Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1909-01-29

that If the negro be lazy. you may defn,
laziness and disfranchise that, If yol
: will only disfranchise him for the qualtie:
, which you say unfit him to vote and moi
for his race or the color of his skin there Is
no constitutional obstacle in your way"
The proposed amendment was carefully
drawn by committee of seven lawyers
who had in mind the constitutional prob
lem and after it was drawn by them il
was submitted first to larger committee
and then to the General Assembly. Ger
tain alterations were made in the original
draft of the amendment.
Candor compels me to say that in my
opinion the proposed amendment was in a
more satisfactory legal shape than it is at
present, when it was presented by the
committee which drafted it, and that the
changes made init were ill advised. Still
| in its present shape it is as have said.
| an honest, straightforward measure, which
| can be and must be honestly administered,
and it is worth while for the people of this
State to pass it and endeavor to uphold it
in the Supreme Court. If that high tribu-
nal should set the amendment aside, it
would probably have to point out wherein
it was defective. and the people of Mary
land could then pass another measure
avoiding that defect.
There is an inaccuracy in Judge Taft's
letter to Mr.. Stone into which it was very
natural for even learned and able lawyer
who had not closely studied the question
to fall.
After correctly stating that according to
the terms of the amendment the first class
of eligible voters shall be those persons
who on the first day of January in the
year of 1859 or prior thereto were entitled
to vote under the laws of Maryland or any
other State of the United States wherein
they resided, and that the male descend
ants of this class constituted the second
class of eligible voters. and that the third
and fourth classes of such eligible voters
included foreign-born citizens of the United
States naturalized between January 1, 1869,
and the date of the adoption of the amend
ment, and the male descendants of such
last mentioned persons; and that these
four classes are exempt from the property
and educational qualifications, Judge Taft
then inadvertently and incorrectly adds
Now we know that the first four classes
include no negroes at all In other words,
it is intended to free the whites from edu-
cational or property qualifications, but to
subject all negroes to them"
While it is undoubtedly true that the
amendment, if passed. will require the vast
majority of the negroes in Maryland to
possess either the property or the educa-
tional qualifications prescribed, 1t is mis-
take to say that the suffrage amendment
required all negroes to do so. On and be-
fore January |, 1869, negroes could vote in
number of the New England States,
and under the reconstruction constitutions
adopted in 1868 negroes on January |,
1859, residing in North Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi.
Louisiana and Texas, could vote. Any
negroes now residing here or who in 1868
resided in any of the above States, and all
male descendants of such negroes could
vote under what is commonly called the
"grandfathers clause" in the proposed
amendment.
1t is true that this circumstance, which
Judge Taft overlooked when writing to Mr..
Stone, has possibly but slight political sig
nifcance, as the number of such negroes
is small it may however, have consider
able effect il the amendment is passed and
gets before the Federal Courts
There is one political matter in connec-
ton with the amendment which should be
considered by all of us, and that is, whether
the independent vote of the State will be
unwilling to assist in passing the amend
ment from fear of making this One-party
State and of making the management of
the Democratic party too powerful.
One way to lesson this danger is for the
Democratic party in making its nominal
tons and in conducting this coming cam
paign to so act as to win public confidence.
And in this connection it is proper to say
that in indorsing the reelection of Judge
Dobler, Mr.. John J. Mahon did wise and
broad-minded thing which strengthened
the chances of passing this amendment.
With best wishes for the success of your
dinner and the cause in which you are en-
listed am yours very truly,
WILLIAM SHEPPARD BRYAN.