Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1905-01-20
WHITE ONLY SURVIVES.

l
amendment which Is now before the Cour
Of Appeals and upon which, If the court
decide In favor Of the mandamus filed b.
Chairman Murray Vandlver, the Demo
cratic managers purpose to make q grin
and determined fight, would never hav,
been proposed by the Democratic party.
In view Of these facts 1t is of great inter
est to citizens Of this State to know that a
that time, more than generation ago, there
was in the United States Senate Maryland
Democrat-ex. Governor William Pinkney
Whyte-and that Of all the Senators who
voted against the proposition to give the
negro the right to vote, he alone is living al
this day. There were six Senators who
voted squarely In favor Of the motion to
strike out the words ITO vote and" In the
amendment, which would have effectually
killed 1t. These were James A. Bayard,
of Delaware; Buckalew, of Pennsylvania !;
Davis, of Kentucky; Hendricks, of In.
diana, and Vickers and Whytc, Of Mary
land. Of these the only one now living is
Ex-Governor Whyte, and it Is also true that
on the final vote, 80 yeas and 10 nays, when
there were several Republican Senators who
voted In the negative because they did not
approve the form of the amendment, Gov.
Whyte Is the sole survivor of the thirteen.
The recent action of several OF the South.
ern States in regard to the regulation Of
suffrage and the agitation Of the subject
growing out of the proposed Poe constitu-
tional amendment make quite interesting
the circumstances attending the adoption of
the Fifteenth Amendment as proposed by
Congress.
Mr.. Blaine in his Twenty Years Of Con-
gress" attributes the proposition to the pro-
gress Of sentiment growing out Of the war
and the acceptance by the States Of the
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments,
which gave rise 10 the Fifteenth, as natural
sequence Of the adoption Of the other two.
While the war was In its most intense
situation the Thirteenth Amendment was
proposed, declaring that "neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude shall exist with
in the United States or any place subject to
national Jurisdiction"
The Fourteenth Amendment raised the
negro to the status of a citizen, but did
nothing to confer the right Of suffrage upon
him.
The Fifteenth Amendment did not de.
clare affirmatively that the negro should be
endowed with the elective franchise. Its
prime object was to provide that the nation
would exclude the negro from the basis Of
apportionment wherever the State should
exclude him from the right Of suffrage, and
by that means the representation of such q
State in Congress would be proportionably
decreased. 1t was not intended to deny the
States right to put restriction on the cleo
tive franchise II its operation was impartial,
as, for instance, the State could adopt an
educational test or a property qualification
which might exclude vast majority Of
negroes from the polls, but that would at
the same time exclude all white men who
could not comply with the tests that ex-
cluded the negro.
The Fifteenth Amendment as originally
suggested was quite different from the prop.
osition subsequently, submitted to the States.
Mr.. Henderson, of Missouri, offered In the
Senate the proposition that mo State shall
deny or abridge the right of its citizens TO
vote or hold Office on account Of race, color
or previous condition"
The Judiciary Committee substituted In
lieu Of the Henderson amendment the fol
lowing: "The right Of citizens OF the United
States to vote and hold office shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or
any State on account Of race, color or pre-.
vious condition Of servitude."
The parliamentary struggle which en-
sued between the two houses OF Congress as
10 the precise form in which the amend
ment should be couched was nothing short
OF game of legislative battledoor and shut
tlecock. Finally, upon the action Of con-
ference committee, the Fifteenth Amend.
ment as 1t now appears in the Constitution
was agreed TO. Il received In the House OF
Representatives vote far beyond the ne.
cessary two-thirds, namely, las yeas, "A
nays. The subject was fully discussed 10
the Senate, and the joint resolution OF the
House OF Representatives when II came into
the Senate was referred TO the Judiciary
Committee and that committee reported an
amendment as follows:
The right of citizens OF the United States
TO vote and TO hold office shall not be de-
MED or abridged by the U nited States or by
any State on account OF race, color, natlv-
ity, property, education or religious belief.
Mr.. Whyte called the attention Of the
Senate 10 the fact that there were two dis.
tinct propositions In this amendment-one
relating 10 suffrage, that is, ITO VOTE" and
the other ITO hold Office"
Subsequently, and as test vote to make
the square issue on the suffrage question,
Mr.. James A. Bayard, Of Delaware, moved
10 strike out the words ITO vote and" leav-
ing the restriction imposed on the power Of
the States 70 apply only 10 the right TO hold
office, alleging that the evil was far less II
the people Of State choose to elect the ne
gro 10 public Office than 1t would be danger.
Gus 10 the country 70 give the suffrage 10 an
Inferior race. 'bt t5H .
The vote on the motion 10 strike DOT the
words ITO vote and" which was the meat
IN the Fifteenth Amendment, was: Yeas,
q nava 2Q-Absent 81
The yeas were James A. Bayard, OF Della
ware; Buckalew, Of Pennsylvanis; Davis,
Of Kentucy Hendricks, Of Indiana Wick.
ers and Whyte, Of Maryland. Not one Of
these Senators is now living except Senator
Whyte, Of Maryland.
The subject went through various legis-
lative changes until under the operation Of
committee Of conference II assumed the
present form, namely
Article XIV, Section /. The right Of citi-
Gems Of the United States 70 vote shall not
Il