F 215 .S48 Copy 1 yv-U.li Aii ju; SOUTHERN POLITICS By THOMAS SETTLE Asheville, N. C. Ng O Dixie-land, "my country, the hour Of thy pride and thy splendour has passed, And the chain which was spurned in thy moment of power. Hangs heavy around thee at last." These letters were written, ;md are now pnblislied in this form, at the request of a number of gentlemen who believe in the principles of the National Republican party. One primary object is to improve the condition of the Republican party in the South. Before this can be done it is essential to understand how the party came to its present condition. Tlie recomniendatioH is, concerted action on the part of the dele- gates from the South, in the party's National Convention. "Breathes there a man with soul sd dead. Who never to himself hath said. This is my own, my native land ! AVhose soul hath ne'er within him burned. As home his footsteps he hath turned. From wandering on a foreign strand If such there breathe, go, mark him well. For him no minstrel raptures swell : High though his titles, proud his name. Boundless his wealth as wish can claim ; Despite those titles, power, and pelf. The wretch, concentrated all in self. Living, shall forfeit fair renown. And, dnul»]y dying, shall go down To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, T^nwept, unhonored, and unsung." Glory of the Civil War "Two freiieriitions jtassed before the secoiifl great crisis of our his- (ory had to lie faoed. Tlien came tlie civil war. terrilile and bitter in itself and in its aftermath, lint a strn.irtrle from wliich the nation finally emerged united in fact as well as in name, united forever. Oh, my hearers, my fellow countrymen, great indeed has been our good for- tune: for as time clears awa.v the mists that once shrouded brother fi-om brother and made each look 'as through a glass darkly' at the other, we can all feel the same jiride in the valor, the devotion and the fealty toward the right as it was given to each to see the right, shown alike b.v the men who wore the blue and by the men who wore the gra.v. Rich and prosperoiis though we are as a people, the proudest heritage that each of us has. no matter where he may dwell. North or South. East or West, is the innnort;il heritage of feeling, the right to claim as liis own ail the valor and all the steadfast devotion to duty shown by the men of both the great armies of the soldiers whose l(>ader was Grant and tlie soldiers whose leader was Lee. The men and the wf)men of the civil war did their fluty bravely and well in the days that were dark and terrible and sjilendid. We, their descend- ants, who pay homage to their memories and glory in the feats of might of one side, no less than of the other, need to keep .steadily in mind that the homage which counts is the homage of heart and of hand, and not of the lips: the homage of deeds and not of words only. We, too, in our turn, nmst prove our truth by our endeavor. We must show ourselves worthy sons of the men of the mighty days by the way in which we meet the problems of our own time. We cari'y our heads Iiigh because our fathers did well in the years that tried men's souls and we nmst in our turn so beai- ourselves that the children who come after us may feel that we. too. have done our duty." ***** "Each connnunity must always dread the evils which spring up as attendant upon the very qualities which give it success. We of this mighty western republic have to grapple with the dangers that spring from popular self-government tried on a scale incompar.ably vaster than ever before in the history of mankind, and from an abounding material prosjiei-ity greater, also, tlian anything which tho world has hitherto seen." ***** "It behooves us to remember that men can never escape being gov- erned. Either they must govern themselves or they must submit to be- ing governed by others. If from liiwlessness or fickleness, from folly or self-indulgence, they refuse to govern themselves, then most as- suredly in the end they will have to be governed from the outside. They can prevent the need of government fi-om without only by show- ing that they possess the power of government from within. A sover- eign cannot make excuses for his failures : a sovereign must accept the responsibility for the exercise of the power that inheres in hinr; and where, as is true in our republic, the yieople are sovereign, then the lieople nmst show a sober understanding and a sane and steadfast l»urpose if they are to jireserve that ordei-ly lilierty upon whi<'h as a found.-ition every republic must rest." — (President Roosevelt, at open- ing of Jamestown Exposition). Du:- "Qity JUL i <> ]ti33 SOUTHERN POLITICS By THOMAS SETTLE, Ashevllle, N. C. "Tis a very jrood world that we live in. To lend, or to spend, or to j,'ive in. But to beg, or to borrow, or get a man's own. It's the verv worst world, sir, that ever was known." The political conditions of the South are, at the present time, in a transition state, that is so far as the attitude of the Southern Democ- racy towards the National Democracy is concerned. A spirit of unrest and dissatisfaction permeates Southern Democ- racy. This spirit, however, goes no further than a determination to dispute with the Democrats of other sections of the country the con- trol of the party as to candidates, policy and platform in the next national convention. AVidespread and intense as is this unrest and dissatisfaction of Southern Democrats with their national party. Southern Repul)licans have very little hojie of materially increasing their vote in any Southern state. Why is it that causes which are alnmdantly sufficient to sever men's party affiliations in other sections of the counutry. and which do so operate, have no such elTect in the South? Why Is it that thousands of Southern men who do not believe In the principles of the national Democratic party, as those princii^les are speculatively known, and who do believe in the i>rinciples of the Republican party, persistently vote the Democratic ticket? These questions are easily answered to the satisf;)ction of any Southern man of intelligence and independent political views. He will tell you. and truthfully tell you. that he does not join the Republican party in his state for the reason that the Southern Rei)ultlican household is in no condition to receive and entertain guests. Whence comes it that Southern politics is at so low an ebb? that honest and patriotic men feel constrained to affiliate with a party in whose principles they do not believe, and that they are precluded from joining the Republican party? Southern men are not alone responsible for the political conditions existing in the South. Southern Republicans are not alone justly to be held accountable for the condition of the Republican party in the South. What there is of a Republican party in the South is, perhaps, less their