The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1918-10-23
AGAINST THE EQUAL
SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT

In the following letter, Senator D.
Z. Fletcher gives some of his reasons
for voting against the equal suffrage
resolution, which came up in the
Senate, and was defeated, a few
weeks ago. We do not see how any
Southern woman can disregard Mr.
Eletcher's reasons:
Editor Star: | beg to hand you
herewith extract from the Congress
sional Record, giving my speech and
partial report of the proceedings lin
Guiding roll calls) in the Senate on
the woman suffrage amendment to
the federal constitution, proposed by
House joint resolution No. 200, Sixty
fifth Congress.
| opposed this amendment primar-
lily because the qualifications and the
conduct of elections rests with the
states respectively, the states having
originally reserved these powers and
refused to delegate them to the gen.
eral government.
Please note particularly Section 2
of the proposed constitutional amend
lHCiib. w fllC i uO IlOt DCllCsc IL WOQIu
ever be necessary for Congress to
enact any legislation protecting wom-
en- in their right to vote in any state,
yet this section is Identical with the
second section of the Fifteenth amend
ment, under the color of which laws
were passed by Congress that kept
the Southern states in turmoil for
years following the war between the
states, placed the conduct of elections
under the supervision of federal offic-
ials who used their Offices in melting
the negroes to active participation in
politics, and generally demoralized
conditions in the Southern states of
the Union. / know the people of
Florida do not want any more federal
interference with their elections, no
matter under what guise. A power
granted to Congress to enforce wom-
an suffrage. which would be totally
unnecessary because the first section
of the proposed amendment, if SUBJ
mitted and ratified, would repeal any
state law in conflict Herewith, would
very easily be made the means of re-
establishing the system which the
South, with the help of fair-minded
men from other sections, succeeded in
throwing off after many years.
1t has been urged in support of the
proposed amendment that the num-
Der of white women who would be en-
franchised by it exceeds the number
of negro women. This is true in the
aggregate, but even in Florida there
are many counties where the submits
sion and ratification of this amend
ment would give the negroes a great
majority of the voting strength.
You will also note that / offered an
amendment to the joint resolution
which, if adopted, would have sub
mitted resolution giving women
equal suffrage privileges with men
everywhere the federal government
prescribes suffrage qualifications,
while leaving each state to regulate
it's own laws on this subject, as at
present. This was voted down. also
voted in favor of an amendment offer
ed by Senator John Sharp Williams
of Mississippi, extending the suffrage
to white women. leaving each state
to deal with the extension of suffrage
to women of other races in accordance
with its own domestic problems. Had
this amendment to the joint resolu-
ton been adopted, a very material OBJ
lection on the part of the Southern
senators would have been removed.
But the supporters of the resolution
preferred to jeopardize it's passage
rather than accept any amendment
whatever, and the measure was ac-
cordingly lost, failing to receive the
constitutional two-thirds majority for
it's passage. Very truly yours, a
Duncan u. Fletcher.