The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-11-29

ftU1l GWUSl
An ELEGANT TOILET. LUXURY.
Used by people Of refinement
Tor over g. quarter Of a century.
=stitEtion as having been fofsted upon the
i neorie--a Constitution which they did not
T approve. He said at the time the
4 Underwood Constitution was framed Mr..
1 Ccode was himself a Virginia politician.
Mr. Wise had risen to a beautiful flight of
i oiatorv In paying tribute TO Virginia S
/ sens of the past and ii was with dill
i Guilty. that the court suppressed the an
plause. He said for thirty years the poo
. pie OF Virginia had lived happily ucldcr
the old Constitution, and then he came
a.sair to the call of the people for the
| recent convention. He said convention
I III tho donlinantNparty had pledged that
\ any Constitution framed would be sub
!nfited TO the people. The act of the Leg
is.atf:re5 providing for the convention had
rreD1ised submission. and under this act
al the members were chosen. at this
gilotnt the judges left for a moment. JUS
Etice Fuller desiring to shake hands ~itr
Af5peals. Captain Wise said the convcn-
jton Old not come here TO amend the Con
stitation, but to eliminate the negro vote.
The address Of the president struck the
keynote. and he was probably authority.
OF he subject as he had been engaged
IN the eliminating business ti,wn in the
Second District some years go
Here the chief Justice positively assured
Captain Wise ti1at the court did rot oe-
sire TO hear counsel INDUCING in personal
illusions. and asked him ~ refrain from
a repetition OF this. The court. said the
ciiict justice. does not desire to be in
formed who the members of the coaven-
tiol were Captain Wise offered an
apology and proceeded to assail the con-
ventian for not taking the oath. For this
reason alone, he Thought TIE work Of
tire body was unconstitutional. lie said
the botly was called TO revise and amend.
tie Constitution, and Set5its first act was
an article Of legislation pure and simple
II read from aile suffrage clause and de-
ctared tilat it WAS more III the nature Of
q statute law than an article OF an organ
ic law. He declared that The convention
actual w went so fartls4 to name rcyisti',
stic,s boards aud made them sole arbitcrs
as to whom they should allow 90 voEn.
II.8.reasi tho qualifications laid down For
Tie voters, and said the article began
yrtill Every male citizen shall be e,iu-
tied to vote, except and before they got
tlaough excepting il was a question
il any should be allowed 10 do 50
Here he took up. specifications and sad
three OF his clients had gone to- one of
these t,anoinited boards, composed of a
carpenter. a macninist and a grocei y
clerk. who we're to conduct this consti-
3t!5iolfai examina ion. One Of the Defend
ants was a soldier of the United States.
a my with an honorable discharge, but
he was not allowed TO register.
.'Is any remedy providcd2" asked the
chief Justice. .a.'rlle remedy is that he.
shall 80 into court. said Captain Wise.
but when he went the judge was fish
ing The speaker ridiculea the Eoard
81. Registrars aud declared that had the
lejec ed negro turned and asked these
statesmen the same questions they
Had not enough sense to answer them.
QUESTIONED CLOSELY.
here. Justice RULER questioned Captain
Wise closely. He asked if these COM
claimants had asked toregs,er and been
refused 8 The answer was in the #aitirnla-a
i've and the court asked If any remedy
had been sought and Captain Wise said
.tycs: ono went to court and the Judge
vas tishing.f did they go TO the Su-
IRENE t,otl,tor, ..No sir; they had no op-
portunity.'' The chief justice asked II
the schedule did not perpetuate the SUI
,,rerre Court Of the State. and the rep Y
was III the. Affirmative Then the chief
Justice asked Mr. WISE ifshe ccntended
that the failure to take the oath by Z he
Constitutional Convention was in Itself
fatal. aud Mr.. Wise said he did. and
when questioned further by the court.
he famed and seemed 10 founder con-
siderably in his replies.
CAPTAIN Wise said that ordinance was.
invalid because 1t was legislative. in its
provisions The court thought a similar
ease had been decided otherwise. Cap
lain l,lse differed and the justice smiled
and said he had thought he was right.
Blt the storm of spectacular oratory
that was blowing SO fiercely a few mo-
ments ago had now become much calmer.
and The sneaker came back to the ques-
ton of the oath
AssAILED PROCLAMATION.
He assailed the proclamation of the
work and said forty-seyen had voted to
the thing go off by ITSELF Justice
Filler asked how many members had
voted no. 'Thirty-eiGht'. replied Cap
tain Wise. "A majority OF the conrcn-.
ton did not vote to proclaim A major
Iity of a quorum voted that way. how
ever answered the justice. Captain
VI :se5 cited numerous authorities to sus-Z
tain his contention that the convention
had no right to proclaim its work. aud
that the act OF proclamation itself rem
dered the work void. He said no remedy
could be had against the iniquities of the
lew Constitution in the Supreme Court
OF. Virginia. where the instrument had
been accepted by the Legislature and
executive departments of the State. Cap
tain Wise had cited a case in which he
cortendea that the decision of the SUI
l,reme Court was favorable to his case.
I his. brought UP the Texas case. in which
the justice said it was held by the SUI
lrenle Court that that tribunal declined
to take jurisdiction. as there had appeared
to be no revolution down there.
The celloquy kept up, the justice APP
r;,rentiy enjoying his questions and the
answers OF. Captain Mise.
The speaker said his clients had been
irnl7osed upon unlawfully and he sought
relief in the highest court in the land,
.totn loy prohibition and Injunction.
Captain Wise asked here how long the
=cc1,r, would sit. as he was very tired