The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-06
John Sharp Williams Comments
 In CausIic Terms
POLITICAL PETTfOGG|NG
MT. Williams Says the Ohio Repub- icans Are Holding Out Hope To
 the Negro of an Impossi-
 bllity Under Law.

Washington, March 5.-(special. .)-'I
 haven't seen anything equal to the Ohio
 platform since l read Dr. Warren's Ten
 Thousand a Year. said Representative
 Williams of Mississippi, the democrats
 leader, today.
 You remember in that" continued
 MT. Williams, when 'Tittlebat Title
 mouse ran for parliment upon the cele-
 Lrated plan which was originated by
 Oily Cannon and promised Tittlebat's
 constituents to give everybody every
 thing without taking anything from
 anybody.
 Years ago upon the floor of the
 House and while temporary chairman
 of the St. Louis convention, I said that
 there was not man who loved the
 south, her institutions and her civili-
 zation and who wanted to guarantee
 her future, who would not be willing to
 consent to a reduction of southern rep
 resentation If her opponents would but
 act frankly with us and repeal the 10th
 amendment but that If was unfair to
 hold us to the 14th unmodiied by the
 18th while still maintaining in legal
 force the 18th. A proposition to re-
 duce southern representation under
 the 14th amendment accompanied with
 the charge that the south is disfran
 chising the negro as a negro, and with
 the statement that that is the reason for the course taken amounts to saying
 that the 18th amendment is Imperative
 or should not be enforced, and if so it
 ought to be repealed
 After the passage of the 18th amendment whereby the south was for bidden to disfranchise anybody on ac count of race, color or previous condi- ton of servitude, it lies in no man $ mouth to say that any southern state does disfranchise anybody on either of !. those accounts without proving hIs statement. The statement cannot be proved because it is absolutely false. The 14th amendment left the southern states with the option for each state to let the negroes vote or not vote as It chose, but if 1t did not allow them to vote, it would be subjected to a re- duction of representation. Now comes
 a proposition holding out hope to
 the ear of the negro voter to regard that option still existing notwitl- standing the enactment of the 18th amendment and not accompanied by any sort of promise or hope to the southern white man of repeating the 18th amendment A more startling
 piece of political pettifogging was never attempted"
 lne pldnh oi the oiio Pia'ioi III " ferred to by MT Williams is $ fol- lows:
 "The civil and political rights of the American negro in every state, believ- ing, as we do that his marvellous prog ress in intelligence. industry and goo,t citizenship has earned the respect ahd encouragement of the nation and that those Legislative enactments that have for their real aim his disfranchisement for reasons of color alone are unfair. un- American and repugnant to the su- preme law of the land, we favor the reduction of representation in Congress and the electoral college in all states of the Union where white and colored citizens are disfranchised, to the end that the 14th aemndment to the con stitution of the United States may be enforced according to it's letter anl spirit" w. ,.