work than it is the work of Southern Democrats and certain Rei)ublica,ns of other sections of the country. In perfect candor and truth, it may be stated that there are not a great many of the leaders of the national party who are familiar with the Southern ])olitical conditions ; and not a few who care very little, one way or the other, aliout the subject. It is to many of them a sealed book and one which tlnw have not for years particularly cared to open, or to have opened foi' tliem. They have seen in Southern Republicanism the one and only proiMisitioii of so many votes in a nominating r-onvention. Tinif and again it lias heen proposed that even this representation in con- ventions should be reduced in ])r()i)ortion to the nunilier of voters dis- franchised by the election laws and practices in the South. If we allow a certaiu measure of patriotism and honest party purpose for these proposals and attempts, it must still be admitted that they have generally had a very jiractical i»olitical and jiarty result for their ob- ject ; to penalize the general political conduct of the South, Democrats and Republicans alike: and to strengthen the Republican party with the colored voters, and those having lingering sectional feelings in the doubtful states. Another object not to be ignored, was to check any symptoms of incipient independence in national conventions by South- ern delegates ; to hold the SAVord of Damocles over them ; to threaten them with "the big stick." unless they were real good. These proposi- tions have invariably been advanced on the eve of a national conven- tion before which there was spirited contest for the nomination. We cannot get a clearer conception of the views entertained, with reference to Southern politics by the controlling powers of the Reinib- lican party, than that expressed by Secretary Taft in his speech at the Republican convention in Greensboro. "In my judgment, the Republican i»arty of North Carolina would be much stronger as a voting party if all the federal offices were filled by Democrats. Of course, I cannot deny that a wish to fill public of- fice is an honorable aspiration, whether by appointment or by elec- tion, but when all hojie of choice by the peojtle is abandoned, and ev- erything is given over to infiuencing a distant api»ointing power to choose particular men to perform official functions in a community politically hostile to those men. the result is not good for the men or the community. The struggle for federal political office producing, as it does, jealousies and strifes and disa])pnintments. paralyzes united effort to make the party strong at the polls and worthy of success. The men ui)on whose change of vote success in the election depends are not particularly interested in the success of one faction or another, but they are interested that their votes shall be cast for those candidates for local and state office whose character, devotion to duty, intelligence and ability will assure good local and state government, and for those representatives in the national congress who will faithfully and cour- ageously carry out the high principles of the national Republican party with a due regard to the peculiar interests of the district and state they represent. As long, however, as the Republican itarty in • the Southern states shall represent little save a factional chase for federal offices in which business men and men of substance in the com- munity have no desire to enter, and in the result of which they have no interest, we may expect the present i)olitical conditions in the South to continue. I accept with confidence th(> assurances of your repre- sentatives tiiat you expect to appeal to the business interests of your community, to the men who read aright the signs of the times, and who understand that the real hope of the South is in having a num- ber of her states break from the Democr.-itic column and assert their independence of past ]iolitic;il traditions, in order that this section may he accorded that imi>ortance in national ninlfers to which her l)<)l)iilation, her wealth and intelligence entitle her. Republicans of North Cai'olina, in this yreat work of redeeming your state and your section from the present inculms of iron Democratic rule, your fellow Kepublicans of the entire country bid you God speed." This is a clear, explicit and frank statement of the case from bis view-point, and be is by no means alone in entertaining those views. It is in some of its features, a most severe arraignment of Southern Kepublicans ; but not of them alone ; an arraignment of a condition it is, and of every person who contributes to maintain that condition. It is not a passionate or ])artisau arraignment, nor is it made in anger or ill will. It was not made hastily, but after mature thought and delib- eration, and was presumably submitted to the president, and met bis approval, for Mr. Taft came direct to the convention from a visit to the president. It was not intended for strictly local or Southern con- sumption ; the entire people of the United States composed his audi- ence. The press of the country devoted nuich space to this notable ad- dress. If additional force could be added to the statements themselves, the personality of Mr. Taft and his official position in the government abundantly supplied that force. The answers to this indictment, so fur as I have been able to see them, have been meager, superficial, and have proceeded too much on partisan .lines. Our Democratic friends of the South have seemed to rejoice in these severe strictures, for they freely used them from the stump in the last cami)aign, being apparently oblivious of the fact that they are themselves the recipients of a very large proportion of them, both in what is said and in the necessary and unavoidable inference and deduction. Issue cannot be successfully joined on any statement of fact, or ar- gument made by Secretai-y Taft, in the above quotation ; but a wrong and misleading impression of Republican factionalism and the politi- cal perversity of the South generally, is left in the mind unless the re- search is carried far enough to ascertain the producing causes of these conditions he so graphically describes. A political party is no more exempt from the influences of environ- ment than an individual. In addition to this influence operating upon the Southern branch of the Republican party the treatment extended to them by their brethren of other sections of the country, and by the Republican administrations, when in power, must be considered. The two latter influences, in a broad sense, are embraced in the general term environment. Mr. Elihu Root in his most excellent speech delivered before the Republican national convention in St. Louis in 11HJ4, says : "A great political organization, competent to govern, is not a '•'lance collection of individuals brought together for the moment as the shifting sands are pilled up by the winds and sea, to be swept a^vay, to be formed and reformed again. It is a growth. Traditions and seutiiiients reachiii.n down thron,g:li strnjigles of yejirs gone uml the stress and heat of old contiicts and the intlnenees of leaders passecL away, and the ingrained hahit of applying fixed rnles, rules of int^i - pretation and thought — all give to a political party known and inalieii- ahle (pialities from which must follow in its deliherate judgment anil ultimate action like results for good or bad government." Let us in the clear light of this indisputably true principle govern- ing the birth, growth and development of a political party view s()utheru politics, ])articularly the southern branch of the Kepublican party. Party lines were formed during the period of reconstruction upon an acute and intense basis. Southern Republicans, indeed, had l)nt little, if any, influence in shaping the policy of the national party diu'- ing that period, although vitally interested ; for what was then doni' has visited its iutluence upon generations unborn at the time. The party in the South was almost ho])elessly handicai»ped in the days of reconstruction by the course of Mr. Thaddeus Stevens and other leaders of the national party. Their dream of making the southern states permanently Ke])ublican by means of the colored vote, and the methods pursued in sujiposed furtherance of that dream, have proven a veritable nightmare to southern Republicans, and have incalculably retarded the growth of that party in that section. After years of struggle, strife and intense feeling, seeing that the policy was a failure, in so far as it sought to put the southern states in the Republican column by tne aid of the colored vote, the policy was entirely reversed and revolutionized. The sectional issue was raised, the "bloody shirt" was waiVed. The Sontli. l)y some said never to have been out of the union, by other to have been readmltteil upon the terms of the reconstruction acts, was in fact still on the outside, so far as any effective political action or influence was concerned Then it became the policy to force the south solidly into the Demo- cratic column, and. on the sectional issue to force the balance of the country, a majority in the electoral college, into the Republican col- unui. This plan worked successfully for years. The southern Demo- crats helped to make it a success. In raising the sectional issue, they tried to outdo those Republicans in other sections who were engaged in that occupation. The result has l)een the undoing of the national Democratic jarty and practically the annihilation of all save the skele- ton of tlie Repulilican party in the southern states. Indeed, it was essential to the .success of the scheme that the Republican party of the South should not become a majority party, or even a very formi- dable rival at the polls. If the South had broken its solidity, otln-r sections of the country ,would probably have left the Republican party Still another influence came into play in ISTG. Then for the first time, southern politics became a subject of traffic, barter and exchange in the interest and behalf, incidentally at least, of a distinguished soil of the state of Oliio, Mr. Rutherford B. Hayes. The statement that Mr. Hayes received the votes of Louisiana, South Carolina ai)d Florida in the electoral college, as a result of an agreement and un- derstanding with southern Democrats whereby local Republicans were sacrificed, cannot be successfuly assailed. If we admit that the dis- turbed condition of the country justified this arrangement, it was none the less a sacrifice of the local Republican party. Mr. Hayes ai»pointed Governor Packard of Louisiana and Governor Chanib<^rlain of Soutli Carolina to lucrative federal offices, and this was doubtless a sufficient atonement made to them i)ers()nally for any injury they sustained, Irut the injury done the Kepublican party in the South h.as never yet been atoned. The local party has ever since worn the badge of inferiority, the stigma tliat was placed upon it in the days of reconstruction, and then again in 1876, by action and accpiiescence of Republican leaders in other sections of the country. I (piote from Mr. .Tolui Sherman's "Autobiogra])hy," Vol. 1, \\. 559. In a letter to Mr. Hayes written from New Orleans, where Mr. Sher- man was .-ittending the canvass of the votes, he says: "That you would have received at a f.-iir election a large majority in Louisiana, no man can (iuestion : thai you did not receive a majority is equally clear. But that intimidation of the very kind and nature provided against by the Louisiana law did enter into and control the election, in more election jtolls than woidd change the result and give you the vote. I believe as fli'mly as I write this. " Let me t|uote fi-om Mr. McCuUoch's "Men and Measures of Half a Century." p 42U. " My own oi>inion at that time was. .and still is, that if the dis- tinguished Northern men who visited those states innnediately after the election had stayed at home, and there had been no outside pres- sure u]ion the returning boards, their certificates would have been in favor of the Democratic electors ." Again let me quote from Mr. Blaine's "Twenty Years in Congress." ^'ol. 2, p. 587. "Meanwhile the capital and indeed the country, were filletl with sensational and distracting runun-s : First that the Democratic ma- jority in the house would fililnister and destroy the count ; second, that they agreed not to 'filibuster" by reason of some arrangement made with ;Mr. Hayes in regard to future policies in the South." Again, from the same author and Vol. 2. pages 59.5-0-7: " Althougli his title had been in doul)t until within fortv-eight hours of his accession, he had carefully prepared his inaugural ad- dress. It was made evident by his words that he would adopt a new policy on the Southern question and upon the question of civil service reform. It was plainly his determination to withdraw from the South all national protection to tlie colored people, and put the white popu- lation of the reconstructed states upon their good faith and their honor, as to their course tonchin^ the politicnl rights of all citi- zens- ^ "fl* ^ ^ T* "The one special source of dissatisfaction was the intention of the president to disregard the state elections in the three states upon \\]ios(> vote his own title depended. The concentration of interest was npon the state of Louisiana, where (governor Packard was ottici- ally declared to have received a larger popular majority than Presi- dent Hayes. By negotiation of certain eonnnissioners \.