The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-21
NO FRAUD EXPECTED
BLACK BELT GLAD NEGRO Is
 DIsFRANCHIsED.
Dallas County Democrat Says the White Men Welcome a Chance to Conduct Elections in
 an Honest Manner.

-
 Advertiser Bureau,
 Selma, Dec. 20.
 Said a prominent Black Belt Democrat this morning:
 II see that Governor Jelks, Auditor Sowell and Commissioner of Agriculture Poole have made their selection of Regis trars for Dallas County, and their choice has fallen on Messrs. Sheppard, Edwards and Barker. They came from the three grand divisions of the county, West Dal- las. North Dallas and Southside. The city of Selma did not get one of the plums, and am glad of that, not that oont like the city but think 1t we'll enough to let these places go to those Democrats from the rural districts who have done so much in the past toward keeping the while man on top There has not been single kick from the city because these thu ee worthy county Democrats were se- lected; in fact, the city of Selma did not have an applicant for the places. but let them go to the country by common con- sent.
 i'Now that the Registrars have been appointed, I think 1t will not be amiss for the Democrats of Dallas. the county that has done more for Democracy in the State tkan any other. o let the State know how we feel toward the franchise plank in the new Con- stitution. It has been our dream Tor over a quarter of century to some day disfranchise the negro. so that we could have honest elections in this county. A new Constitution has been adopted and under its provisions the negro Is pracd- cally disfranchised. There Is not cor porars guard of Democrats in this county but who are glad of it. We all want our R gistrars to comply strictly with the letter and spi. 1t of the new Constitution and register only those negroes who can comply with the requirements or the new organic law. At the same time, we want | them to comply with the provisions that l were made by the Democratic speakers | and the platform of the State Convention as to the regi atration of white men. We do not want to see a single white man dtsfr nchised, unless he does 1t himself by not complying with the requirements | of the new Constitution. If he disfran- i chises himself he has no one to blame | but himself. .t What I want us to do. is to disabuse the minds of those white men in North | Alabama of the erroneous idea that mas | been so in idiously thrust upon them, that we of the Black Belt intend to register the negroes in droves and vote them as | we have been doing in the past. That is l not our intention, and 1t will not be done. | We think as much of our children as the men of any other portion of Alabama, | and we have been longing to get in po- sition where our sons woul1 not have to go in the ballot boxes and count negro | votes to keep the white man on top. We did it. not because we wanted to, but be- cause we had to do so. We did 1t as a | patriotic duty. but there Is no use deny l ing that the influence was bad on our | NA A2Navs Aa h0n led astray by the influence of ballot box manipulation. But now that we have a new Constitution, one under which we | can have a free ballot and fair count | the Black Belt Is more retoiced than any | other portion of the State. We accept the provisions of the new Constitution | honestly and do not intend to use our big negro vote any more. White men will now control this State and white men will always pass laws that will moi I cypress any one
 1 ,"Now that the negro has been deprived I of his vote, he becomes our ward in 6 more sacred sense than he has ever beer since he was set free. It is our duty tc see that he gets his rights before the law in other words, we should be more care full than we have ever been to weigh out even and exact justice to him, and be- lieve that the people realize this fact more than ever before"
 Long's Slide.
 Yesterday morning. when the face of the earth was covered with Ice and sleet a great many people slipped and fell and many ludricous things occurred. One of the funniest things that has been report ed occurred in front of the Academy of Music. A lady was tripping along gaily, when all of a sudden her feet flew from under her and she slid off the sidewalk out into the street. Colonel Long. the genial manager of the Academy of Mu- sic, who is "A years old today, rushed to her assistance. He had not taken many steps when his heels flew from under him and he slid out into the street and sat beside the lady whom he was trying to assist. She made several efforts to get up, but failed, and the Colonel wal equally unsuccessful. Finally, they both ceased to make any effort, and sat there on the ground, turned their heads and | looked each other in the face. There was a look of despair on Colonel Longs face and all he said was damn" The lady look at him a second, and without cracking a smile replied, thank you. This was more than the bystanders could undergo, and when it was seen that n .ither of them was injured. shout went up and willing hands assisted both of them to their feet and mutual expla. nations followed. Colonel Long Is young at seventy-four, and he enjoys the joke on himself as much as anyone else.