The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-03-31
i n ! !. i. 7.
Amendment n E
Will BE TESTED BY MARYLAND
I'm EFHORT TO nlSINRAN. -
-. CHISE NEGROES
Deny Registration
in State and Municipal Elections is
the Plan agreed Upon by Demo-
crafts III Caucus, and 1t VIII Likely
- he Adopted by Legislature.


-. --------7------,-,., .1
baltimore, Md, March 30.-The
Democratic legislature, which will
adjourn, sine, die next Monday, may
adopt the most audatious or all plans
adopted to-. disfranchise the. Negro.
W. Mitchell Diggess, who comes from
Charles county where the colored
voters ohtnumber the whites, has
suggested the passage Of a law de.
~nying the Negro the right to registra-
tion for voting In state and munich
pal elections, The plan has MANY
warm supporters among Democratic
politicians who point to the fact that
Maryland never ratified the Fifteenth
Amendment and that the state con-
stitution expressly confers the rlgh!
or suffrage upon white males. Som
OF the disfranchisement enthusiasts
claim that the Fifteenth Amendmen"
was never legally adopted.
. Under this plan the colored citizens
would still continue to vote in Con-
gressienal and presidential elections
Interviews with Democratic members
or Congress doesn't show any enthu-
siasm for the new scheme. some Of
them seeing a ~reopening Of the dis
cnss1on OF disfranchisement laws of
the SOUTH '
Should the Digges plan become
law it will be vigorously contested
IN the courts, and an opinion upset
ting the revised constitutions of the
southern states may be wrested from
the United States supreme Court =.
among the many protests against
the plan is one from the colored
Mems Suffrage League, Of which Rev
M III. W: M: Alexander, of this city, i
president The protest reads :-~----,----
Colored men, having exercised
the right of franchise in this state
lor 40 years. and having, by the use,
or the ballot, contributed to tn
peace and t.prosnerity of the state
1all TO see the slightest reason why
a law should be passed at this late
.>date III
the exercise OF which fs admitted "a.
be, essential for the civic and :politea-
protection; OF, all men and enhance.
their general welfare.
We venture to- state and cha]lens.
contradiction, that not a. single il
stance can be cited when colored men
nave voted against the best interests
-of-thlS-state, when they y-have- in
any way expressed a disposition +,
dominate or embarrass the public Of
Hcers they have helped to elect
AS to the prosecuting effect the
Dlgges Election Law will have q
Fhe colored. people, in this state. II
cannot be expressed in words. Dur
ing the campaign when the Poe and
SCrauss amendments were the Issue
''r people, without exception, were
defined In print and by campaign or
ators as a menace to civil society.
even men Of the race, who, by indus
Try and economy had acquired prop
erty' were stigmatized as DANGEROUS
invaders OF society. Asa result ma
ny colored men lostAopportunities to
earn daily bread. We all in some
way feel the sting Of persecution j,
fllctrd on us by the discussion Of the
Poe and Strauss amendments and
We believe our condition will he
made worse If the Digges Bill he
comes the election law of Maryland.
Ihe colored people in our state
nave to earn and spend 100000 a
day 70 Keep from being public wards
Oh the state, and we submit that If
the white men need the ballot to
helr them earn the necessaries Of
lie, 1T is unjust and inhuman to de-
pr1Ve us OF the same ADVANTAGE.
q
the courts Of Maryland and to tho
united States District and Supteme
courts; yet we fail to understand
way the colored people should be re-
qulred to spend money and consume
time in the courts to secure tho
rlgbt to vote in this state, right
which the United States Constitution,
and majority Of the voters of Marv-
land have conceded to us for forty
years.
Colored men in this state are at
'hat point in their history where
thoy are prepared to consider all
public questions to be decided nv
the ballot on their merits and from
'he viewpoint Of patriotism; propos-
ed by men Of all parties, therefore
we ask that this Digges Law be not
permitted to deprive citizens of the
opportunity Of performing their fn1
0uty in the further DEVELOPMENT Of
our beloved commonwealth,