The Democratic advocate., 1909-10-08
negro IN The North
oooaIRITED BY Law FROM SETTLING
IN CERTAIN STATES
DoOted the Right Of Franchise in
Nearly All Of Them.

order that our readers may see
IL treatment accorded the negro
tue ~ hands of his alleged friends in
al w Torthern states, we print below
tne acts from the laws of these states
eAo,%i eAoring upon the subject:
DeatIr0 DelIn 1852. as part of the work of a
.,titutional convention held at
Conl;ngfeld. Ill, were the following
opitioT of Article XVIII of a pro-
'eCc,J soJ constitution: Cd No negro or
p,,Iatto shall migrate to or settle in
mhi' ll;a State after the adoption of this
unnstitntion. ulS (2) No negro or mulat-
conJ1I rba1I have the right of suffrage or
" va any office in this State. (3) The
rroneral roI Assembly shall pass all laws
Oo.ln Oeaossarv to carry into effect the pro-
iisions of this article.
'iSi I'm the convention the first was
.aonted by a vote Of SO to Z, the sec
SuGR6 auJ by a vote of AZ to IS, and the last
pnu vote of 45 to Is. This article
"oc submitted to special vote OF the
,oonle: each section was approved by
majority; the constitution itself was
.ofoated by a majority Of 16,051 votes,
~ the vote on Article XVIII was as
s"Iiows: The first section was ap-
nroved by a majority of 100,509 votes,
tbe second by a majority Of 176,291
Totes only 1858 voting against it,
I'D the final section was passed by a
~naioritv of 1854 votes. Where was
tbe lash for them who, under the IL
Snois act of 1858, reduced freedom
20 hondage and by these provisions
nobihited the negro all entrance in
10 the State?
"Bv the Revised Statutes of Ohio,
nuhIished in 1860 and in force August
1850 it is, by an act passed April
, 1919 provided that the judge or
indges of any election held under the
snt6ority of any of the laws OF this
state shall reject the vote OF any per
cor offering to vote at such election
ond claiming to be white male c1t1-
yon Of the United States, whenever 1t
shall appear to such judge or judges
that the person offering to vote has
. distinct and visible admiXture OF
African blood" Further, fine not
exceeding $500 and Imprisonment for
not more than six months is the pen
alty for receiving the vote of any per-
SON who has a distinct and visible ad-
mixture of African blood. q Ohio
statutes Swami and Critchfield (186OO
pp. 54S, 549)
1.-THE Constitution of Iowa pub
Hsbed in the General Statutes of 1850
n $500 has: Every white male
citizen of the United States Of the age
of u wears. etc, shall be entitled to
vote
THE Revised Statutes Of Wis
consin. published in 1878 (repeated
in the annotated statutes published
in 1SS9) under Article III Of the Con-
stitution (p. 1S.) has this: Every
male person of the age Of Il year,
belonging to either of the following
classes who shall have resided, etc.
shall be deemed a qualified elector
~ White citizens of the United
States (2) White persons Of foreign
birth who shall have declared their
intention to become citizens, etc. (3)
Persons of Indian blood who have
once been declared by law of Congress
to be citizens of the United States
a. Civilized persons Of Indian de-
scent. not members of any tribe, pro-
vided that the Legislature may at any
time extend by law the right OF sur
frage to persons not herein enumer-
ated
THE Constitution of Michigan pre-
fixed to the compilation by Ihomas
M. Cooley, under an act of the Leg1s-
lature approved February 2, 1857, mas
Article VII, Section 1, which repeats
in substance the foregoing Il Com
piled Laws, p. 62), as does Article VII
Section 1, of the Constitution OF Min
nesota, in Revision of Statutes, pub
lished in 1867.
Volume l of Pardon's Digest Of
the Laws of Pennsylvania, published
in 1862 (p. 375) prescribes. mo per-
son shall be permitted to vote at any
election, as aforesaid, other than q
white freeman of the age of Il years
or more" The House Of Representa-
tives of Pennsylvania on Wednesday
passed the bill to prevent the I'M
migration into the State OF negroes
and mulattoes." (National Intell1-
gencer, March 2T, 1859
illinois. the home of the great Lin
coin; Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, M1chl-
gan, not only denied to the black men
their wives and children the right un-
der any circumstances to take par'
in the creation of laws for the govern
ment of the people, but even refused
to them the protection and shelter OF
a home, even the means OF making
bread and meat for their helpless
families. Maryland guarantees tc
them all the essential rights OF life
liberty and property. She only says
under certain conditions to be over
come by application, your voting right
is restricted.
What is the explanation OF the
partial change in the States named
or in their treatment Of the colored
people 1t was feared that there
would be a great emigration north
ward of the negro people. This
could not be tolerated, no matter II
they we're left to starve and die on
the south bank of the Ohio. Maryland
has admitted them, and still admits
them, freely.
When it was found, however, that
the migration northward did not take
place. then it occurred to our Repub-
lican friends: Why not give them
voting rights equal to the voting right
Of the Southern white man? All will
vote the Republican ticket, whether it
is good or bad With this immense