The Washington bee., 1907-08-03
Illlman, said in part:


to speak briefly in answer to some ut
teranceS of Senator Tillman. He has
been making a speech in Ohio. 1t wa.
on the race problem. This is his favor
lte topic He IS at his best when he
talks on that subject, but his best is
also his, worst
He is one of the frankest and one
of the ablest men the South has ever
produced. Everyone is fond of him as
man, but his views on this subject are
SO extreme that but few of his Demo
cratic colleagues in the Senate, if any
OF them, fully agree with him. In this
latest speech he is quoted as saying
II, after the war, the North had not,
IN its passion and sectional hatred. gone
far beyond the bounds of reason. de-
cency, and righteousness, there would
today be no race problem.
We resent and resist the doctrine
of equality under the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Amendments.
You have done wrong. The North
has done wrong, 1t can remedy the
feeling by repeating the FifteenthAmend-
ment and letting the States control the
franchise
Cannot Force Equality
"All the way through his discussion
is in the nature of a protest against
social equality. Nothing could be more
wide of the mark Everybody under
stood then, as now, that social equality
cannot be forced upon anybody ,
The purpose of the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Amendments was to provide
political equality, to put all citizens of
the United States, whether rich or poor,
white or black, upon the same plane, so
far a. political rights of citizenship
were concerned.
What I want to answer is his charge
that in hatred and passion theFourteenth
and Fifteenth Amendments to the Con-
stitution were forced upon the South,
and that in this way the North need
lesssly precipitated upon the South the
evils they suffered during the recon-
struction period. These amendments, not
fully demanded by the war itself, were
made necessary by the situation created
by the seeding States Immediately af-
ter the war"
Senator Foraker discussed conditions
at the close of the war at great length,
and then continued:
IF they had accepted the Fourteenth
Amendment there would not have been
any Fifteenth Amendment, for with the
Fourteenth Amendment accepted and all
the seeding States restored to their
places in the government, the ratification
OF the Fifteenth Amendment by the
requisite number of States would have
been an impossibility.
Says South Vas at Fault
IT. therefore, there be any fault to
find with anybody on account OF the
Fifteenth Amendment It rests with the
seeding States, for they, by their re-
fusal to accept the Fourteenth Amend
ment, not only compelled reconstruction,
but precipitated a submission and rati-
fcation of the Fifteenth Amendment.
They accentuated y all this by their
treatment of the freed men. 1t would
be difficult to exaggerate the unfriend-
ly character Of the Legislation affecting
them that was enacted Immediately after
the war in most Of the seeding States.
1t is no exaggeration to say that the
spirit of this legislation was not justice,
but injustice and that of the most ma
licious and revengeful character. This
kind of legislation. coupled with refusal
to accept what were thought 10 be the
generous terms of the Fourteenth
Amendment, naturally created a public
sentiment in the North that secured the
ratification OF the Fourteenth Amend
ment and led to the Fifteenth Amend
ment, by which it was provided that no
State should have the right to deny or
abridge the right to vote on account OF
race, color, or previous condition OF
servitude. But it was not passion, neI-
ther was it hatred that brought about
these results, but only solemn sense
Of duty,
Can Neuer Be Repeated
There was never time, except on
IL when the Fifteenth Amendment was
adopted that it could have been adopt
ed. and there has never been a time
since it was adopted when it could have
been repealed. and. IN my opinion, there
never will be a time when It can be re-
pealed. simply because It was right ther
and Is right now. It>was a great tor
ward step in the recognition by govern
ment of the rights Of citizens governed
to participate in their government and
70 have equal protection under it If
~--,.;r,,,ad to Daoe four