The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-06-25
KNOCK OUT
GRANDFATHER Law
Court Holds Maryland, Ok
lahoma Laws Invalid.
By Unanimous Decision It SAYS
Law Violates Fifteenth
Amendment.

Washington, June 21.-In a de-
cision so broad as probably to annuI
grandfather clause" enactments in
every Southern state which has
adopted such laws, the Supreme
Court today held invalid Oklahoma
and Maryland legislation aimed at
restricting the negro vote. The de-
cision was unanimous.
The decision, in short, was that
1t is violation of the Fifteenth
amendment for a State to select arbi-
trarily date. such as 1865, and pro-
vide that persons not qualified to
vote on that date or whose ancestors
were not so qualified, are barred
from voting or must submit to vot-
ing test not required by others.
The court further held that cleo
ton officials who sought to enforce
such clauses could be held amenabIe
to law for denying persons right to
vote and that such officials could not
disregard the fact that the Fifteenth
amendment had stricken out of the
State law the word white" as a
qualification for voting.
Property and other tests for voters
enacted by the Maryland Legislature
for Annapolis in the same act in
which the grandfather clause was in
serted was held to be so closely re-
lated to the grandfather clause as to
make all the qualifications fall, -
History of Cases.
For more than fifteen years the
grandfather clause has been in
serted in constitutions of Southern
States. The most popular form has
been to exempt from educational and
property tests for voting those who
could vote in 1866, 1857 and 1868.
thus leaving, the tests to apply to
those who did not vote at those
dates.
The Oklahoma grandfather clause
provides that no person shall be
registered as an elector in this State.
or be allowed to vote in any election
herein, unless he be able to read
and write any section of the consti-
tuition of the State of Oklahoma, bat
no person who was, on January I,
1866, or at any time prior thereto,
entitled to vote under and form of
government. or who that time resid-
ed in some foreign nation, and no
lineal descendent of such person.
shall be denied the right to register
and vote because of his inability to
so read and write sections of such
constitution
In Maryland.
In Maryland the clause was In
serted in laws governing elections In
various cities. In 1908, it was in
serted in the law governing munich
pal elections in the city of Annapolis.
1t authorized the registration as vot-
ers of all taxpayers of the city as
sessed for at least $500; all duly
naturalized citizens, all male children
of naturalized citizens twenty-one
years of age. and "all citizens. who
prior to January /, 1868. were en-
titled to vote in the State of Mary
land or any other State of the United
States at a State election. and the
lawful male descendants of any per-
son who prior to January 1, 1858.
were entitled to vote in the State of
Maryland or in any other State of
the United States at a State election.
Various arguments were advanced
to meet the attack that these clauses
violated the fifteenth amendment to
the constitution providing that "tbe
law of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by
the United States or by any State on
account of race. color or previous
condition or servitude."
Another line of argument was that
the clauses did not deny" or abridge
the right of negroes to vote, as for
hidden by the fifteenth amendment.
but il merely Disseminated against
them by allowing those not negroes
to vote without meeting the qualifi-
cations imposed ostensibly upon all