Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1907-07-04
HOKE SMITHS PLAN
RACE PROBLEM TACKLED BY
eEoReIA's NEW GOVERNOR.
WOULD TEACH NEGROES TO WORK
Want. Voting Qualification Fair to
Every Man Not Ready to Trans
fer, Control of Railroads to Ma
tionaI Government.

Atlanta, July Amy plan for the
negroes which fails to recognize the
difference between the white and
black races will fall" declared Gov
ernor Hoke Smith in his inaugural
address. delivered at noon today in
the open air at the west front of the
capitol.
The honest student of history"
continued Governor Smith, knows
that the negro had full opportunity
for generations to develop before the
days of slavery; that the negro race
was improved by slavery and that
the majority OF the negroes in this
state have ceased to improve since
slavery. Few have been helped by
books. All have been helped who
have been taught or made to work
The negro child should be taught
manual labor. and how to live. The
negro teacher should be selected less
by book than by character examina-
ton. Racial differences cannot be
overcome by misguided philanthropy
lists.
Proposes to Stop Lynching.
Superiority does not justify cru
to punish criminal is himself a
criminal. There is no place in
Georgia for riots and mobs. 1t is the
duty of the governor to exhaust the
power of his Office to enforce the law
and to prevent lynching, and | shall
perform this duty. l recognize the
duty of the white man to be abso-
| lutely just to the negro"
Within the constitutional provision
that the right of the citizens Of the
| United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United
States or any state, on account of
race, color or previous conditions of
servitude,' Governor Smith advo-
Gated amending the state constitu-
ton, TO provide a new standard for
the elective franchise, with the Ala
bama law as a model
Voters to be Classified
The state of Georgia, he maintain
ed, has the right to fix a legal stan
dard-the qualifications being re
quired of all without reference to
race or color, and suggested that the
amendment divide the voters into
these six classes:
| F1rSJ All persons WHO served III
any war of the United States. the
Confederate states, or the state OF
Georgia.
Second-Their lawful descendants
Third = All persons of good char
acter who understand the duties and
obligations of citizenship: or
Fourth = Can read and write cor
rectly in English any paragraph Of
the federal or state constitution.
Fifth = Owners of forty acres oil
land on which they live; or
Sixth Owners of $500 worth OF
taxable property in the state.
THE right to qualify under the
third provision" Governor Smith de
clared, should expire January l
1910, and under the first and second
provisions January 1, 1915. Any per
son qualified to vote for life, unless
he fails to pay his taxes, commits q
crime: or does some act subsequent
ly to prevent his voting"
State and Railroads.
Discussing the control of railroads
and public service corporations. Gov
ernor Smith said:
1T is especially important at this
time, when many are ready to trans
fer to the national government al
such control, that the state SHOULD
show its capacity to meet its part O.
the responsibility"