New-York tribune., 1903-04-29
TIE SUPREME COURT AND THE NEGRO.


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TIE SUPREME COURT AND THE NEGRO
The five justices of the Supreme Court who
have dismissed the appeal brought to set ASIDE
the suffrage clauses of the Alabama cohSutu-
ton did not pass upon the validity Of that con-
stitution, but simply held that they had no
power to grant relief As Mr.. Justice Holmes
has as yet filed no opinion in explanation OF TINS
finding. it is impossible to tell for exactly what
reason growing out of the particular case at par
this conclusion may have been reached. we
can only rely upon verbal statements of mem
bers of the court From these it appears thar
while the majority declared that the court had
no jurisdiction, they went on to discuss lle
merits of the case, and decided that Whatever
the wrongs inflicted on the negroes by deprlVlhg
them Of the ballot under cover of the Alabama
constitution. those wrongs were political; that
a remedy by A court of equity would mean
judicial administration of the State government
and that if the remedy at law was not adequate
relief must lie sought at the hands or Con
gress
There are other cases coming up which it is
believed will bring the validity of the dlsfran-
chisinC and discriminating constitutions more
directly TO the issue and make more difficult
evasion of the real question of negro rights
under the Fourteenth ard Fifteenth amend
ments Possibly there will come from some
one oF them vindicatiOn of the authority
of the Constitution. and certainly 1t Is 10 De
hoped that the status of the negro VIII De
settled as a matter Of constitutional law not as
a matter. Of party politics. somewhere, some
how. there must be way of passing on the
constitutfonaIfty of State laws which plainly
nuIlifv the spirit Of the federal Constitution, and
il is no more an assumption of the admlnlsua-
five functions of State government for the
court to declare that State authorities cannot
deprive negroes Of ballot on preteHts "hlcn
do not exclude white men than it is for the
court 10 overrule any other action of State
or its officers.
There is not the slightest question that the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments confer
civil rights They are not merely political
declarations under which Congress acts at dis
cretion. as in the matter Of executing a treaty
promise or annexing territory. The former mas
time and again been successfully invoked TO Sc
cure citizens of the United States against mis-
Use bv State governments Of their powers. NO
1,odr s+ternnts 10 DENY that constitutions Ike
that of Alabama are meant to deprive the ne
eroes of their rights as federal citizens without
taking the same rights away from white men,
Some Southern politicians say that they nave
been clever enough to do this indirectly, put II
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forbidden directly cannot be done indirectly.
Courts are supposed to go to the heart OF ques-
tions. and not be put off by transparent subter-
fuce As the counsel for the appellants in the
nresent case pertinently said in his brief: ITO
..tba negro if the guarantees of the Fourteenth
"and Fifteenth amendments are stricken from
under him. under the pretence Of want or
jurisdiction in the courts Of the United states
ito enforce them. he has only one other guaran-
s.tee between him and actual slavery; that Is
''the one contained in the Thirteenth Amend
s.mept What reason would he have to hope Tor
s'nrotection under that one, should the Southern
States by similar methods undertake TO de-
'.prfve him of its guaranteeT If a case cannot
in some form be brought TO the court so that
II will forbid discrimination in granting the
franchise it would seem, indeed, as If States
might re-enact the old black codes and Indirect
" enslave the negroes without any redress LETT
to them but the doubtful mercy Of an appeal TO
the political branch of the government
We hone that some case will soon be brought
forward under which the legal and not the
noliticaI supremacy of the constitutional guar
antees to the negro will be tested And we
still have faith that the Supreme Court would
firmly uphold those guarantees Any other
solution would be most unfortunate. Many OF
the Southern politicians have doubted the sue
cess of the discriminating schemes and If they
were declared invalid, there would be general
acuuiescence. and probably suffrage limited Dy
educational and property qualification operat-
ing equally; and that is all the best friends or
the negro ask
We are persuaded that the worst thing that
could happen to the negro would be the renewal
of political agitation concerning his rights. 1t
would stir up Ill feeling and put back the prog
ress of civilization many years Yet, if the
courts offer protection to his rights as plain
" guaranteed by the Constitution, the almost in
evitable result will be the turning of the negroes
toward Congress and the starting of movements
by politicians for partisan ends TO enforce the
| amendments by reduced Southern representa-
ton and other drastic laws. This would be
unfortunate. Far better for the country would
be the quiet enforcement Of the Constitution by
judicial process. which would vindicate the
American principle of equal laws, while leaving
the intelligence Of every State master OF the
political situation.