The sun., 1903-04-30

VlSlC OF MS rOy6l Iatner IN lo0O.
IL the Fifteenth Amendment 20 BE
Permanentf
The Thirteenth Amendment Of the
United States Constitution will stand,
and ought to stand, forever UNI spesled:
Neither sisvsry nor involuntary ssfvituds. 81.
cept a. punishmens for csims whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted shan axis, In the
United States or any place subject 70 taer jursdic
ton
That declaration ohiselsd upon the
tablet Of fundamental law one OF the
two great results of the civil war, next
to the preservation OF tine Union itself
the greatest result OF that mighty con-
flict Slavery will never be rees.ablished.
Emancipation will never be undoLe.
The first section Of the Fourteenth
Amendment, likewise, is likely always to
stand as it Ia. It declares:
An persons born and naturslised IN the United
States and subject 70 the jurisdiction thereof are
citizens Of the United states and Of the state wherein
they rssids. No STATE shall make or enforce any
law which shall abrdse the privileges or immuni.
ties Of ciussns of tbs United Stssss: nor shall any
state deprive any peson life. liberty. or property.
without due process of iav: deny 70 any psrson
within its jurisdiction The equal protection Of the
hW-'
This defines citizenship and guaran-
tees the inseparable rights Of citixenship.
1t does not confer the suffrage upon all
citizens. The denial Of suffrage u not
necessarily an abridgment Of the rights
of citizenship. Otherwise. the boy Of
fifteen and the woman Of 6fty. a. persons
born or naturalized In the United States
and subject to the Jurisdiction thereof.
and therefore citizens Of the United
States and Of the State wherein they
reside, would be alike entitled without
further legislation to the ballot. Such
was not the intention Of the Fourteenth
Amendment Suoh 10 not its force.
The rest OF the Fourteenth Amend
ment, with the exception Of the second
section, refers to disability for Office on
account Of rebellion and to the validity
Of the public debt. Tho second section,
however, bears directly upon the first
section, quoted above. II Il:
Representative shan Be spportionsd among
the several sssses according 10 thdr respective
sumben. counting the whole number Of psrsons In
each STATE excluding Indians not taxed. But when
the night 70 vote st any election for the ohotcs Of
electors for Prssidsns and voe.Presidsns Of the
United states. Representative In Congress. tbs
executive and judicial ooers Of state. OF the mem
bers Of the Lesissturs thereof y denied TO any OF
the so,s inhsnitsnts Of suoh sssss. being twenty
one yesrs Of aSe and ciussns ofths United states,
or In any way abndgsd. except for participates In
rebsasea % othr orme the basis Of representasaca
shsreiA Aau 10 reduced In the propor,on which the
numbers of aa,d mAls ot snal bear 70 the whole
number Of male ciusens twenty years Of ass In
such state
We have italicized one word in this
section which shows that the intent Of
the Constitution has at no time been to
base representation In Congress upon the
number Of citizens actually possessing
the suffrage. For hundred years the
non-voting female citizens above twenty
ono and the non-voting male and female
citizens under twenty-one have been
represented In the House proportion
ately with the male voters. Even In
ths days Of slavery, by that clause Of
tho Constitution which the Fourteenth
Amendment superseded, the blacks in
servitude, the negro slaves, male,
female and children, counted in the
apportionment each a. three-fifths Of
q citizen.
II does not therefore follow that in the
event Of reorganization Of the system
Of suffrage, by the repeal or change Of
the Fifteenth Amendment, ultimate con-
stitutional principles or public policy
would necessitate reduction Of the
basis Of representation in States affected
by the disfranchisemen Of the negro:
although, Of course, in that event the
numerical basis OF apportionment would
become the subject Of seriouA consid-
Grafton, and the language Of the second
section Of the Fourteenth Amendment
would require some readjustment to
accord with new conditions.
We come now to the brief Fifteenth
Amendment, which incorporates what
the nation n rapidly coming to believe
was one Of the most dcplorabls mistakes
in our history:
The hight Of ciussns Of The UAted ssssss 70 vote
shall not be denied abridged By ths United ssasss
or By any stAss 90 account Of na<s. color. OF pre-
vseus condition Of serwtuds. The Congress shsl
I