The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-25

A mn who mas Eooo cnaIacteI III Afo- naxha would not have good character | acfer In China would possibly not en- l Joy good character in New England. l Good character is a relative term, and | 1tS will be decided by your c0mmission in each county. and win be decided | according to what leave 1t to you politicians. do not know. They tell me that 30 per cent of the negroes will | ' E. registered. You say you cannot ex- | S elude the negroes by any Jaw. They | { tell me that 30 per cent of the negroes will be registered under this provision l | think so and perhaps more, and what l does that result in? It results in lulling the white people into security. | and divisions and the power that mas the money will come into your cleo ffons. and conclude the result of them. | Did they not reject my amendment on | yesterday when I suggested that the | poll tax should be paid in the year Tn | which 1t was due. Didn't they reject | that, leaving it payable in February Of the year of the election. and why! | Gentlemen. am dealing with this now from a practical standpoint. inlpugn- ing the motives of no man. believe no man could sit in this | Convention who could prefer his own | interests above the interests of the State. believe every man Is just as sincere and honest as am in the con- alteration of this question. but some of you gentlemen have been attending to your private affairs while others have been attending to practical polr- tics and am speaking to you of the practical politics of this proposition say to you that 1t turns us over abso- lutely. horse, foot and dragons to the counties that are willing to indulge in fraud. Ar II 1.oli a man should not be tested by what his grandfather did, but his right to participate in the government of the State of Alabama should be based on what he is willing to do. Now the substitute that shall offer later for this proposition, will simply provide that every man white or black. who is willing to make his contribution to the public school fund each year as 1t ma lures. shall be entitled to vote. l was not entirely in accord with the re- marks of the distinguished gentleman from Montgomery, the ex-Governor, this morning. I have not been entire ly in accord with the argument of any man who has preceded me. but have totally failed to find in the remarks of the gentleman who spoke for the majority report defense of the prop osition which comes from the Commit tee. Now. gentlemen, I know that in Mississippi and Louisiana they have adopted a similar constitution. They have been driven to worse extremes perhaps, then we ever were, but I mo- tice that whenever man in his pri- vate conduct. in the discharge of his private business. or in public affairs, departs from the path that he had mapped out for himself, the beaten path, and goes into the wilder ness of experiment. the sooner or later comes upon the rock, or the quagmire. Now, my substitute that win be offered when this matter is dis posed of will provide that any citizen of Alabama who, in the first three months of each year, is willing to make his contribution to the public school fund, shall be entitled to vote. That will be perfectly fair. discriminating against none. It will stand by the platform; it will be in entire accord with the platform. and what man in Alabama can object to 1t? 1t will be a three dollar contribution until forty live years old. and one dollar and a half afterwards. What men in Ala bama entitled to vote cannot make his contribution of three dollars until he is forty-five years old, and dollar and a half afterwards? There will be no remedy for the enforcement of the col lection of that poll tax. 1t will in- crease the contribution to your public school fund largely, and your public school funds from poll tax will be nearly doubled.
 Mir. weatherly (Jefferson)-win the gentleman state why he doubles the amount of the poll tax, and provides that 1t shall not be collectible by law?
 MT. Lowe-I will. think 1t should not be collectible by law because, in the first place, If you make 1t collecti- ble by law. you will enable every man AN<.- t,z -E.-f- that every man entitled to vote is willing to make the contribution of three dollars year until forty five years old to the public school funds, and the contribution of one dollar and a half after that time. It Is not bur den on anybody. It Is not a property taxi Why, you all know old Ben Franklin's answer to the proposition that came out in Poor Richards AL manac? That is involved in this proposition here. Ben Franklin was discussing the proposition. He was op- posed to the property qualification, and gave an illustration in his Almanac. There was a fellow that had a jackass that was worth one hundred dollars. and under the provision of the law he was entitled to vote. The next year the 1ackass died before the election came oil. and the owner was not entitled to vote. and the question arose as to whether it was the owner of the jack ass or the jackass that was voting Gentlemen. 1t is infamous that at this stage of Democratic government ir Alabama We should propose property qualification for voting. It is unjust. We should propose an educational qual- ification for voting It is unfair and 1t is Indirect, because the gentlemen who framed this
 MT. Walker-I will ask the gentleman from Jefferson if under his plan, 1t would be the three dollars voting or the man? (Applause).
 MT. Lowe-I might fairly treat the gentleman as he did me this morning not answer him, but I won't do that. will say to the gentleman from Mad ison that l think any man who has not a sufficient amount of patriotic in- stinct to contribute less than one cent a day to the maintenance of the public schools is not fit to vote in Alabama. That is more direct answer than the gentleman gave me this morning.
 Now. MT. President, these provisions that I have discussed are abhorent to every principle for which Democracy has stood since it began to follow Jef- ferson. say that Jefferson adhorred the property qualification. and educational qualification. but they go further, and have given us commission appoint ed by Whom?. A Board of Registrars that