The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-04-12
Leads all North Carolina Daies i'm News and s$ulatior

open a perfect Pandoras box of amend
ments, the end of which no man could
see; yet the proposition had been passed
by the House of Representatives without
a reason being presented either for or
against it.
Mr.. Depew said Mr.. Money had taken
issue with his proposition that all Sem
ators should be elected by vote on an
equal basis. He insisted that if Senator's
were to be elected by popular vote the
whole question OF their election would be
called up whenever their credentials were
presented.
when the Senator from Mississippi
shall come here" said Mr.. Depew, "and
l hope he may continue to come, the
Senate will want to know whether citi-
zens of Mississippi have had the right,
under the Constitution of the United
States, to vote for or against him. If
any Of them have been deprived of that
right, the Senator will have a hard road
to travel when he takes his seat
Mr.. Depew suggested that Mr.. Money
had sneered at the great vote of 100000
cast in the State of New York, and in
timated that the voters were controlled
by trusts and corporations. He had not
intended to enter upon this question,
because it was disagreeable, but Mr..
Moneys remarks had made some state
ment necessary. He had no disposition,
he said, to interfere with the local af
fairs of any Southern State. and he
would not favor a sO-called force bill"
but when the men of New York had cast
votes in accordance with manhood suf-
frage, they had right to demand to
know that similar votes had been cast
in Mississippi. He declared that the reg
istraton boards in Mississippi were Sc
lected practically from one party and
for one particular purpose viz, to pre-
vent the negro from voting. The negro,
he asserted, never could satisfy the reg
istration boards that they were qualified
to vote.
That was the kind Of popular vote,
said he, by which United States Senators
would be sent here from Mississippi, and
those methods would serve only to pre-
cipitate agitation in the Senate chamber.
If, he suggested, change was to be
made in the method of electing Senators
then the electorate must be kept entirely
pure and free from any suggestion of
| unfairness.
He declared that if there were man
hood suffrage in Virginia, Kentucky and
North Carolina, there would be Republi-
can Senators in this chamber from those
States. He said there has been no fear
of negro domination in North Carolina,
yet for the purpose of keeping Senator
Pritchard, Republican, out of the Senate
and to secure a Democratic Senator in
the place of Mr.. Butler, Populist, and for
no other reason, the grandfather clause
was inserted in the new constitution of
that State. He sharply criticised the
Goebel election law in Kentucky, by
which he said Mr. Taylor was deprived
of the Governorship. AS to Mississippi,
he asserted that the boards of registra-
tion in Mississippi determined the result
of any election before the vote was cast.
Personally, he did not believe and other
Republican Senators did not believe that
$4,000 votes in Mississippi should count
for as much as 100000 votes in New
York
Mr.. Depew pointed out that in the 115
years the Constitution had been in force
no amendment affecting the executive of
the legislative functions mad been adopt
ed. Amendments that had been adopted
related only to details
Referring, in conclusion, to an intima-
tion that the people of New York, were
dominated by corporations and trusts
Mr.. Depew declared that under the law
people OF New York could deal with
trusts according to their own desire. No
I icharge had been made, he said, from any
source that the trusts dominated politi-
cal analrs in New York. The Legisla-
ture was composed of Representatives OF
the people and they did the peoples will
as 10 trusts and as to other things
AT the conclusion of Mr.. Depew's re-
marks, Mr. Money corrected what he
termed some of the misstatements" of
the New York Senator regarding the cleo
tlon laws of Mississippi Mr.. Nc
Laurin (Miss.) read at length paragraphs
from the Constitution of Mississippi, and
he pointed out that it contained no
grand father clause"
SIMMONS SETS HIM RIGHT.
Mr.. Simmons IN. c., not having heard
Mr.. Depey's remarks about his State.
said he desired simply to say that. if re-
ported accurately Mr. Depew was mis-
taken as to his facts
Mr. Simmons insisted that the state
ments attributed to Mr.. Depew We're in
accurate and unwawanted as the new
constitution of North Carolina had not
yet gone into effect.
BLACKBURN'S FIRE DRAWN.
Some remarks which had been made by
Mr. Depew concerning elections in Ken
lucky drew the fire of Mr. Blackburn,
VINO likened the New York Senator to
.ne animal who is used as simile when
dlsporting himself in a China shop.
helerrlng to suggestion that Mr.. De-
pc" mac left the chamber, Mr.. Black
burn declared that he had left the cham
Der IN the midst of replies to his re-
marks. 1T is his business to be here"
said he IF he is to travail controversy
which he invited
he head from the stenographic report
fMr. Depew's remarks about Kentucky
elections and declared he would offer
premium to any body who would find a
solitary statement with reference to Ken
t,,nf -, h.