The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1902-05-30
THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT.

THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT.
The public press has recently con-
tanned a number of articles on the
policy of repeating the Fifteenth
These seem to have
been written entirely from non
partisan standpoint and several OF
them have gone into the subject at
length, in trying to make it appear
that it would, in the course of years,
hurt more than it would help the
Democratic party. Since the adop-
ton of this amendment the dominant
party has had arrayed against it
what is known as the "Solid South,
no matter what the National issues
might have been. The whole
reason for this is on account of the
antagonism of the white race against
the negroes being allowed to exercise
the right of suffrage. 1t is not on
any narrow partisan grounds that
they wish the privilege to be with
held, but on the broad principle that
it hurts more than it helps the less
intelligent race.
In many of the Southern States,
where the negroes largely predomi-
nate, it has been found necessary to
adopt stringent legislation depriving
them of their right to vote. One of
the most notable examples ola black
ridden commonwealth was that of
North Carolina, when the negroes
got hold of the reins of the Govern
ment. That State was controlled en-
tirely by their vote, aided by few
white Republicans who were in the
business "for revenue only" Care
full calculation showed that the peo-
pie who paid ninety-six per cent. of
the taxes had not the slightest say as
to how the money should be expend-
ed and matters assumed such shape
that the white residents took the
affairs in their own hands and drove
the negro officials from office. Since
then a Constitution has been adopted
which practically allows no one but
the white people the right to vote.
1t has been the fond hope of many
of us who dearly love our country,
united as it now is, that sectional
lines would be wiped out. We had
looked forward to the time that there
would be no North and no South and
that the people would try to forget
that the Mason and Dixon line was
the dividing point. This dream can
not reach the point of realization so
long as the Fifteenth Amendment re-
mains in force. The people of the
South will vote as a class, no matter
how their minds might otherwise be
swayed, on national points, so long
as the negro casts his ballot in the
of the dominant party. 1t
will be impossible to get full and free
on any public question so
long as the two races participate in
the elections.
To bring this matter home to our
own State, it is only necessary to re-
call the action of the Special Session
of 1901, which was endorsed by the
of 1902, when the Re-
publican party was in control of one
of the Houses. The motive of our
present election law, pure and simple,
is to disfranchise the negro, so far as
it is practicable without violating
the Constitution of this State and
the Fifteenth Amendment. The pres
ent law, as it has received the en-
dorsement of the Republicans, is I'M
doubtedly the best that the law-mak-
ers of the two parties could devise.
The next step in State legislation will
be an amendment to our c Constitution
which will prove much more effect
ual. 1t is not necessary to say that
our State took this step reluctantly.
1t was only when she was driven to
it that the present law was enacted
and we can see what serious matter
it is for the South when even Mary
land is compelled to legislate against
negro suffrage. We can sympathize
with our Soutern sisters in the trials
and affections that they are compell-
ed to endure which are directly trace
able to the result ofnegro domination.
From a moral standpoint, no one
could have the slightest hesitation as
to the enactment of legislation such
as Maryland and other Southern
States have been compelled to adopt.
We older citizens can we'll recall the
manner in which the Fifteenth
Amendment was placed upon our
statute books. In 1869, when it
was submitted, there were thirty
seven States in the Union. 1t re-
CURED the consent of three-fourths of
these in order to be ratified, and
twenty-nine of them did so. In this
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