The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1904-04-02

A Collection of Few of the Events
Occurring Among the Afro-Ameri-
cans of the Capital of This Great
ana Glorious Nation for Our Many
Readers. t>'~ ~
Washington, D.. c., April 1.-The
recent decision rendered in the house
OF Representatives in the South Caro-
lima contested election case of Dant-
zler VS.. Lever was as unique piece
of side-stepping as is seldom seen out
side of a prize ring, and, strange to
say, the general public was not fooled
in the least. An inherent right of a
Legislative body is to retain control
of the decision as to the election and
qualification of it's members, but in this
instance the. responsibilities of con-
gress were shifted to the United States
courts. A precedent was established,
and not until the supreme court of the
United States says that the constitu-
ton of the southern states are not
consistent with the Reconstruction act
of June, 1868, can an Afro-American
hope to be seated in congress.
The Reconstruction act of June 25th,
1868, readmitting South Carolina and
other Confederate states, and giving
them representation in congress, was
as follows:
"That the constitution of neither of
said states shall ever be so amended
or changed as to deprive any citizen,
or class of citizens, of the United
States of the right to vote in said state
who are entitled to vote by the constl-
tuition thereof herein recognized, ex-
cept as a punishment for such crimes
as are now felOnies at common law,
whereof they shall have been duly con-
victed under laws equally applicable
to all the inhabitants of said state:
provided, that any altering of said con-
stitution may be made with regard to
the time and place of residence OF
voters" :.
Under these terms were the COnfed-
crate states again allowed representa-
ton in congress- The constitution OF
South Carolina and other southern
states did not contain, at that time,
any educational or property Qualitica-
ton of voters; neither did they nave
the grandfather clause" yet most OF
these states have made such quallhca-
lions since that time, and their repre-
sentation in congress is seldom ques-
toned, and never abridged. The re-
port contained. the following:
"A majority of the committee on
elections, No. /, doubt the propriety
in any event of denying these south
ern states representation in the house
of representatives pending final set
Element of the whole question in prop
er proceedings by the supreme court
of the United States Some of the
members of the committee Thought
the constitution and election laws OF
these states to be in conflict with the
conditions set forth in the recOnstruc-
ton act, hence invalid; others thought
the constitution of these states were
not in conflict with the conditions
mentioned, therefore valid; and still
other members of the committee ex-
pressed no belief whatever upon the
subject Although the republicans have
a clear majority in congress, the fol-
lowing resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, that Alexander D. Dant-
zler was not elected a member OF the
Fifty-eighth congress from the Sew
enth congressional district of South
Carolina, and is not entitled to a seat
therein
The resolution did not state, as is
customary in all contested cases, who
was elected a member from the Sew
enth congressional district of South
Carolina, and a person does not know
whether there was no election and
the seat is vacant, or whether Mr.
Lever, or someone else, is entitled to
the seat. However. Mr.. Lever retains
the seat, apparently by common con-
sent.
Now, as far as Mr.. Dantzler is con-
cerned, individually we do not care a
rap, as he is said to be very illiterate
old Afro-American; in fact, it is re-
ported that he was sitting in his chair
fast asleep at the time the committee
was deciding his fate, and if all OF
this is true, as we have no reason to
doubt, it is barely possible that II
seated he would have been of no more
service to himself or the race than an
Indian tobacco sign. The question then
at issue is not Mr.. Dantzler, but, rath-
-er, the law in the case, and the dispo:
sition to disregard the rights of Afro
American citizens But two conclu-
sions can be formed. The constitu-
ton Of the United States does not
amount to anything, or else the. spirit
of commercialism has so fastened it.
self upon the nation that the rights
of citizens are of little moment.
History teaches us that whenever
nation sacrifices humanity to the greed
of mammon it's days are numbered.
Once upon time, to be Roman c1tl-
zen was the greatest distinction in the
world, but today the Roman citizens
are lucky, in this country, to have a
hand organ or fruit cart to push, while
in their own country their condition is
deplorable In this age it is great
thing to be an American citizen.
Speaking of disfranchiseme the
New York Tribune recently gave our
lawyers a timely and valuable hint
when it said that the two cases in
the supreme court testing the validity
of the constitutions of certain south
ern states were thrown out on tech
nicalities because the lawyers did not
know how to present them, and that
the supreme court could not instruct
lawyers how to prepare their cases.
When properly presented, the question
will be decided upon it's merits, once
and for all. is the opinion OF the