The star-progress. (Opelousas, La.) 1917-1921, 1920-11-17

At
am deeply interested" Mr.. Jones con-
tinued. "and that is the enactment OF
a new ordinance governing suffrage.
AS is we'll known the United States
supreme court nullified the grand
father provision in our constitution.
We will have to devise ways and
means to prevent negro women as well
as negro men from voting. A consider
able number of negro women have
registered in East Baton Rouge par
ish and l personally saw over twenty
of them vote at my precinct on Nov
ember 2.
eve must meet this situation. I'm
less we do, many more OF the negro
women will vote and the negro race
again brought back into politics.
81 am not prepared to offer any par
ticular suffrage plan. am simply
calling attention to what is confront
ing US. A citizen of this parish, a
man for whom / have great respect,
has suggested that the convention in
sert a provision in the suffrage ordi-
nance requiring all voters to prove
their legitimacy of birth. He makes
this suggestion because, as is well
known, a majority of the negroes are
illegitimate and cannot prove legiti-
mate birth. l am not offering this
plan, but simply calling attention to
it as a suggestion from citizen.
'The suffrage provision in the Mis-
sissippi constitution, which has been
upheld by the supreme court of the
United States, is worth our attention
and study before the convention
meets.
| favor a constitution as brief as
we can make it. All matters of legis-
lation should be left to the legisla-
ture."
"There is one branch of the state
government that will have little to ask
from the constitutional convention
and that is the department of educa-
ton.
1--WE are well satisfied with the pro
visions of the present constitution and
the amendments thereto" said Profess
sor T. H. Harris, state superintendent
of education. 1--WE will ask the con-
vention to re-enact those provisions,
without and subscription, and with but
one addition, and that would be a
section authorizing the department of
education to maintain a loan fund to
aid high school graduates in securing
a college education. Our plan would
be to loan worthy boys and girls,
graduates of high school, sufficient
money to enable them to pay their
way through college, either the State
normal school or the state university
We would protect the department
from losses be requiring the students
to teach school after they graduated
from college until the loan is repaid.
The money would be loaned at 8 per
cent, which would be sufficient to Gov
er possible losses.
This plan would serve two pur-
poses. First, it would enable many Of
our boys and girls to get a college
education. Second, it would place the
department of education in position to
get more and better school teachers. .
Conventions Meeting Place
The movement launched at Monroe
last week to induce the constitutional
convention to adjourn to New Orleans
and sit in that city after it convenes
here has created considerable stir
among citizens of Baton Rouge. Steps
have already been taken to combat
the proposition, and if an attempt is
made to move the convention to New
Orleans it will provoke a fight that
will break with the fall of the gravel
Batou Rouge citizens are hopeful that
the moving plan will be abandoned in
the interest of harmony.
Supporters of New Orleans are busy
however, and it looked as if hot fight
is brewing. Backers of New Orleans
claim that the City offers more and
better facilities, both in the way of
hotel accommodations and public Ii.
braries, the state library and the Ii
brary of the state bar association be-
ing located in that city.
Replying to this argument, Baton
Rouge citizens claim that the state
university has library that will be
open for the use of the convention
while every lawyer in town will place
his library at the disposal of the dele
gates.
In the matter of hotel accommoda-
tons, Baton Rouge citizens are pledg-
ing themselves to see to it that every
delegates has comfortable quarters dur
ing the entire session of the conven-
tion-By w. D. Robinson.
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