-ho went to Louisiana under appointment" of the president, the Democratic candi- date for governor, Francis T. Nichols, was installed in olHce. and Governor I'ackard was left helpless. \o act of president Hayes did so much to create discontent within the ranks of the Pepublican party. No act of his did so much to give color to tlie thousand rumors that tilled the political atmosphere, touching a liargain between the presi- dent's friends and some Southern leaders pending the decision of the electoral connnissioii. The election of the president and the election of Mr. Packard rested substantially upon the same foundation. Many Republicans felt that the president's refusal to recognize Mr. I'ackard ;is governor of Ti(m!siana furnished ground to his enemies for disputing his own election. Having been placed in the presidency by a title as strong as could be cohtirmed under the constitution and laws of the country, it was, in the judgment of the majority of the Republican party, an unwise and unwarranted act on the part of the president to purchase peace in the South by surrendering Louisiana t(» the Democratic party." ***** "For postmaster-general the president selected David M. Key, of Tennessee. The selection of Mr. Key was made to emphasize the change of Southern ixilicy wnicli President Hayes had foreshadowed in his inaugural address. ^Nlr. Key was a Democrat and personally popular. A Southern Democrat in a RepiU)lican cabinet presented a novel political combination. He was wise enough and fortunate enough to induce Hon. James N. Tyner, whom he succeeded as post- master-general, to remain in the departmeiit as first assistant in order that Republican senators and representatives might freely comnumi- cate upon party questions; wdiich Mr. Key delicately refrained from even hearing. The su'^gestion was made, however, by men of sound Judgment, that in projecting a new policy towards the South, which was intended to I»e characterized by greater leniency in certain di- rections, it would have been wiser in a party point of view, and more enduring in its intrinsic effect, to make the overture through a Re- pnldican statesman of rank and celebritv." St Ml one other authority on this sul)ject I wish to cite. Mr. Wood- row Wilson's "History of the .Vmerican People," Vol. .">. p. 112. "To 'Sir. Hayes the tacit oltligations of the situation were iilaiii. He withdrew the federal troops from the South. The Republican gevernments of Ti(misiana and South Carolina were dissolved, and the Democratic government which had claimed the election quietly took their place. The Supreme Courf of Florida obliged the return- iug board of the state to accept the returns which had come to them from the disputed conntry. and a Democratic government came there also in i)o\ver. The era of reconstruction was at an end." It is true as stated by Mr. Taft, that in matters of federal patro- nage Southern Republicans have had to appeal to a distant appointing power; l)ut the South is. in a jioint of mileage, no more distant from the appointing power than the states on the Pacific coast, and many other sections of our country. It will not be seriously contended, how- ever, that the "distant Jipitointing power" is as familiar with political conditions of the South as of the West, or has been as keenly alert and solicitiovis in regard to those conditions. Southern politics have not received the careful and patriotic thought and attention of the nati- onal leaders of either party. The South's strength in the electoral college has been regarded by the Demo<-rats as s(miething securely in possession, needing no cultivation to be kept, and by the Republi- cans as something unattainable, and therefore not soiight. Southern Republicans have been treated by their national brethren as country cousins, and poor relations, placed at the ban(juet table out of reach of the salt, and left to take care of themselves as best they coultl. It is not fair to censure Southern Republicans for their strife over federal patronage, when their national party has for years dealt with them only in connection with, and on the basis of, votes in national nominating conventions and federal patronage. Pick the winner of the presidential derby, give him the votes of your state and control for yourself, family and friends th(> local federal patronage, is, unfortunately, the goal for which too many Southern Keimblicans strive, and have been taught to strive by some of their national leaders; rather than to win elections at the polls. Tender these circumstances it is but natural that tlie h;diit should be formed of viewing the ])roposition of jiarty politics from that stand- point. Why censure Southern factionalism, when this policy is its very prolific breeding place? One other legitimate effect of it is, that, not only do the n.ntional leaders not look for any material increase in the voting strengtli of the party, but many of the so-called "organi- zations" in the South, which ;ire generally treated with for votes in the conventions, and allowed to control jiatronage. (hi not reall.v de- sire tliat there should be any increase in the voting strength of the party, for the very patent reason that therelty Othello's occupation, with its incidents, would be endangered. These things are fully understood by Democrats who are ,,out of joint .with their jtarty, and they would hardly feel that they were a i>art of the national Republican houshold b.v an affiliation with the Southerii liranch of it as mere voters, and have no stomach for such a scramble as is necessary to become an influential member of "the organization." Simthern delegates to conventions are singled out and ridcule is 10 he;i]te(l upon thoiii. It is an old and humorous story told of a negro delojiatc. after he had sold for fabulous prices all his ticket for seats in the convention hall — as an incident, his A'ote was supposed to go for the candidate of the gentleman who purchased his tickets — upon trying vainly to get another ticket from a brother delegate, and be- ing refused, indignantly said. "I like an honest man." Thereu]ion iieing asked what he c;illed an honest man said, "one who, when he's bought will stay bought." It is authentically stated that in this traffic there was on one oc- casion a certain gentleman who had the prefix of "General" to his n:nne. who procured a large pair of shears, and when he purchased any of these convention seat tickets he would cut in half bright cris]i and juicy legal tender notes of the United States government, giving one part of the bill to the delegate and giving him to understand that he had and e(|uity of redemption in the retained portion, as soon as (•crt.