The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-27

| ginning of the end of that legislation by
which Congress sought to intrude ste
negro into the active operation of civi
government and known as the recon;
strrction acts of March, 1861.
In this year, 1918, the negro occupies
the relation to government and to socie-
| ty which the Alabama constitution OF
| 1866 assigned to the race. Practically, TIE
negro is in the enjoyment of the same
rights of person and of property possessed
| by white women and white minors. This
was the assignment made to him by the
men who made the constitution of 1860 and
there were the men who had been slave
holders, the men who had led in The es-
tablishment of the Southern Confederacy
and many of whom had been soldiers of
the Confederate army.
| 1t is idle to contend that the interfer-
ence of the government at Washington,
through the instrumentality of carpet
baggers and military control of the bal
| lot was necessary or in any manner help
| full to an equitable adjustment of the re-
| lat.on of the races. In this year, 1879.
white supremacy in Alabama rests upon
precisely the principle upon which 1t was
founded by the constitution of 1865. Be
| tween 1865 and 1901, 36 years, the govern
ment of the United States carried an In
nuence into the government of Alabana
nimical to the normal status of white
Supremacy The fact of recovery of the
state from this prostitution of power and
the methods by which recovery was
| reached make very rich history.
| BY the election of 1874 negroes were re-
| turned to the lower house of the legisla-
| ture as follows: From Montgomery
county, A. Wilcox. 2; Dallas, 3; Perry, :;
| Lowndes. 2: Macon, 2; Bullock, 2; Hale,
o. Sumter 1-maliing a negro member
ship in, the houseS of 20, or 5 per cent,
The senators from Greene, Hale, Perry,
| Dallas Lowndes and Bullock in that leg
islature were negroes, some of them hold
overs The election laws at all times
since 1868 made negroes eligible to the
| legislature, but with the exception If
one in the house from Madison county
in 1876 none has sat in that body,
| However. Lowndes sent one and Perry
| two of that disturbing race to the con-
| stitutional convention of 1915, called TO
| take one step farther in the process of
| recovery
The relation of the negro to bienral
| changes in the personnel of government
| in the state, unhappily, remained long
after the exile of the miserable carretbag-
ger and long after the precarious scala
wag had been put to silence. White su-
Tremacy, attained to by the election Of
1871, was a local achievement, essential
to the life of the state. But the politi-
cal conditions nevertheless were burdened
with the bias of the different functions
lof federal authority, inimical to white
supremacy President Grant signed the
social equality bill that Congress enact
< ed with the approving vote of one of the
two senators from Alabama and four of
the eight representatives. The supreme
court of the United States was not favor
able to white supremacy
Thus, 1t happened that while n most
significant and potential start had been
made by the election of Houston and the
solidifying of white sentiment under one
party organization, nothing had been done
to give relief from the dark shadow of
unrestricted negro suffrage. The relation
of the negro to biennial elections now
appeared in new experience 1t was an
experience OF d1sputation and accusation
precipitated between white counties and
counties of the black belt. IT was nat
ural result from arbitrary Interference Of
the Washington government The hriI-
| liant energies and tactful resources which
| had brought the whites of the noun
tains away from the Union league into
| the fold of the democratic and conserve
| tive party, resulted in the election of
Houston. but the election of Houston did
not take away from the black helt
where the force and talent of the demo-
cratic and conservative party resided q
certain determinate influence abiding in
the right of the negro to he estimated as
| an elector in contests for political ~
fees waged between white aspirants
OF all this strange, confusing and ds.
plorable situation, we shall see the signs
| in due time.
Among the early potions broueot ba-
| fore the legislature of the Housfon "a
rninistration was one to redistrict the
state for filing Its quota Of representa-
tives In Congress At this time there
were only six districts. but eight ran,.a
sentatives had been apnortioned n tho
state under the rule justified by the cen.
sus of 1870. As we have seen Cen w
Fl. Forney and Mr.. Burwell Bovkin o,',.
were elected at the general election ~