The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-31

the Oxuega. Autouga county 10 the first alphabetically at the head of the list of counties.and if should consult my pride I would cay that It .s in every respect iirst, but gracefully y.eld this position to the honored old Chairman of the Suffrage Committee, and if he desires to close the argument. we would yield likewise the position to him.
 Mir. President. tt seems to me. sir, that this question has been discussed from every imaginable standpoint. It has been discussed from the legal and constitutiouai point; 1t has been discussed from . moral and natural standpoint. and ably SO. and by some from a very un. natural standpoint. % I shall only un- dertake to make few scattering re- marks. tAt
 Fellow delegates. feel that a medal should be awarded to the President of this Convention for selecting twenty Ave noble and learned men from this body. who have in my opinion given us under the existing circums.ances the bass solution of this entire suffrage plan that could be originated by men. Like brave men they fearlessly entered the old ship of state and have guided her through the breakers down the marrow channel. four of whom. however, through caution. have said with some doubt in their own minds that there was danger ahead. Not 30 say the majority of the crew. and feel, sir, that they will soon land here into haven of peace, virtue and prosperity, and then all the honest and good men of this nation will rise up and call them great.
 MT. Prssident. if we do not lock horns--and do not think We will with the Constitution of the United States, then. sir, feel that we should honor the old soldiers and their de- scendants. Rich are the treasures America has given the world: wonder full the countless ore and inventions and discoveries with which she has en- riched mankind; beautiful the matter pieces of her art, hut the most glorious Jewel in the crown of her brow 6 that of her heroic sons who have fought and died for what, they thought was right. Now, gentlemen. if you want to honor the memory Of those who sleep, do your duty to those who struggled. Could you take their vote today what would be their answer. louder than the roaring of the artillery? If you would died" MT. President. we see that our Northern friends have made 1t . special privilege that appointment to office must 70 to their old soldiers. or to descendants of their old soldiers. and they also contribute largely to their financial wants. and we have nothing of this to give, therefore. MT. President I thank God for this opportunity ot showing our appreciation and grati- tude to those who wore the grey.
 MT. President. 1t seems to me that Congress, though they may be com posed mostly of Republicans. would give us a helping hand when they fad that we are trying to establish virtue and honesty in our state.
 have patiently listened to the vari- ous discussions on subjects pertaining to our fundamental laws. and I have tried to vote intelligently on ali ques- tions. and l feel that every principle of government pertaining to the great interest of our State has been properly guarded by the friends of every meas ure. But, MT. President. have heard statements made here which have gone down in history and out to the world by some men of this Convention that make my heart sad. Yet we are bound to admit that their statements are. to A great extent, true. The distinxulshed chairman of the Executive Committee said thas mob law was on the increase. and it was brutalising and misleading the young men of our country. and the other distinguished statesman assaiis the grand jury system. and desires that the Judges shall arraign the crln- inal as if the Judge. as well as If all of us, were not particeps crininis to the great evils that spread over our Southland.
 MT. President, beg these gentlemen to take their hands off of the Sherin and grand jurors of our State, for they know when the fountain-head is pot- soned ,the stream is likewise affected. The question is. who poisoned the fountain head?
 Now, Mir. President, cannot hope in going over ground so often trodden to offer anything remote from common observation and thought; but do say. sir, that the fifteenth amendment of our national Constitution. and the ad- vocates of social equality are responsi- bie for these great wrongs, rot only in the South. but in every other State in this Union. Yes. gentlemen. dare say that the Force Bill would have been placed on our people had the advo- oates of this measure not been uneasy, through fear, that they would have met the fate of the Thracian King who fed his horses on human flesh and afterwards himSelf became the victim of the unnatural appetite which he had stimulated.
 I hold, MT President, we were bound under these existing circumstances. in order to protect our firesides. our homes and our families. to do things which, within themselves, will work a change. And I feel. sir, that at the beginning of this. the twentieth cen- tury, that the God of Creation has per- mitted Alabama to call her sons to- gether on this occasion to begin this great reform. say, sir, that the Re publican administration, which added the fifteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution, caused dark cloud to spread over our political eky. equal to that which Byron has so vividly de- picted as coming over our material world:
 "WAen the bright sun was extinEuish-
 ed, and the stars
 Did wander darkling in the eternal
 space,
 Rayless and painless, and the icy earth
 swung
 Blind and blackeninx In the moonless
 air:
 Morn came and went and came. and
 brought no day.
 And men forgot their passion in the
 dread
 Of this. their desolatioa.
 And all hearts
 Were chilled with the selfish prayer
 for light