-iin t'ornialities of lialloting were concluded. If there is any truth in these persistant i)ublications, rumors and reports of the venality and unreliablity of delegates from the South to national conventions. let the fact be viewed in the light of the treatment extended to them by the dominant portion of their party. I daresay that there is probably much less money used in the South unlawfully, for political purposes, than in many other sections which escape notice because of the haltit of "unloading on the south." The South is held up to view as a "rotten political borough." a char- acter which was forced upon it during the ordeal of reconstruction, and so far as the rieiiultlican ])ortion of it is concerned was again forced upon it in 1870. The administration of ^Ir. Arthur, and tlie use made of the loc.-il federal patronage to control the delegates from the South for his nomination, nmst still be fresh in the minds of those who take any interest in political affairs. The industrial growth and development of the South since tlie war has been something phenomenal, but the movement along poli- tical lines has been and perhaps, still is. of a retrograde character. We have failed to appreciate, or at least failed to show by our action that we appreciate the influence of political parties as instrumentali- ties to improve the material conditions of daily life, and for \ho de- velopment of the resources of our country. President Roosevelt in his initial message to the present .session of congress, in speaking of technical and industrial education, says: "It would be impossible to overstate (though it is of course difficult quantitatively to measure) the effect upon a n.-ition's growth to greatness of what may be called organized jiatriotism, which neces- sarily includes the substitution of a national feeling for mere local pride, with as a I'esultant a high ambition foi* the whole country. No country can develoj) its full strength so long as the luirts which 11 iiiiikc lip the whole each put a feeling of loyalty to the part above the feeling of loyalty to the whole. This is true of seotions and it is just as true of classes." Let nie commend to my fellow Kepublicans of the country the study and application of the above language of the president to our political and party conditions. The people of the South are. perlia.ps, more influenced in their po- litical action by sentiment, than are the people of any other section t)f the country. Mr. Taft correctly appreciates the influence of habit and tradition uiion their ]iolitical (•(induct, but he gets the cart be- fore the horse, when lie practically insists that we of the South shall Iiecome a niajt)rity party at tlie polls before we receive the attention of the appointing power, and our brethren in Republican states. We can never become a majority iiarty until the jiolicy in dealing with us is changed. He advises that the Southern Republicans should apiteal to '"the business interests, to the men who read aright the signs of the times." This ai)peal has been, and is constantly being made, and there are many, very many of these men who sincerely wish to see the national Rei>ublican party remain in power; and yet. and yet, they continue to vote the Democratic ticket. Why? Habit, envinmment. tradition, and the low estate assigned to the local Repulilican party by their dominant bi'ethren. II. "I'm willing a nuin should go toll'able strong Agin wrong in the alistract. for that kind o'wrong Is always unpopular, and never gets pitied. Because it's a crime no one ever committed." The metes and bounds of the everlasting question of the mutual and reciprocal burdens, obligations, powers and privileges of govern- ment and citizenship have never been staked off with sufficient ac- curacy to command the acquiescence of all parties, under the con- stantly changing conditions of life. The vast, nay limitless, field of theory and speculation occupies so much of our thought, and en- croaches so upon what is really practical and tangible, that that which is really practical to be done in the way of improving govern- ment, is colored and toned by theory and speculation proceeding from the numberless sources of education, environment, tradition and pre- judice. The finished product of all endeavors in the direction of improv- ing popular government is the result of a compromise. The correc- tion even of admitted abuses which have crept into administratiou, or are discovered to have been inherent in the system of government 12 adopted, iiuist .m'lit'rally conit' as a (•(Hiiiironiise of some sort, at'tor long iieriods of dissention and unrest. The term itself, ,£:overnment. conveys different iinnressions and meanings to different minds. This impression is made still more var- ious and confused when the term "party" is joined with the term "gov(>rnnient." The impression we receive in consideriui!: any for- eign countr.v and its government is in some way different from that we have in considering our own country and government. Chief-Justice Chase in the case of Texas against White 74 T^ S. Rej). in considering the significance of tlie word "State," says: "It describes sometimes a people or connnunity of individuals united more or less closely in political relations, inhabititing tem- porarily or permanently the same country ; often it denotes only the country or territory, inhalnted by such a connnunit.v: not nnfre- (luently it is applied to the government under which the people live; at other times it re])r.esents the combined idea of people, territory, and govermnent." "In the constitution the term state most frequently expresses the combined idea just noticed, of jieople, territory, and government. A state, in the ordinary sense of the Constitution, is a political com- niunit.y of free citizens, occupying a territory of defined boundaries, and organized under a government sanctioned and limited b.v a writ- ten constitution, and established by the consent of the governed. It is the luiion of such states, under a connnon constitution, which forms the distinct and greater political unit, which that constitution desig- nated as the United States, and makes the people and states which (Mimiiose it one people and one country." We do not, perhaps, appreciate the part played by political parties as instrumentalities of government in other countries, nor does the above quotation take those in our own country into consideration. Our party association, an association formed and maintained too fre(iuently by local conditions and prejudices which are hardly con- sistent with national patriotism, gives color and tone to our view of our own country and government. The very names of our leading par- ties and the theory of our government add to the general confusion. Again our national legislation is so largely the work of committees com- liosed in their membership of repi'esentatives of both political luirties; and their work is so essentially joint, and the result of compromise, that it is difficult for either partly in any given instance to justly (•l.