsEsfEN MEASURE.
WILL KEEP UP THE FIGHT.
rs1NI<s THE BILL WILL PASS AT
THE NEXT SESSION.

Grand Father Clause" TO BE
,,.onDed and Some New Features
.aded-Mr.s Hardwick Does Not
r,ink. However, That the Dis
,cbtsement of the Ignorant and
u,,terate Negro Will BE a Panacea
car All Political Ills but is Com
need That 1t is a Move in the
Right Direction.
~, 4, w. Hardwick, of Washing ION,
.,.a. in Savannah yesterday. Mr.. Hard
,,,;cl is linked TO fame by his biz for the
"a. e-,nchisement of the illiterate negro,
,,.bt.5 he introduced in the lower house of
The General Assembly and which was de-
fao-sd so signahy two years ago.
mir Hardwick is not less enthusiastic
,,o.. on the subject than he was when he
-rst Introduced his bill, and he introduce
o e. again at the last session Of the Leg
;s,a.1re. This time it had already sur-
+o,ad some modifica tons of its original
fo.m and 1t is probable that it will be
further amended, even with the consent
,,9 apnroval of its author, before it is
finally U4dCGu Oil 10 peeSS@5Ss -AAs AANA
yf.l, is not bigotted on the subject of UNI
essentials.
no Morning News reporter Mr.. Hard
wick said that he has good hope of Sc
curing the passage of his bill, though it
win be possible to amend it materially
bsfore it is in a shape in which it can
,.ss. 1t is probable that the "grandfa-
r1-r clause" which let In the illiterate
,eeeendants of voters living in 1867, to
The privilege of the ballot, while other il
Iirerates we're excluded, will not be- the
feature of the new bill, as it was of the
enc which was defeat ted. Some other
rlan Will be tried.
~ don't think" said Mr.. Hardwick,
that the Acknowledgement of the igno-
rant and illiterate negro isegoing to prove
, panacea for all the existing political
ills from which the stateAand the South
suffer to-day Not at all. am convinced
that there are many white men who are
as unfit 20 exercise the prerogatives of
citizenship as some of the negroes whom
NV bill would disfranchise; possibly, they
are even more unfit.
"The only thing l claim for my plan
md the bill which is designed to carry
IL into execution is that it is a step in
the right ulIGCllOks InSib may bO OAA-
fereuces of opinion among intel gent aad
honest men on the subject of the unfitness
of any large percentage of the white
vote. but ! don't think there is any con-
tention, from any source that entities it
10 respect, that the illiterate negro vote
is anything but a menace to the perpetui-
ty of our institutions and the good of our
state.
Therefore, I want to rid the state of
the vote which everybody agrees is bad
and corrupt. When that is done, il will
be time enough to consider continuing the
process of eliminating from the exercise
of the suffrage all other voters, who are
not At to be entrusted with the ballot.
1T is all very well to talk of passing
a law which will be perfectly just to
everybody, and which will strike from
he lists of voters every man whose
morals or intelligence. or the want Of
either or both. ought to disfranchise him.
Anyone who knows anything about poll
tics, knows this can't be done. A man
VINO wants to accomplish something must
be content to make haste slowly
Mr.. Hardwick thinks he win be able TO
put his bill IN such shape that will gain
Tor it the approved of a majority of the
general assembly. At any rate hess go
ing to have another try at the solution
u the problem at the next session.