The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-25

hard in the field without even chance for schooling. This deplornble disRp- sition crops outSaomer erlmss about the
 cotton mills in sigbt of the best city school systems of the State.
 Put ccmpuision on the negroes to educate their children and leave the | shiftless class of whites as they are
 and in ten years there will be an ap- preciable relative gain on the part oi the negro. The negro will then look down on what he calls poor whites.
 and the causes of bitt seaess and disor- der will be increased. The negro will gradually acquire skill in handicrast.
 and If the poor wki- g remain Hitter ate they will not make sinila- prog ress in trades requI."ng skill.
 Children of these poor whites, given
 common school education and means
 of acquiring skill. would in a few de-
 cades make a body of factory labor un-
 surpassed in the world. Therefore we think discrimination
 will prove unwise, both because 1t is
 unjust, thereby creating a bad moral
 condition. with ranking resentment
 leading to disorder, and also because
 1t will react. with increased force on | the race for whose benefit 1t Is intend ed. It will dwart their industries. It has been suggested that an excep- tion should at least be made in favor of the Confederate veteran. To this there will hardly be any opposition. Passing on from this question of de- tail, 1t Is interesting to consider what will be the ultimate effects of quail ification of the suffrage that will shut out the mass of ignorant and purchas- able voters. Those consequences will probably be more far-reaching than | most people suppose. and the ind1ca- tions are that they will be salutary in many respects. In some ways they may bring about changes in social con- ditions that will revolutionize some or our customs.
 The ignorant vote is the reliance of reactionaries and all the opponents Of progress and reform. It is harder to fool an intelligent body of electors than an ignorant mass of voters. With the bulk of the ignorant and purchaseable voters shOrn of political power, we may expect to see political campaigns pitched on a higher plane and results less controlled by the corrupting and debauching agencies which have so often produced scandalous conditions that made themselves manifest in dis graceful scenes on election days. In order to keep down this evil and
  able vote, Southern men have submit ted to a great deal that they will not tolerate when that incubus is removed. Many of our ablest men, best qualified to serve the public, have undergone voluntary banishment from political life rather than resort to methods that they could not approve. They have smothered cherished principles and sub- mitted to the rule of demagogues rath. Ax Ixz frux t,. ,lrfv so split in the solid phalanx of the party to which they looked for the preserva- tion of social order.
 Some relief has been found by resort ing to the white primary, but this Is not complete relief, for 1t limits the discussion of issue to one side of some important question. It is not good for the South. whether its principles are right or wrong, that the free discuss sion of them should be muzzled, and 1t is this partly that makes the diff ference between the mediocre states manship of today and that of former years, when there were giants on the hustings.
 Therefore we may reasonbly expect that the qualification of the suffrage will bring about an era of discussion which will develop big men, and men of tA0t SdLibIS, ECpICScutiH6 III SOn- grees and the cabinet, will give the Southern States their old time prestige in the councils of the nation. They will not be shut out, as they are now from a controlling part in shaping leg islation and giving character to the conduct of governmental affairs.
 It Is fortunate that men of larger calfbre are promised at a time when big issues of worldwide consequences are bursting on the country.
 Coming down to local affairs, the change will bring about similar im- provements. The elevation of the electoral body will surely elevate the character of the representatives. We may expect to see legislation more progressive and less dominated by the claptrap of demagoguery. Just reforms will be less difficult and 1t will be harder for corporations to dominate legislative bodies as they do now. Tine tax reforms so badly needed will come more easily, and any other salutayy measure will have a better chance, though the vagaries of cranks will hardly receive the attention they do now.
 These reforms may have an impor- tant effect upon municipal life, through the equalization of tax burdens They may advance home-owning in both urban and rural districts. intelligence is always in favor of the masses where the electors have the voice