-iiiii s le credit for any beneficial measure, or to avoid altogether res]>oiisibility, in some degree, for legislation which jsroves to be unpopular, or which fails to adjust according to itopular denmnds Uie evils it is designed to remedy, or falls short in conferring the blessings intended. The majority party it is true is in a general sense held resi)onsible. But this is often very unjust. It is certainly ;i fallacious rule of judgment except in those instances where the measure becomes a strictly p.arty one, by reason of its nature, and the fact that each party seeks to bind its members in support or op- 13 j)OSiti(>n by cuucus action. Ainemliiieuts to the measure after it has been reported, and after caucusses have been held, may even then, on the floor or in oonference. materiallly change its status, 'and the responsibility of parties, and of individuals. The putative father nuiy auer all be innocent. The Republican party, the heir and successor of the federalist, and WhiLT parties, fails in every election to receive the support of many thousands of voter.s who were old Whigs, Particularly is this true in the South. They believe, theoretically, in the same principles of government that brought the federalist and whig parties into ex- istance, but they vote the Democratic ticket, which is practically act- ing as different from their beliefs and political principles as is possible under existing conditions. This inconsistency and contra' diction in conduct and faith is based upon local sentiment and pre- judices, and lack of faith in the Republican party as a national party; as the legitimate and worthy heir of the federalist and whig parties. It would require a vast deal of special pleading for either the Re- liublicau or Democratic party of the present daj^^ to justify their mu- tual pretensions and claims of being a national party, or rather to acijuit themselves of the charge of being frequently actuated, in na- tional conventions, and in congress, by local and sectional impulses. We cannot separate in this country our ideas of government from our ideas of party. However foreign to the ideas of our ancestors who framed our written constitution — not, of course, meaning in this reference all of the Amendments thereto after the civil war— -the fact is that ours is a party government. Mv. James Bryce, the present ambassador from England to this country, in his v.-ork, "The American Connnonwealth," among many other valuable comments on the party system in this country, says: "The Si)irit and force of party has in America been as essential to the action of the machinery of government as steam is to a locomotive engine; or, to vary the simile, party association and organization are to the organs of government almost what the motor nerves are to the muscles, sinews, and bones of the huumn body. They transmit the "motive power, they determine the directions in which the organs act. * * * It is into the hands of lue parties that the working of the gov- ernment has fallen. Their ingenuity, stimulated by incessant rivalry, has turned many provisions of the constitution to unforeseen uses, and given to the legal institutions of the country no small part of their present color. "In the United States, the history of party begins with the Consti- tutional convention of 1787 at Philadelphia." Mr. Bryce then briefly reviews the history of parties in the United States down to the elec- tion of 1870, and says: "A new era was opening which called either for the evolution of new parties, or for the transformation of the old ones by the adoption of tenets and the advocacy of views suited to the needs of the times. But this fourth period, which began with lS7(i, has not yet seen such a transformation, and we shall "therefore find, when we come to examine the existing state of parties, that there i.s 14 ;iii nnrc-ility niid lack of vital force in both Itepublicans and Demo- crats, powerful as their orijauizations are." * * * * "What are tli^ir principles, their distinctive tenets, their tend-encies? * * * * "Neither party has any principles, any distinctive tenets. Both have traditions. Both have tendencies. Both have cer- tainly war cries, organizations, interests enlisted in tlieir support. But those interests are in the main the interests of getting or keeping the patronage of the government. Tenets and policies, points of politi- cal doctrines and points of political ])ractice. have all but vanished. They have not been thrown away but have been stripped away by time and the pro.gress of events, fulfilling some policies, blotting ont others. All has been lost, except otlice or the hope of it." * * * * "When life leaves an organic body it liecomes useless, fetid, pestiferous: it is fit to be cast out or buried from sight. What life is to an organism, principles are to a party. When they which are the soul have vanished, its lx)dy ought to dissolve, and the elements that formed it be re-grouped in some new organism : 'The times have been That when the brains were out the man vrould die." "But a party does not always tlms die. It may hold together long after its moral life is extinct. Gnelfs and (ihibelines warred in Italy for nearly two centuries after the Emiteror had ceased to threaten the Pope, or the Pope to befriend the cities of Lomliardy. Parties go on contending because their members have formed habits of .ioint action, and have contracted hatreds and prejudices, and also because the leaders find their advantage in using these habits and playing on tliese ])reiudices. * * * * The mill has been constructed, and its machinery goes on turning, even when there is no grist to grind. * * * -" These criticisms were made by this distinguished man some years ago, but they have lost none of their force. Time has only prf»vcd their truth and justice. Issues with a sentimental feature attached seem to liifluence our people more than others, than those whicli may lie called more strictly economic. Such an i.ssue. for instance, is the so-called race question, fre- quently spoken of as one of the "white nian's burdens;" a burden which is increased in weight and irritation by party attitude to- wards it. It is not my purpose here to enter into a discussion of the various phases of this question, only some of those phases. The political status of the colored race is not so difficult to define theoretically, what it actually is in practice is another matter. The sphere of the colored man's influence upon the political institutions » and practices of our country was greatly changed by his emancipa- tion. The declaration of his status made by the constituted authori- ties of the government, may be enumerated as the emancipation proc- lamation, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and the fifteenth amendments to the Constitution, and the enforcement acts of congress. The manner in which these amendments became part of our or- ganic law: the manner in which the Fifteenth Amendment has now 15 iK'coir.e i>ray the belated decisions." On February the sth. 1804. congress passed an act under the follow- ing title: "An Act to