Evening star., 1942-11-19
The Political Mill
FiIibuster Against Poll Tax Bill Forced
To Prevent Plain Invasion of Constitution
BY GOULD LINCOLN.

ny NOULD LINCOLN.
1t is sad commentary that
only a "f1libuster" is standing in
the way of the passage by the
Senate Of a measure which in the
opinion of some of the best legal
minds in the country is clearly
unconstitutional - the so-called
poll tax bill.
The principal question at issue
is not whether a poll tax, as a
requisite of voting in elections,
is a good thing. 1t is whether the
Congress shall undertake, by a
simple law, to repeal provision
of the Constitution. It involves,
moreover, a complete control by
the Federal Government over
election in the State.
Obviously, If Congress by the
enactment of law can prevent
a States imposing a poll tax as
a qualification for voting, it can
prevent States imposing a law
for registration of the voters. It
can prevent States imposing a
six-months' residential qualifica-
ton for voting.
1t can, in fact, do anything it
wants to control elections in
every voting precinct in the
country. And when it does, gone
will be the very shadow of State
sovereignty. The dual system OF
government set up under sthe
Constitution will have been
smashed to atoms. Everything
will be centralized in Washing
ton.
Method Provided.
The Constitution itself pro-
vides method of amending the
fundamental law of the land
and the passage of an act Of
Congress is not the method. In
every case where the voting quail
if1cations have been changed for
the entire Nation, during more
than $50 years of this country's
existence, a const tional
amendment has been submitted
first to the States, in accordance
with the constitutional plan for
amendment.
1t requires a tWo-thirds vote of
the House and Senate to submit
such an amendment to the States
for ratification, and ratifica ton
may be had only when three
fourths Of the States have ap-
proved the amendment. This was
the course followed when Negroes
were enfranchised nationally. It
was the course adopted to give
the women the vote nationally.
Before the woman suffrage
amendment was adopted in 1920,
some Of the States permitted
women to vote. Miss Jeannette
Rankin was elected to the House
in Montana in 1915, for example.
Yet Congress did not seek to i'm
pose woman suffrage on the Ma
ton as whole by the mere pas
sage of law.
Two Reasons for Bill.
Two reasons exist for the pres
ent effort to trample on the Con-
stitution and put through this
poll tax law. One is that too many
have come to a conclusion that
the poll tax as a requisite for vot-
Ing denies to thousands of citi-
zens-particularly in the South
the right to participate in the
elections of Senators and Repre-
sentatives In Congress-, and Of
Presidents and Vice Presidents.
1t is all wrong, they say, to make
a money qualification, no matter
how small, necessary prelim-
mary to exercising the right of
franchise, the greatest right any
citizen has.
The other reason is not ad-
mirable. 1t is desire to infu-
ence the Negro vote in States
where the Negroes do vote in
large numbers particularly In
such big States as New York,
Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio,
where the Negro vote might at
times hold the balance of power.
Today only eight States in the
Union have a poll tax as requi-
site Of voting. All of them are
located In the South-Alabama,
Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas