Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1909-10-22
Boom for Amendment.

The following is an extract from speech
on the Suffrage Amendment recently de
livered by Mr.. Vim. L. Marbury, of Balti-
more, at Elkton, in Cecil county, Md
DEMAND By THE PEOPLE.
"As one of those who participated in
the framing of this amendment and In
presenting it to the Legislature for submis-
sion to the people" he said, II have, as
my friends well know, always intended to
vote for it, because it has always met with
my hearty approval as wise and a just
measure, and one which in due course OF
time will greatly improve political and
social conditions in this State"
Mr. Marbury showed that both Governor
Warfield and Governor Crothers were elect
ed on platforms pledGing the Democratic
party to the enactment of a suffrage
amendment, and that the people demand
cd it,
Now, why did the people make this de-
mand ?" he said why did they want to
withdraw the elective franchise from such
a large proportion of the negroes of this
State? will tell you why.
IN the first place, 1t is certainly not out
of any feeling toward or hatred of the negro
race There is no such feeling among the
intelligent people of this State, except that
which is engendered necessarily by the
participation of the negro in politics. To
state it broadly, the reason why the white
people want to withdraw the franchise
from the negroes, so far as II may be con
stitutionally possible to do so, is because
they never have become reconciled. never
will become recOnciled, and never ought to
become reconciled to participation OF the
black man in governing the white, and be-
| La, foo hat In AfnI
fare, and even the safety, in the future OF
the two races require that that participa-
ton should cease A large and increasing
proportion of the intelligent people OF this
country, North as well as South, now admit
that the granting of the franchise to the
African race on terms of equality with the
white race inflicted upon the latter one oil
the cruelist wrongs to which any civilized
people were ever subjected, and, further
that it was dreadful mistake so far as the
negro race was concerned.
To REMEDY GREAT WRONG
This amendment represents an effort
on the part of the white people of Mary
land, so far as they can do so, to remedy
that wrong and to correct that blunder
Nowhere on the face of the earth in all
history has it been possible for any length
of time in any country inhabited by two
distinct races of men whose physical differ
ences we're such as to forbid intermarriage
and amalgamation to allow both those
races to exercise the powers of government
Jointly. One or the other must rule. The
experiment has been tried more than once
Ii was tried for about 40 years In the
British colony of Jamaica. The result OF
the experiment was that the British Gov
ernment in order to preserve the civiliZa-
ton of the white people from extinction
was compelled. at their insistence. to with
draw the charter of the colony. take II out
of the list of self governing countries and
make it a mere dependency of the Crown
another experiment was the granting
of the franchise to the negroes of the Dis
trict of Columbia Immediately after the
war. We all know what the result of that
was. The Republican Congress was com
PEELED to withdraw the franchise entirely
and, in order to save its reputation for con
sistency, committed the injustice of taking
AWAY the franchise of the white people OF
the District also and leaving them without
the right of suffrage to this day. suppose
upon the theory that it was unjust or un-
fair or mot squire deal to take away the
franchise from the negro without taking II
away at the same time from the white
people, and that Notwithstanding the fact
that the necessity for the withdrawal oil
the franchise grew entirely out of the un
fitness and incapacity of the negro and was
due to no fault whatever on the part OF the
white people in the District
an South America the result has beer
the same. After years of experience will
negro suffrage the new federal government
recently established in that country has
been compelled to deny the franchise t.
the black man.
NEGRO DOMINATION.
at seems, therefore. that the people Of
MARYLAND are not peculiar or different from
white people of other parts of the world in
reference to this matter. II is perfectly
true, as was frequently insisted by some
of our Republican friends and by some OF
our independent Democratic friends, whose
sincerity would not for one moment ques-
ton. that there is no danger whatever OF
NEGRO domination in this State. OF course
there is no danger Of such domination in
the sense in which they use the term
There is no danger, of course, that the ne
trocs will be able to do here some of the
things which they did in some Of the South
ern States where they were in actual nu-
merica majority They will never consti-
tute majority of the Legislature. They
will not, in all human probability, elect
Judges or States Attorneys of their own
race. There is no danger OF negro domi-
nation i'm that sense, and no one pretends
that there is. Nevertheless, the partcipa-
tion of the negro in politics is fraught with
the travcst injury both to themselves and ia
the white people. 1t is the one thing which
has already, in some Of the Northern States
produced a terrible state of friction and ma
tired between the races, and is beginning
TO have the same effect, and will more and
more have that effect, in the nature OF
thinps. in this State. Here lies the heart
of this whole question. Here lies the as
pcct of il which my independent Demo
cratic friends, those of them who oppose
the amendment, at least. that is. do not
seem to be able to see and which our Re
publican friends will not see.
"Thc truth is that no man who has not
been brought in long and close contac'
with the negroes, so as to have an under
standing of the negro character. can fuliy
realize the effect upon the negro OF exercis-
ind the elective franchise and participating
in the Government of the white man. That
is the reason why so many people IN BAL
timore CITY who have not had that expert
ence cannot understand the state OF mind
and noint of view of the people OF the
lower COUNTIES or of the people OF those
parts of Baltimore city itself where similaI
conditions exist"
WHEN NEGROES ARE On Tor.
After quoting from an article by DIR
Thomas Nelson Page in McClures maya
zine to the effect that negroes in power are
for the most part arrogant swaggering
DANGEROUS and intOlerable," he continued
ut is absolutely true, as Mr. Page says
that negroes in power are apt TO be AFRO
CANT swaggering, dangerous and intoler-
able. This is fact which every white man
in Southern Maryland and on the Eastern
Shore knows, and not only that. but which
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