Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1909-10-22
For Surveyor
CHARLES j. MADDOX.
If THE AMENDMENT SHOULD

A very practical consideration for the
people of Maryland is the conditions likely
to result should they fail to ratify the pro-
posed amendment of the constitution. In
our last issue we called attention to the
fact that the campaign in Maryland was
largely fought upon the issue of an amend
ment framed along the lines of that now
submitted, and that the principle involved
in the present dominant issue has received
the endorsement of the voters of the State.
If there was a majority for it then, there
is no reason why there should not be
a majority for it now, for every develop
ment in the meantime has strengthened
the force of the arguments then used.
1t is a careless observer who has failed
to mark difference in the demeanor of
the colored race since the defeat of the
amendment of 1905, particularly in the
younger negroes. They are decidedly more
aggressive and impertinent, and this is
more apt to manifest itself in public places
and on public conveyances. In their I'M
rejecting way they took the defeat of that
amendment to mean that their license was
enlarged, and that whatever advantages
accrued were for the special benefit of the
negro, since he had the greater interest in
the result of the election. Whatever may
have been the defects of the Poe" amend
ment, the upshot is large increase in the
number of idle young negroes and marked
degeneracy in their manners and morals.
Inasmuch as the amendment now pro-
posed will affect none except colored voters,
it is fair to assume, from the experience of
the past four years. that its defeat would
be followed by still worse conditions than
those which now prevail and this is
phase of the situation which it would
be unwise and unjust to overlook or
ignore. With so large a negro popula-
ton as we have in Montgomery the con-
tingency presents a real menace to the
peace. good order and progress of the
county, and it behooves our people to con-
slider this aspect of the subject very soberly
before they decide to vote against the
amendment.
There is one unmistakable good to result
from the adoption of the amendment, which
has received but little attention-and that
is the breaking up of the class of white
men who exploit the negro for their own
purposes. They regard the cOlored voters
simply as a political asset, and they will
contribute to the qualification of their vices
as the surest and cheapest means of con-
trolling their support in party contests and
at the general elections, They constitute
by all odds the worst element in American
politics, for they lead the ignorant and I'M
wary into evil ways, and are devoid even
of the pride of race.
1t will be great day for Maryland when
she ribs herself of this class of politicians,
and we count it by no means the least of
the benefits to follow the adoption of the
amendment, that they will cease at once
to be factors in the politics of the State.
And it adds immensely to the argument
for the amendment that along with the
vicious and illiterate negro will pass away
the still lower creature who used and
abused him for selfish and corrupt pur-
poses.
But the self-assertion and the influence
of this class of white men will be vastly
increased if the amendment is defeated.
They will become more than ever the
heroes of negro voters, and their power in
their own party will be augmented many
fold. The irritation now ever present will
become acute, and the possibility of adjust
ing race relations will become remote to
the last degree.
These suggestions are not the outcome
of prejudice, but of sober thought They
are very practical too, for the result of this
election is going to affect our lives every
day for many years to come, and it is worth
while for those who have the larger inter
ests and the better right to enjoy them I'M
molested, to conserve them by the only
means in their power-the adoption of a
constitutional provision which takes po-
litical power out of the hands of men
who are too weak and too corrupt to WELD
it for public good