The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1904-01-29
BALLOT RESTRICTION.

The New York Evening Post has
recently been publishing a series of
articles by which it is proposed to
influence the public mind against the
proposed disfranchisement of the
negro in the South. Itappeals to the
dormant republican party's con-
science" and asks of it's leaders. is
is not worth while to try to revivify
the great party by making it the
champion ofequal Justice" By equal
Justice, the Post demands that each
negro shall have the right to vote
Just the same as the white man, and
that is the duty Of the North, the
South be conquered territory, to see
that this demand is enforced. Like
other Northern sympathizers, this
paper is attempting to create public
sentiment regarding a matter on
which it apparently has very little
practical information. For instance
the State OF South Carolina has
10000 white men of voting age
and 152, 900 negroes of voting age.
In Mississippi there are 100000
white tnen and 10000 negro men.
Quoting their leader, Booker T. Wash
ing, who declares that the negroes in
a solid body array themselves in
mass against the white population
upon every question and entirely
without regard to the merits of the
question, it can be readily seen that
this ignorance would occupy every
every department Of the different
governing bodies of the State, The
great mass of negroes cannot read or
write and have no more ideas as to
the proper government of affairs of
State than has an infant still in its
swaddling clothes If the Post and
other newspapers Of its class would
stop to consider, it would readily see
that the position it takes on this
public matter, which however only |
pertains to the Southern states, is an
absurd one to say the least.
This newspaper is representative
of Northern sentiment that through |
mistaken zeal does more harm than
good for the negro. Articles such as
these have the effect of making the |
members of the inferior race feel that |
they are the equals of the whites.
While it is true chat but few could |
actually read what has been written,
yet the smaller republican politician
very readily posts the ignorant negro
of all that is being done for his
alleged betterment. This serves to
hold the negro in solid array against
the mass Of the white people and the
entire vote is cast not in support of
any principle, but for racial reasons
only.
In Maryland the situation is not
so bad as some of the states above
quoted. Yet there is a constant
ingress coming from the South where
the negro has no vote. He has been
passed along from state to state until
now we are on the border line of dis
reimbursement, as the recent Virginia
constitution has practically elimi-
mated the negro vote. Many of the
best people of Maryland, foreseeing
the danger Of this Southern influx,
have wisely decided that an abridg-
ment of suffrage is necessary. The
present legislature isexpected to take
some decided action on the matter
either by constitutional amendment
or the issuance of call for a consti-
tutional convention 1t is time to act,
and act quickly, as the present favora-
BILE circumstances which are assured
by aa decisive democratic majority,
may not occur again, and ifthe matter
is suffered pass by it will not be long
before the adoption of such legisla-
ton would be impossible! |