Year: 1859

QUEER DECISION Nudge Foote. of the Court
of Common Pleas, decided yesterday, in the
case Of Morris VS.. the Judges of Election in the
First Ward that the new law which excludes
negro voting is unconstitutional He says the
language white person. includes all persons
having more than half white blood. This is a.
head of the doctrine that "a niger is as good as
a awhite man." for it is equivalent to deciding
that Niger Is A WHITE MAN. What fish
a toad is.-Plain Dealer.


We are not disposed to pass off so gross and
infamous an infraction upon law by one clad
with official ermine, by calling it "queer de-
cison" 1t is not an error of judgment on the
part fudge Foote, but wilful, mani fest, de-
termined dereliction ofduty--a violation of his
oath--a pandering to a miserable party inatu-
ation--a subterfuge which imperils justice in
such hands and jeopardizes life, liberty and
property.


The Constitution itself prescrbes that the
the elective franchise shall be exercised by "ev-
cry white male citizen Of the United States Of
the age of twenty-one years. who shall have
been resident of the State one year next pre-
ceeding the election" The law was enacted in
conformity to this clause in the Constitution,
which was intended to exclude persons of Afri-
can descent from exercising the elective fran
chise.


The first section of the law is explicit 1t
enacts 'that the Judge or Judges of any cleo
ton held under the authority of any ofthe laws
Of this State shall reject the vote any person
offering to vote at such election, and claiming
to be white male citizen Of the United States
whenever it shall appear to such Judge or
Judges that the person so offering to vote has a
distinct and visible admixture of African
blood"


The second section of the act prescribes the
penalty for taking such vote, and the third Sec
ton Furnishes those who procure, advise or as
sist by counsel or otherwise such voters.


The Constitution of the State is distinct, and
the act in confrmity to the Constitution is dis
tinct. Judge Foote cannot by any specous
chain of reasoning show che unconstitutionalty
of the act. He might as well argue that the
Constitution itself formedhy delegates from the
people are ratified by the people, is unconstitu-



tional.


The Constitution of Ohio declares that the
elective franchise shall be restricted to "white
male citizens of the United States" Ohio by
altering her Constitution, (Which the RePubli-
cans pretended to wish to do, but shrunk from
doing,) and striking out the word "white'' and
the words "U. ST." may make negro citizen
Of Ohio, but not of the United States He may
be made the equal of the white man here, but
in other States he may not be allowed to that
social or political level. 1t was the intention
of the Constitution of Ohio for to exclude
negroes from voting, and, and it was the inten-
ton Of the act to exclude negroes ofany degree
from voting. Judge Foote was not ignorant oI
the object of the new Constitution in changing
the phraseology of the old, SO as to obviate the
construction put upon the Constitution by the
Supreme Court of Ohio, in the use of the term
"white." When there was preponderance OIL
Causasian blood he is voter, and Of African, he
is not. The fallacy of the doctrine was admi-
rably argued and exposed by Judge Reed,
whose decision is a masterpiece of reason and
strong sense. Why man may have merely
one eighth African blood, and have all the pc
cuiarities of the negro; as is common to all ami.
mails; it is vain to breed for pure white, they
will show the original cross sometimes.
But it is useless to argue this with fanatic,
law-breaker like Judge Foote, whose foregone
conclusion needed no cloak of casustry or soph-
istry to conceal its predetermined hostility to
law which he was sworn to see executed--an
! abiding war npon the Constitution which he
had taken solemn oath to obey. We should
like to see him exercised little for this stretch
Of his power, and trust that he may be regard
ed from this time forth as the Judge whose