The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-09-15
CONCERNING THE ACUT E
IMAGINATION OF MR..
BONAPARTE.

The Honorable Charles J. Bonaparte
comes out in the lime-light again in q
letter to the German Societies OH the
occasion of their celebration of "Old
Defenders Day." in Baltimore. He
regretted his inability to be present,
ana took this favorable occasion to put
in some strong ticks against his 6ete
noir, the Constitutional Amendment.
His preliminaries were limited to few
vauge words, and he launched right
into the main bout. He INDUCED in
well-timed platitudes about individual
merit and rights not depending upon
that Of grandfathers, aud proceeds to
swat the amendment coming and
going. He did not consider much
the quality of things, rather their
quantity, and made therefore many
amusing and amazing statements. For
iustance:
"When Thomas Jefferson inserted in
our Declaration of Independence the
bold statement that all men are Gre
u
doctrine which has inspired American
laws, American morals, American pub
lie opinion from that day until the
present; and which has done more
perhaps than anything else to make
America the home and refuge OF the
oppressed from all climes aud all
tongues"
This expression of the illustrious JEFF
ferson has become more or less mis-
leading and uusuited to the present
day conditions, in proportion to the
misuse the Republican party has made
of the suffrage There was no negro
problem in Jefferson's time; no threat
ened Elimination by that race, and no
social and political upheavals result
ing therefrom, such as confront us
now. The people, as he knew them,
in the United states, were more or less
of an equal standing, and the clause he
made such bold" use of was in per-
feet accord with tue times. There
were no telephones, railroads, electrical
marvels, scientific discoveries or other
evidences of an advanced civilization
then, as now, and how impossible
it would have been for him to frame
any article or section looking to the far
distant future with respect to any of
them, although in its entirity, it is one
of the greatest documents ever
framed by man. And for Mr.. Bona
pd'te's particular benefit ,Ue wiSh to
state that there aOds no Fourteenth or
Fifteenth amendments to the sacred
Constitution either 1t is'a safe wager
that there could not have been at any
time, had not conditions been as they
were after the Civil War, when pas
sions were let loose and carpet baggers
held the sound judgment of able men
in the hollow of their hands. He
knows this as well as the rest of his
party, only it would not do now to
acknowledge it. But possibly greater
and more prominent members of his
own party have had the courage to
admit it, and there are many now, not
so high up as the distinguished Secre
tary of the Navy, who feel the injus-
tice of the rash step taken in the dark
days following the great civil strife of
the sixties, and they will be heard
from later on. Then another idea
comes in the wake of the afuregoing-
what about the negro himself? Has
he ever been considered the equal of
the white Republican, either by them
or any one else. except the negro him
self? What evidence has that party
given in its treatment of the negro,
that it follows out in its actions the
Constitutions declaration that ALL
MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL? Have
they given the negro an equal show in
political opportunity? Have they con-
sidered him anything else than
stare and chdttel in their operations
along these lines? 1t is enough to say
NO and strongly emphasize it. They
have given the direct lie to that sacred
foundation stone of our glorious indie
pendence and government, and history
will not bear out any other proposition.
1t is the negroes vote that is the dan
ger in Maryland, and these great pu-
rists and benevolent assimulators"
are trying to throw dust in the eyes of
the people, hoping that by evading
the direct question at issue, that they
can save this valuable human fran
chise. If the people seek the truth
aud will only put the proper valuation
upon Republican subterfuge and hy-
pocrisy in this contest, they cannot
fail in their duty to themselves and to
the great State in which they reside.
Another one of Mr.. Bonaparte's
night mares is the following, which
sounds so dopy and positively ridicu-
lous, that we reproduce it from his
published letter verbatim, so that it
will carry better its own refutation:
"Iou are told that the only purpose
of this amendment is to deprive the
negroes OF the franchise, and that if il
affects "a few white men, that is a
misfortune which its authors regret.
A few white men In Baltimore CITY
1t will endanger the franchise of $1,000
colored voters at most, and of at least
$4,000 white voters, so that five white
men must consent TO be robbed that
two negroes may be robbed Also"
They cav that fiouroS do M, l;o L,4