The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-01-18

At the Inauguration of Governor
Aycock in Raleigh on January 18th, he
delivered the following address:
Gentlemen OF the General Assembly,
Ladies and Fellow Citizens:
Every four years brings" us a change
Of administration but not always a
change of policy. This year We meet
under extraordinary circumstanceS-one
party goes out of power n another
comes in; one policy ends and a new
one begins; one century passes away
n a new century claims our service;
a new constitution greets the new
century. For thirty years of the nine
tenth century We struggled in every
way against the evils of a suffrage
based OF manhood only. We found in
the first days of that struggle that
theory had Outrun practice and. that
reality had yielded place to sentiment.
At that time we had just emerged from
an unsuccessful and disastrous war.
Our ~SQperty had been swept away,
our ytitutions had been destroyed,
the foundation of our social fabric had
been overturned, we were helpless. A
victorious but ungenerous political en-
envy had crushed us to the earth; they
had forced upon us the recognition of
theories that we knew could not be re-
duced to successful practice. We were
poor, weak and defeated. We 'ac-
cepted the situation" We did our best
to prove the falsity of our convictions.
We endeavored with sincerity to bring
the negroes to a realization of the true
dignity of full citizenship. We urg-
emily strove to instil into their minds
that their true interests were likewise
ours we sought with great solicitude
and with much sacrifice of toll and cap
ital to convince them that parties were
the servan and not the masters of
the people n that no past services
of a party however beneficial these
services might appear justified the
destruction of good n safe n eco
nomical government in order to secure
it's success. We provided schools for
them and spent for them as we spent
for our own children. We cared for
their insane and opened schools for the
education of their afflicted and for the
care and tuition of those who were left
fatherleSS and mOtherleSs. We contin-
ued these efforts in the face of repeat
ed evidence of their hostility n abat-
ed not our when they repeat
ed their follies. We still hoped nat
they would follow the example of the
whites and divide their vote along the
lines of governmental, Industrial and
moral issues. The result was a diSap-
pointment. The negro was always to
be counted upOn and our opponents
did not hesitate at any excess because
they knew they had 120, 900 voters who
could be relied upon to support any
policy however r%uinous, which bore the
stamp of r~epublicanism. With this vote
as a certainty our adversaries when
they came to power after twenty years
of defeat dared new evils and wrongs.
Under their rule iawleSSneSS walked
the state like a pestilence-death stalk
ed abroad at noOnday-"sleep lay
down armed'-the sound of the pistol
was more frequent than the sons Of
the mockingbird-the scream of wO-
mon fleeing from nllrSlIinp hrnTpS clos
ed the gates of our hearts with a shock.
Our opponents unmindful of the sturdy
determination of our people to have
safe, good government at all hazards
became Indifferent to or incapable Of
enforcing law and preserving order.
Confident of the support of this ignor-
ant mass of negro voters the republi-
can party and it's ally forgot the
strength and determination of that
people who fought the first fight in AL
amance against bad government and
wrote the first Declaration of indie
pendence in Mecklenburg. They chal-
lenged North C~arolinianS to combat
and the world knows the result. The
campaign of 1898 ended in a victory for
good government. That was not a
contest of passion but of necessity.
When we came to power we desired
merely the security of life, liberty and
property. We had seen all these me-
nanced by 1906 600 negro votes cast as
the vote of enc man. We had seen
our chief city pass through blood and
death in search of safety. We did not
dislike the negro but we did love good
government. We knew that he was in
capable of giving us that and we re-
solved, not in anger III for safety of
the state, to curtail his power. We
had seen what "a struggle it required
to preserve even the form of republf-
can government with him as a voter.
The negro WAS NOT nnlu ionnro Mt he
was clannish. The educated among
them who realized the danger to the
state in mass voting were unable to
free themselves from the power of its
Ostracism.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND
MENT.
When the legislature of 1899 met il
was confronted with these facts and
was sincerely anxious to save the good
and suppress the evil of those forces
which had made our history. They
therefore, submitted to the people fol
their action an amendment to the con-
Stitution which forbids any man to vote
who cannot read n write, but excerpts
from the operation of this restrictive
clause all those who could vote in any
state on January LIST, 1867 or at any
time prior thereto or who are descend
ed from n such voter. This provlS-
ion excludes no white man except per
sons of foreign birth not yet familiar
with our institutions, and excludes nc
negro who can read and write, and ne
negro whether he can read and write
or not who could vote prior to Janu.
airy LIST, 1867 or who is descended from
one who could. vote at any time prior
to said date. This amendment to oul
{. constitution eliminates no capable ne
gro. Indeed it sets free those negroe:
who, believing in certain principles OF
government, nave been restrained by
loyalty to the mass from voting theil
convictions. 1t does no injustice to the
negro. 1t really benefits him. 1t does
recognize the necessity for having some
test Of capacity and it prescribes two
rules of evidence by which this
fly may be ascertained and declare.
that any man capable of meeting eithel
test shall vote. II a white man cal
j read and write he can vote; If a negr,