Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1909-01-29
CARDINAL GIBBONS AND THE
SUFFRAGE AMENDHENT.

SUFFRAOE AMENDHENI
There is very little doubt that the fiercest
fighting Of the next campaign in Maryland
will rage around the suffrage amendment
submitted to the voters of the State by the
last Legislature. The early and aggressive
stand Of the Republican party indicates
how seriously they regard the situation
and the Democrats are scarcely less alert,
though in less demonstrative way. to i'm
press upon the public mind the importance
of this question.
In this condition of affairs, the interview
given out few days ago by Cardinal Glib
bons, in which he takes strong position
against the amendment, naturally attracts
great deal OF attention, though, as yet, it
has not evoked much comment As the head
OF his Church in the United States, the Car
dinal occupies a position Of commanding
influence, and in personal character holds
the respect of men of all denominations,
and it is. therefore, probable that the first
impulse will be to give to the interview a
weight and Importance to which it is not
entitled upon its intrinsic merits In this
view Of the case the advocates of the
amendment have little to fear as a conse-
quence of Cardinal Gibbons opinions, for
they will be very carefully analysed and
wholly discounted before the election oc-
ours. if they do not altogether cease to be
factor in the result.
How far the clergy should 60 in their
efforts to influence the public mind in
purely political matters. is SO largely
question of taste that the formulation of a
rule is difficult, if not impossible; but of
course when clergyman does step into the
arena Of politics, it is presumed that he ex-
poets to encounter the criticism of those who
honestly differ from his views, for in this
sphere he speaks as man, not as prelate.
and of matters of which he naturally knows
less than do those who have given to po-
litical questions years of study and reflec-
ton.
But apart from these general considera-
tons. the interview appears to be deficient
in the fullness and candor of statement of
the premises upon which so decided an
opinion should be based. In the first place,
the preliminary questions which the Car
dinal put to his interviewer disclose the fact
that the interviewer himself is man given
to one-sided and violent statements of the
purposes of those to whom he is opposed,
and is therefore an unsafe guide for one
who is seeking a position from which to
view and judge great public question.
The Cardinal assumes that this mans sur
misses are unquestioned facts, and from
them proceeds to express opinions which,
whatever may have been his intentions.
were intended by the interviewer to be
widely disseminated and to influence large
numbers of voters. This strikes the aver
age mind as being unfair. to say the least
of it.
In supplemental interview with re-
porter OF Tie Sun, Cardinal Gibbons. while
confirming the previous interview, which
was given. he says. purely from the con-
ception of the law as put before me" prac-
tically confesses to have made no study of
the amendment but adheres to his opin-
ion which he seeks to fortify by the asser-
ton that the negro has been picked out
for disfranchisement for no reason save
his COLOR
We venture to say that during the forty
years last past, the negro has been given
a fair chance to establish his right to the
elective franchise and has not made
good" No State in which the negroes were
in the majority or in which they held the
balance of power made satisfactory pro-
gress or had the semblance of decent gov
eminent. until means were found to neu-
tralize their power at the polls. and the
advancement Of those States since the dis
reimbursement of the negroes has demon
strated the demoralizing influence of the
negro in politics. And here in Maryland
the demand for this amendment is based
upon the right of the majority of its in
tellieent citizens and property holders to
eliminate an element which operates to
debase the electorate and retard the whole
some progress of the State. We simply
stand where Abraham Lincoln stood half
century ago. when he said u have no
purpose to introduce political and social
equality between the white and black races
There is physical difference between the
two which, in my judgment, will probably
forever forbid their living together upon
the footing of equality; and inasmuch as
1t becomes a necessity that there must be
difference. l. as well as Judge Douglass,
am in favor of the race to which belong
having the superior position"
The weakness of the Cardinals position,
as we see il, lies in the fact that he takes
only partial. one-sided view of the ques-
ton, and fails to study il in its many rami-
ficatiOns and in its permanent effect upon
the Commonwealth. And for these reasons
we are disposed to think that the influence
of the opinions he expresses will be far
less than some persons would like to be-
ieve. We trust they will not be a source
of permanent regret to the Cardinal him
self