The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-02-28
"A NEW DECLARATION OF INDIE
PENDEN(E.

Baltimore. Mr. Taylor is a Southern.
er, but only so by birth. for he has
been notably Indifferent to the child.
like talk of most men of our section,
He has developed iRSo great broad
American, and has come to occupy A
large place in our international af.
fairs. Indeed, he is a recognized au-
thority On international law and ar.
bltration, having written and publish
ed several works which have been
widely read and frequently quoted.
10 read after MIR. Taylor, one would
q. not think he was reading after q
North Carolinian brought up under
the mephltlc influence of Mobile
thought. Mr.. Taylor was once Minis
ter to Spain. At present he is a Pro-
lessor in the Columbian Law School
at Washington, and holds some kind
of confidential relations with our state
department.
IN his address at Baltimore, an adj
dress on THE Relations of the South
to Pending Problems" Mr.. TAYLOR
made bold to say that the Thirteenth
Amendment to the constitution was a
Declaration of Independence, for if
freed the south from it's worst enemy.
II this is so, the biblical Injunction
love thy enemy, was never more vail.
antly followed and adored,e protected
and venerated, than was true of the
South in it's love for slavery. Mr.
Iaylor it Is very evident intends not
TO live in Mobile again, else why this
-fashness? More and more represent
tatlVe men in the South are speaking
out, SO much so that we have begun to
; nope, and really to expect. that one
day some favored son of the SUMMER
South will be brave enough to tell the
"hole truth about the disfranchise-
ment OF the Negro, and demand in
. the name of common justice, that his
rights, ruthlessly stolen and brazenIv
Kept, be given back to him. That
Iaylor's address.
lie said that a mistake was made
after the Rebellion in comforting the
power of the ballot On those Negroes
of course) entirely unprepare1 for cit.
lzenshlp. And further, that the new
l. southern Constitutions have as their
basic principles that as fast as the
colored citizens become qualified by
property or education, or both, for tho
franchise, they shall be endowed with
II. AS to the first part Of this
thought, we have heard that pronounc-
ed by a large number of men, black
and white. 1t has Become a common
ming here Of late to hear black men
~ talking about the southern Negroes
were given the right to vote before
they understood their duty to the
state. This is a perniciOus theory. and
mas worked wonders in harm TO the
" southern Negroes. Pray, tell us. who
IS I'LL to pass upon the qualifications
OF Ireemcn to exercise the rights of
trccmen? In a Republic such as ours
there can Ee no righteous exclusion Of
one class OF citizens from the ballot
for any shortening whatsoever. either
as to poverty in the head or in the
land? Very properly criminals are,
and ought to be, excluded from the
Irahch>Sc. Aside from criminals, and
insane persons, there is really no
grounds sufficient in themselves TO
. cast men out from that inaljenablv
, theirs. The most intelligent element
n fr,T1 hi 1
aff1rm, was the black element, and
they were also the most patriotic. Ne.
groes we're excluded from the ballot
In the South, not because thcy were
ignorant, but because their loyalty and
patriotism led them to support the re.
publican party. This may have been
pad policy, but in the long run it
VIII abe we'll that they did this. We
dare any man to successfully contra.
dict the truthfulnc>S Of this assertion.
AS to thes second thought Of Mr..
Taylor, he is altogether wrong And
in his error lie has pretty good com.
pany. The basic principle of the con.
Stitutions in the South is not that
black men are to be rradmittcd 10 the
ballot as fast as they become educated
and property holders; rather. on the
other hand, the basic principle is that
rs fast as they get property and cdu.
cation, they will lie more desperately
excluded than ever before. Search
the records and find if this is not true.
Call homDofopf ujfnneenc ou1 ,.,,,,
Inc them, and hear their testimony up,
on this point. CaU Green of Louis
lana, MONTGOMERY. q member Of the