repeal all statutes relating to supervisors of elections and special deputy marshals, and f(n' other purposes." The fifteenth amendment is now practically admitted l)y all patri- otic- and thinking people, of both parties, to have been a gigantic blun- der. All so-called "force iTills" met their Waterloo when the Lodge bill was finally defeated. These things would seem to indicate an end of congressional activity along these lines. An acquiescence in the recent constitutional amendments in the Southern states restricting suffrage confirms this conclusion. Nay, tliose amendments cannot l)e reached by a direct assault. The "grand- father clause" is not. /kt sc. unconstitutional. It does not in terms 10 (Iiscriiuiu;iro jiiiJiiust tlie colDVcd iii:iii in sncli a niaiiiicr as to iuciir the coiKli'iiiiiatiou of the tifteeiith anieiidnient. Whatever (liscriiuinatioiis are made a.uaiust tlie eoha-ed man as a I>()liti(*al factor will in the future as they have been chiefly in the ])ast, he made in jiractice and not in constitutional )»r<»visions, and legislative acts: will he chiefly local and not general in extent; will he dithcnlt of detection, and almost imixtssihle of le.sjal proof, for the election officers who i)erpetrate these wrou;j:s will he ni)held in their iiction hy their party associates. Even if these obstacles are sur- nKumted. the question will nltimately come np for decision in .some contest for a seat in congress, and will fall on ears more or less at- tentive, according to the need of a working party majority in that branch of the government. The decision will .-ironse at most a short lived discussion ; will he regarded as a temp(»rary expedient, and may he reversed hy the nmjority in the next h(tnse. ()r at least overlooked and ignored. Each house is hy the constitution nnule the sole judge of the elec- tion and qualification of its own members: and while there is a gen- eral harmony in the legal principles involved in contests decided by each house, the "party principle" is sometimes consi»icuously pronii- rent. and proves itself more than a nnitch for Law and equity. The unavoidable i)resence of this ])arty i)rinciple. in some degree, in all such contests, deprives the decision of that full faith and credit which should always be given a judicial decision. They are very largely regarded as political decisions, that is decisions made, jn-o hue rice. 1)y ])artisan majorities. It is almost imi)Ossible that the (luestions should arise in any such form that we can get a decision on tlie mer- its from any of our higher courts, for they are so essentially political (juestions. The ])olitical tribunals of the .!,M>vernnient have jurisdic- tion of them. Some of the iiractices resorted to to silence the colored vote in the South, other than the fraudulent falsification of election returns, are enumerated in Mr. Wilson's History. Vol. .". p. 137: "Every device IvUown to i>o]iticians, every i>Ian that could be hit niton that ])oliticians had never before been driven to resort to, was m.-ide use of to reduce or nullity the negro vote. It was a great ad- vantage to the men who had regained their power in the South that the whole machinery of elections, at least, was again in their hands. They had never before made such use of it. The older traditions that surrounded the use of the ballot in the S»uth were of the most hon- orable sort. But the poison of the reconstru'ction system had done its work— no man any longer found it hard to learn methods of mastery which were not the methods of law or honor or fair play. The new election officers found many excuses for rejecting or ignoring the ne- groes' voting papers. Voting jdaces were often fixed at i)oints so re- mote from the centers of jioitnlation that only a small proi)ortion of the negroes could reach them during tlie hours fen* voting : ' or v,-ere changed without notice so that onlv the white voters who had been in- 17 toniied eiiukl tind tlunii readily. In some cases sei)arate ballot boxes were used for the several offices to be filled at the elections, so let- tered that the illiterate negroes distin,!j;nished them \Yith difficulty and so shifted in their order from time to time that the secjueuce in Avhich they stood was constantly bein^ changed, and no vote was counted which was not put into the right box. In districts where the negroes nnistered in unusual numbers too few voting places were provided, ;uid the voters were in-evented from casting their ballots rapidly l)y premediated delays of all sorts, so that the full vote of the district could not be cast." These prjictices are still in vogue to some extent in certain sections of the South, though they are no longer necessary in those states where there have been amendments to the constitution in the form of the so-called "grandfather clause." There is now no real call for the national Republican party to go into hysterics or convulsions on the subject of the negro vote. In North Carolina, certainly a majority of laose who are able to vote under the new constitution, vote the Dem- . ocratic ticket. The new generation of the colored race do not feel any unusual, any overpowering obligation to the Republican pjirty. It is a mistake for the party to assume that it has any lieu on their vote. The question then is not pending before any national governiuental tribunal, exceiit as issues involving it may arise in contests for seats in the house of representatives. It is not pending in any form before any of the executive depart- ments. The Brownsville investigation gives it a certain, or rather an ini- certaiu status before the senate. This investigati(ni involves the question whether a few individuals have been treated wrongfully and unlawfully by an exec-utive order. If wrong was done, it is not al- leged or believed by any one that it was done on account of the color or race of the individuals. The fact of their being colored men, and the fact of a presidential election being near at hand, afford some ground for speculation and more or less high sounding talk. The American eagle utters a few timely shrieks. The brother in black renews some old acquaintances and forms some new ones ; sits up and takes some notice on the eve of a national convention; doesn't feel that the rights of his race are particularly involved in all tliis. and has a vague suspicion that he is possibly being used as a cat's paw. No one can seriously contend that the Brownsville investigation had in its inauguration, or now has hardly any other than a jjolitical com- plexioi* Are not these agitations of the race question some of the renuiants of the ]io]icy of Mr. Stevens? "The dominance of the negroes in the South was to be made a principle of the very constitution of the union" (speaking of the 13th, 14tli and lath amendments) * * * * "The price of the policy to which it gave the final touch of permanence was