The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-10-27
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE
AMENDMENTS THAT WERE
NOT ADOPTED"

The CITIZEN feels constrained to
state, with the fullest assurance and
confidence that not one of the object.
ors in its own party to the passage Of
the DISTINGUISHING Amendment, includ-
Ing Senator Rayner, Governor Warfeld
and Attorney General Bryan, who have
seen fit to cast the grossest insinuations
upon the partys principal issue in this
campaign, but what has the wish in his
heart to see the negro removed from the
politics Of the State. They have all
gone on record to that effect, and can
not, without placing themselves in an
insincere position with regard to their
campaign utterances, deny the allega-
ton. All of them said so in ] 1903, and
no stronger arguments were made on
the stump in that memorable campaign,
than by Governor Warfed and Senator,
then Attorney-General, Rayner
1t was the negro issue in that cam
paign, as it was when John Walter
Smith and Isidor Rayner were elected
Governor and Attorney-General, the
election before, that greatly helped to
secure them their high positions.
The necessities of the situation were
pointed out to the people in the forcible
language of Attoney-General Rayner,
then, as in the campaign following, and
it seems rather inconsistent, to say the
least, that subsequent events have made
them change, not on the vital issue
of negro disfranchisement, for they all
want that, but as how such an end is to
be brought about
Mark this-each plan favored by the
Governor and Junior Senator, embraced
the Grandfather Clause" Certainly
this was to enable the vast majority of
the ''white citizens of the State to
register without the slightest difficulty!
There is slight difference in the year
in which the ancestor or voter himself
was fredericksburg favored 1867 and
others 1868 as the dividing line-but all
agreed that it should be before the negro
was given the right to vote by the
fraudulent adoption of the Fifteenth
Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States.
The amendment which is to be voted
for this year, makes it 1969-one more
year of grace. Not such great differ
ence there!
The Worthington Amendment, which
was by the way presented too late to
receive consideration by the Legislature,
and to which Governor Warfeld seems
to have given his approval, had prop
erty qualification which, whilst it would
have affected the more educated negro.
who did not own property, would have
placed the foreign-born element which
applied for registration, in rather pc
culiar position, any one of whom not be-
ing naturalized prior to the adoption of
the amendment in 1904, or was not the
lineal descendant of such person.
Reason that out, readers, for yourself.
1t is as plain as A B G. Even greater
injustice to the fereign-born citizen than
is claimed will be his portion if the
present amendment passes. In other
words, if he was not a naturalized citi-
izen of the United States, prior to the
spring of 1904, or the lineal descendant
of such a person, he had to own $500
worth Of property and have been as
sessed for the same for two years pre-
ceeding the time at which he applies
for registration.
This strikes us as rather hard on the
foreigner who applied for registration
after the adoption of the Worthington
Amendment, unless he owned $500
worth of property and was assessed for
the same upon the tax books of any
county for two years prior to the time
he made application for registry.
The present amendment lets him reg
lister under the Constitutional educa-
tional test-simple enough for any man
who can read and understand or under
stand without reading.
Which do you think is the easier of
the two for the foreign-born citi-
zen?
Attorney-General Bryan also had an
amendment which he wanted the Legis-
lature to adopt-its purpose was also to
disfranchise the negro. Mark this 1t
also had the Grandfather Clause