The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-05
TEN YEARS OF ALABAMA

1865-1874


 1 to offer to the states xor ratification an
 article of amendment specifically grant l ing the right of suffrage to negroes The l language must appear to contemplate "a caste on oligarchy of the skin" which any state so disposed might set up and which Congress must look upon without power to defeat Under his view, that
 the Declaration was sufficient, this dis
 covered ignoble peril would be avoided | Another objection in the senator's mind
 was the well known antipathy of A number of the states to universal suf- 1 frage. Ratification of the proposed ar 1 ticle, divesting them of their ancient, ab- solute control of the electorate would be I delayed if not defeated. For this reason also he preferred a statute of Congress. l Senator Sherman of Ohio saw with alarm an effort to amend the consttu- | ton specifically to bring the negro race l into the electorate of the states. The ! state of New Hampshire had a religious qualification for voters. In order to in | troduce the negro as an elector in Vir- ginia, New Hampshire must abandon her rule. The state of Massachusetts had an | educational qualification for the elector- | ate-must every state open it's destiny to l the dominion of ignorance that the negro might vote? Rhode Island had a property !, qualification, some of the western states had laws against the foreign immigrants s vote and others had other laws qualify ing the right to vote. MT. sherman would
 let the negro question alone and give to every citizen, not a convict, the same | right to vote.
 1 Senator Howard of W .sconsin called at | tention to the contradictory phrase of one
 of the several resolutions, which forbade l Congress or a state to take notice of the | nativity of a citizen who might desire to 1 vote or hold office. The constitution did I not permit a citizen born out of the 1 United States to become President. | Senator Edmunds from Vermont, ad-
 mittedly a great au,nority on constitu- | tfonal law. opposed any movement to amend further the constitution to en- franchise the negro. whereas the four teenth article, so recently adopted, was
 ample to the end aimed at. He would have no arbitrary and fanciful distnc- tions, such as color nativity, education or religion to deprive a citizen of an equal right. The fourteenth article had been exhaustivey studied by the Con- gress that framed it. It had given to ev- cry citizen the benefit of ''the great, com | prehensive word privileges, and had | planted him in the highest class of cit- zenship. If Congress having given to all citizens the privileges" of citizenship by
 the fourteenth article. should now pro ceed to adopt fifteenth article, to give the negro the right to vote, does not the l presumption hold that under the four | teenth the negro did not get that right secured to him?
 i Senator Drake of Missouri thought it was incumbent on the Senate to under
 stand thoroughly what it was about. He denied that the fourteenth article endowed ! any citizen of any race or color with the right to vote. That amendment made announcement upon what constitutes citizen of the United States. but stopped short of declaring the right of citizens or the United States to vote. left the quail
 fcations for the electorate untouched, as l they had been in the states, but attached
 a penalty to a state that discriminated
 against the negro in fixing it's qualifica- l ticns.
 | Senator Howard of Michigan came to
 the support of the proposition that the | fourteenth article of amendment was not intended by the framers to give the right | to vote and that no fair construction of
 the language could impart that meaning to 1t. The senator declared he was a | member of the reconstruction committee | that reported the article; that "it was dis cussed at great length before the com l mittee and by the committee as well as | in the Senate; and I feel coistrained | to say here now that this is the first l time 1t ever occurred to me that the | right to vote was to be derived from | the fourteenth article MT. Howard pro- ceeded in his narrative to say thai unless senators could derive the right to vote | from the unamended constitution they must surrender their argument
 The carpetbagger senator from Ohio, seated as from Alabama, said .1 hope this amendment Awil not be adopted. | hope the Congress of this country will not single out our race for protection; but l trust we shall go at once to the broad, l grand affirmative proposition. 1 l think to single out one race is unworthy of the country and unworthy of the great | opportunity now presented to us" Mir. Warner offered long drawn out substi- | tiite for the report of the joint commit l tee then pending before the Senate, which received little attention.
 Senator Sawyer. carpetbagger from South Carolina, offered an amendment to | the committee report that was promptly rejected. This senator said. however, l that it made little difference what was done by Congress to give the negroes the right to vote in South Carolina. the | rebels" would govern that state.
 Senator Cragin from New Hampshire I said the fourteenth article had never un- | til that day been considered as giving the 1 right to vote He had heard the whole, prolonged and laborous discussion upon l it's preparation and adoption. and not | syllable had been uttered claiming that lit touched the right to vote. Continuing. ]! he said the article seemed to be required l to enforce tho ''ciyil rights bIll." The