The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-14
The Suffrage in Alabama.

~" oiiedHS llfutS-DenlOcrit.
AS is well known Alabama has adopt-
ed new Constitution which puts into
operation similar suffrage conditions and
limitations to those that have prevailed
LOT some years in louisiana. Nj ssissippl
and South Carolina, with the avowed
object of excluding as many negroes
from the ballot as possible. The Ala
pama suffrage provisions are largely Dor
rowed from those of Louisiana, although
not exactly the same
The registration unde- this COnstitll-
tion has just been completed and while
tne full official returns for two counties
Cherokee and Winston. are not yet al
hand, the returns, as given by The Mont
gomery Advertiser, are sufficiently COM
pete to show that the Alabama suffra &c
provisions are complete success haV-
ing accomplished exactly what was de-
silsd-cut down the negro vote without
dlsfranchising the whites. The white
registration is exceptionally large, rela-
lively much larger than that of Louisiana
or Mississippi The registration in sixty
-FOUR OF the slxty-six counties of the State
Ioots up l7913i If the remaining two
counties register in the same proportion
as those that have already made returns
the total registration will be 1912. 1t is
estimated that of this total nearly all are
white and not over $500 are negroes.
Many counties returned no negroes reg
istered at all. The largest negro county
In the State is Montgomery, with 81. 207
negro population; it registered only for
-SCN0ll Ii06I yes, VI OHt Ill I'LL pODuld-
ton. Dallas County. with 1892 negroes,
registered only siXty-seven against 229l
whites. That Is. although the negroes
exceed the whites five to one. the white
registered vote is thirty-four to one.
Some idea of the negro registration may
be had from the following figures: But
Ter, with 1926 negroes, had one regis
tered; Conecuh, with 1888 negroes, regis
groes. registered four, and Tallapoosa.
with 1O,6SS, registered two. 1t will thus
be seen that not only is all danger of
negro supremacy over but that the ne
gro will henceforth cut no figure what
ever in Alabama. Even in Booker Wash
ington's county only fifty-two negroes
are registered
This was largely expected, that the ne
groes could not or would not register but
not to the extent that the registration
hgures show. The census returns 232, 294
white males over q years of age These
include all whites, aliens and unatural-
lied, insane, prisoners, etc. whether ca
pable of registration or not. Seventy
eight per cent of all the whites are reg
istered. which must be considered excep-
tionally good, with the limitations on the
franchise. A large proportion of those
who failed to vote are newcomers. who
have not been long enough in the coun-
try to enjoy the suffrage. Thus in Jeffer-
son County, of which Birmingham is the
seat of justice, 9,15l whites of voting age
or 80 per cent, have not registered-a
large majority beyond question because
they could not legally do so. Nearly all
except the mining counties have splen-
did registration. Cullman actually regis
tiers more white voters by siXty-seven
than the census returns 1T, but this is
easily explained by the increase of popu-
lation in the three years since the census
was taken. Morgan County has register
ed within 2 per cent of its total voting
strength, Clay and Henry Counties with
in per cent, Autauga and Coosa within 6
per cent, Butler within per cent and
Calhoun, Crenshaw. Franklin and Lime
stone within Q per cent OF their total
white male population. This is good in
any community. and shows that the white
voters of Alabama appreciate the ballot
and will not allow themselves to be dis =
franchsed The primary election for
Governor and other State officers in Ala
bama probably accounts for the large
registration" as nothing arouses the in
terest of the people more than the knowl-
edge that the choice of candidates is left
in their hands.
Alabama has entered on its new suf-
frage under most favorable conditions,
which indicates that it's white voters do
not intend to sacrifice their right to vote,
as far too many voters in Louisiana have
done.