The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-27

Of the Union. Among others, it changes | the Constitution of the State of Ohio. | may say that no change can be made | in tke (FederaD Constitution likely to excite so much popular feeling as this proposed change to extend to the negro race in Ohio the elective franchise" This was uttered after the adoption of tho | Fourteenth Amendment
 Senator Roscoe Conkling from New 1ork. addressing himself specially to the proviso, to deny the State the right to | impose an educational qualification for the elector. said: "Tne article will undo the Constitutions, the eractments and the | customs of the several States" Must T State be denied the right to forbid the eIecuon or Judge to preside over Courts who had no education in law books! said the Senator. 1f he continued. a charter to municipality granted the power to establish property qualification for a voter. then this new article sets it aside.
 Senator Howard from Michigan, said:
 This amendment Is too sweeping: 1t runs plow-share through all the State Constitutions and overturns the most i'm portant State Constitutions that can be found. The carpet bagger, Senator Saw ye; from South Carolina. said the course or the South in denial of negro suffrage could not be reversed by the article. Any State," said Mir. Sawyer, "mav pass law which shall disfranchise four fifths of the colored population without mentioning the word color Senator Ednunds from Vermont, a State where there were no negroes, came to the res- cue Of the movement to pass the article. in some form or another. MT Edmunds < said: Unless the negroes are (madel ! secure In their right to hold office, tine VaFnI oriG
 South America here" Senator Bayard from Delaware, said: "The intent, ana the sole intent of the amendment is, to maintain the dominance of the present party in control by means of the degre- | dation of the suffrage"
 The Senate sat in the debate on the article thirty consecutive hours. No re- suit was reached. A Conference Com mittea or the two houses took all the bills and resolutions in hand William NJ. Stewart from Nevada and Roscoe Conkling on the part of the Senate both Republicans and George s. Boutwell,, from Massachusetts, John A. Bingham from Ohio and General John A. logan from Illinois. all Republicans, comprised the Committee. Pending the discussion of | the appointment Of Conference Com- mittee. Senator Hendrix from Indiana
 
 were required to prepare articles of amendment to the Constitution, but d | Conference Committee was tantamount to | both houses in joint session. The houses | could not meet in joint session for the work proposed nor could they separately delegate their authority to a Conference | Committee to propose amendments The sense, and the literal reading of the Con- stitution should be obeyed now. Ordinary legislation might be vetoed by the Presi- dent or annulled by the Court. but an amendment to the Constitution was pro- tected from any one of those two CO., | ordinate powers of the federal system and and should be constitutionally pre- pared, and submitted and ratified.
 The Conference Committee reported. striking out the words Ito hold office '' The qualifications of nativity. property, education or creed" were also stricken out from the report. These last enumerated objectionable qualifications seemed to conflict with certain la ws and customs in New England. The Consti- tuition of New Hampshire. for instance, forbade Catholics to sit in the LegIsla- ture and the Constitution of Massachu- setts imposed an educational aualihca- tion for the suffrage. Senator Conklng declared from his seat as a lawyer, that the right to hold office" having been eliminated from the article, after full consideration in conference. the logical construction of the intent must be to ex- clude the beneficiary. the negro. from the right to hold cffice.
 | The debate had been both protracted and intense. It was the short session The friends of the article pending fear ed the effect of the long recess upon the new Congress to come in under existing laws in December next. They hurried ly reported and passed a bill to convene the new Congress at noon March 4. 1869 without a recess.
 The Conference Committee finally re- ported the Fifteenth Amendment as fl now stands. The article passed the Sen ate by one vote When President Wade announced the result. yeas g. nays 13 and that the article had been adopted Senator Garrett Davis from Kentucky rose in his seat to challenge the correct