The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-04-23
putting on the Cap and Bells.

The senate Of the Florida legislature has
made Ounce Of itself, and has invited
the whole State to put on the cap and
bells. 1t has passed a bill declaring null
and void within the confines of the State
the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments
to the Constitution, the amendments that
grew out OF the civil war and which were
intended to guarantee perfect political
equality 10 the negroes who had been
freed from slavery. The bill is now pend
ing in the lower house Of the Florida legis-
lature, but we have an idea that it will be
laughed out OF that body, thus saving the
State from the udicrous attitude before all
the world in which ii would be placed
should the shoTt-sighted and hot-headed
senate at Tallahassee be permitted TO have
its foolish way.
When South Carolina. under the leader
ship of John c. Calhoun. a statesman Of
great resolution and profound convictions.
essayed the task Of notification. the in
domitable Jackson. himself a South Caro-
linian by birth. was President and issued
a ringing proclamation that was the pre-
lude TO the great assertion of nationalism
L4iGL Ld4AEu lLAu AA4E lltAA a AAfAA 10 VI "a
century later armies that shook the world
Jackson's proclamation postponed the
great war over the question of State
rights, though IN the then unsettled condi-
ton of the relations between the Federal
and State authority the bloody drama Of
the COS was inevitable. In this day We
need no Jackson's by the eternal TO
cheek State defiance of national authority.
but what We do need is a fool-kiIler
among all assemblages Of men, North and
South, like that which comprises the ma
jority of the Florida senate. While Fed
eral authority latterly may have grown
too aggressive and is inclined to overstep
its proper limits, this tendency Of the
/ times is not due to shortcomings Of the
Constitution, but rather to the laXity OF
State governments. The Supreme Court
( of the United States has preserved 10 the
/ States exclusive control Of the elective
/ franchise, so that on that score there can
be no complaint Of Federal interference in
Iany form in our elections. Moreover. and
/ of still higher benefit 10 all the people
the North has become better acquainted
with conditions in the South during the
past decade or so, and we discern in no re-
sponsible quarter disposition on this side
of the Potomac to stir up the animosities
of the dead and buried past. Action such
as that taken by the Florida senate is cal
lculated to reopen the old sores Of section
alism and set the hounds OF hateful dem
ag0gy everywhere 10 snaTling and yelping
| Industrially and politically. the races
are getting along in the South better thar
ever before. The contention that the race
problem is national and not sectional haE
gained recognition i'm every part OF The
country This marks a progress in the So
Tuition of that tremendous question credit
able alike 10 the good sense, patriotism
and forbearance of both sections The
time may come when discussion of the re
peal of one or both of the amendment:
acted upon by the Florida senate may
take on a national character, but when 4
does the South will not be the leader Il
lit However. this phase Of the main ques
ton is strictly academic at present, anC
lis almost on a par in Stiffness with th'
proposed notification movement in Flor
ida. The thing for the States now 10 d.
lis to regulate their internal affairs unde
existing provisions of the Constitution, 81
as to curb the forces of Capitalization anC
not make the braggart assertion Of setting
at naught within their limits any of thos
provisions.