There is indeed proof obtainable that they are neither ignorant, lazy and vicious, nor a menace to rule and order. If they were near neighbors of the brutes would the elaborate defensive preparations be necessary which the South continues feverishly to make? Do the savages of Africa enact disfranchising clauses to keep apes and monkeys out of their political affairs? If ignorance so submerges the black man, why does not the Massachusetts principle of protecting the ballot prevail in the South? Why is it necessary to require the voter to read, yes, and interpret satisfactorily, any clause in the state constitution?[4] If sloth curses the Negro with unfruitfulness, why require property to the assessed value of $300? If the assessed value be two thirds of the real value, this means that nearly $500; if one third, then nearly $1000 is fixed as the minimum possession of the black voter. Does this precaution point to shiftlessness? If viciousness be indelibly stamped upon his nature, why not rely upon his disfranchisement for crime to eliminate the colored voters? Are the white juries not to be trusted to condemn the accused? Are the leased convicts not worth their cost of keeping? It has been more than once said that 90,000 of the 90,000 colored people in the District of Columbia are criminals. If the same proportion maintains elsewhere, what more is needed to accomplish the desired end?

[4]The requirement that the voter be able to read (or write) and interpret satisfactorily, in the Virginia registration requirement before Jan. 1, 1904, is an advance upon the earlier clauses, which left the alternative. I am not sure but that it reappears in the Maryland law not yet in operation. It is an interesting fact that it was Senator Daniels of Virginia who once called the attention of the Senate to the injustice done the South by Senator Spooner's assertion that voters were, without alternative, required to interpret passages from the Constitutions.

Yet disfranchisement for ignorance, for thriftlessness, and vice all together are acknowledged to be insufficient, and resort must be had again to manipulation, juggling, and confessed dishonesty. Rev. Edgar Gardiner Murphy, Executive Secretary of the Southern Education Board, a distinguished witness, testifying against interest, says: "The instrument of discrimination has been found in the discretionary powers lodged in the board of registrars, by which worthy Negro men, fairly meeting every test of suffrage have been excluded from registration."(?) Where the fact is so freely admitted, proof seems wasted, yet abundant corroboration may easily be had[5].

[5]The following clipping from the Baltimore American, I cannot refrain from reading:— "In the recent election the democratic judges of election in many of the counties proved that they were unable even to count ballots properly marked, and when it came to putting a reasonable interpretation on the intention of a voter they were either wholly ignorant or wholly dishonest. It is perfectly safe to say that not one-third of the democratic judges who served at the Maryland election of last week could themselves give an intelligent interpretation of any section in the Constitution. Many of them do not even know what the Constitution is, and the man who suggested that they would take it to be a new kind of drink did not overshoot the mark. Fine professors of constitutional history these men would make!"

The fact as well as the extent of disfranchisement is revealed by the statistical summaries:—

STATISTICAL SUMMARIES

TABLE 1

ADULT MALE OR COLORED VOTING POPULATION,1900, ESTIMATED AT 1 IN 4.3.

Virginia

660,722 ÷ 4.3 =

46,122.

Nor. Car.

624,469 ÷ 4.3 =

127,114.

South Car.

782,321 ÷ 4.3 =

152,860.

Alabama

827,307 ÷ 4.3 =

181,471.

Mississippi

907,630 ÷ 4.3 =

197,936.

Louisiana

650,804 ÷ 4.3 =

147,348.

Total

4,453,251.

TABLE 2

CENSUS OF NEGROES BEFORE PASSAGE OFREVISED CONSTITUTIONS.

Virginia

1900

115,865

(T.Al.)

Nor. Car.

"

133,081

"

South Car.

1892

13,384

"

Alabama

1900

55,512

Pres.

Mississippi

1888

30,096

Louisiana

1888

30,701
TABLE 3

CENSUS OF NEGROES AFTER PASSAGE OFREVISED CONSTITUTIONS.

Virginia

1904

47,880

(W. Al.)

Nor. Car.

"

82,442

"

So. Car.

1900

3,579

Pres. (T.)

So. Car.

1904

2,554

Pres. (W. Al.)

Alabama

1904

22,472

(W. Al.)

Miss.

1900

5,753

Pres. (T. Al.)

Miss.

1904

3,189

Pres. (W. Al.)

Louisiana

1900

14,234

Pres. (T. Al.)

Louisiana

1904

5,205

Pres. (W. Al.)

TABLE 4

REGISTRATION OF COLORED VOTERS. (Newspaper estimate.)

State

Literate

Registered

Virginia

equal 69,358

North Carolina

59,625

"Less than 6,000"

South Carolina

69,242

Alabama

73,474

"Hardly 2,500"

Mississippi

92,605

Louisiana

57,086

"1,147"