the temporary disintegra- IS tioii of Southern society uiul the utter, apparently the irretrievable, alienation of the South from the political party whose mastery it had been Mr. Stevens' chief aim to perpetuate." ******* "It be.iran to be i)lainly evident to all who were willinc: to look facts in the face what Mr. Stevens and his radical colleajjues had really accomplished by their itolicy of Thorough. They had made the white men of the South implacable enemies, not of the Union, but of the party that had saved the Union and which now carried its af- fairs in its hands. Their reconstruction, whose object had been not the rehabilitation of the Southern .uovernments, but tlie political en- frnnchisenient of the negroes, had wrought a work of bitterness in- comparably deeper, incomparably more difficult to undo, than the mere effects of war and the virtual concpiest of arms. They had made the ascendency of the jiarty of the TUiion seem to the men of the South nothing less than the corruptiosi and destruction of their society, a reign of ignorance, a I'egime of ]K)wei' hai'shly used : and this revolt, these secret orders with their ugly work of violence and terror, the.se intinite, desperate shifts to be rid of the burden and nightmare of wnat had been jtut ui)on them. W('r(> the (-((nseiiuence." (Wilson's History. Vol. 5, ])p. ."iS, 77). As a national (piestion it concerns all to see tliat the colored peojile are given etjual opjmrtunity and protection in law and in ])ractice. As a national ([uestion, it couliilantliroi)ic and edu'-a- tional societies which are only remotely if at all connected with tlie government, national or state. As a national efore the forum of the national conscience, and calls for fair dealing by and tow.nrds them as a race and as individuals. As a national (piestion it calls upon the patriotism and the conscience of both politi- cal parties to be removed frou) the list of (piestions dealt with in a partisan and sectional spirit. As a local question it is all of what is said above, and it is more. It is pending before every state legislature where the colored people are numerous in the form of a claim and an obligation for the appro- priation of money for the establishment and maintenance of schools and asylums: and liefore the authorities of evei-y county for the es- tablishment of homes for the feel)le, the poor, and the aged. Their ed- ucation is not a national governmental (luestion. The national govern- ment is under no obligation to furnish them the means or the oppor- tunity for acquiring an education. As a labor question it is essentially local, and governed iiy local laws and customs of contract and agreement. As a social question it is beyond the power of national or state control. That is a matter for the individual to decide. A Inan is usually able to choose his companions and associates, and like water, he generally linds his level. It is a perniciously active political and jiarty question, and in tliis sense is liotli nation:;! and local. The Republican party gave it, in the days of reconstruction, a national sphere of influence, and though 19 this has griidunlly dwindled until it now reaches no further than n nouiinatin.n convention, and the possible control of the colored vote in a few doubtful states, this question has perhaits enabled the Demo- cratic party to save its life nationally and locally. To them it has been a life preserver and they struggle to retain it. To Southern Re- publicans it has been like the old man of the sea who could not be shaken off. It has l)enetited some individual members of the national Republican party, and it may benefit some more. It has benefited many members of the Democratic party, and that party will proI)ably continue for some time to draw dividends, and inspiration from this source. But to the country at large it has been and is, as a political (piestion, a curse. It is a demoralizmg and corrupting influence upon tne politics of the country in that it has lowered party ideals and perverted ])arty principles and practices. it has led to a greater wrong than that which conferring the biilh^t on the colored man scnight to correct. "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,"' is the language of the fifteenth amendment. The In- hil»ition is that he shall not be discriminated against on account of his race, color, or itrevions condition of servitude. So far so good, very tine. The result of all this is that the entire South is discriminated against in national legislation and influence, the brother in black along with the balance. In regulating the elective franchise he shall not be discriminated against as a class, but since the country is co!i- trolled by political parties, and since Mr. Stevens' ])lans of making the South permanently Republican by the aid of the negro vote have mi.scarried. the fact of the negro's being a political factor, has led to a discrimnation against a vast section of the country, and embracing many classes. That vast section embracing eleven states which at- tempted to secede from the Union, and which now sends twenty-two Democratic senators to congress, and ninety-five Democratic repre- sentatives ; which furnishes one hundred and twenty Democratic votes in the electoral college; and which sends two hundred and forty delegates to the Reimblican national convention; this vast section representing so much in industrial wealth is discriminated against. No political discrimination against classes as such in regulating voting privileges. No invidious distinction as between sheep and goats. Oh, no. Sacrifice the whole herd. Wall off the pasture. The Industrial growth and development of this Southland within the past quarter of a century has been something phenomenal. :Mr. Samuel Spencer, the late president of the Southern Railroad, in a public address shortly before his tragic death said. "Tlie South has entered upon a period of increased production in agriculture and in manufactures, and of general industrial and conunercial activity, such as her best friends and most enthusiastic prophets had scarcely 20 (Irc-iiiKMl (if fifteen years ago. Witliiii that period the cash value of her cotton erop has donbled, the amount of pis: iron prodncert at her furnaces has increased more than threefold. Cotton factories have si)ruH,i,' u]! within her borders to the extent that nun-e 'of her cotton crop is now manufactured on her own soil than in all the mills of New England. The total value of her aiuunil manufactures now ag- gregates nearly eighteen hundred millions in value. The total vulue of her agricultural products is now over seventeen hundred millions l)er annum." Mr. W. W. Finley, the successor of Mr. Spencer as president of th(> Southern Kailway. supplements this statement in a public address in refei-ence to the affairs of his company, as follows: "This increase is likewise indicated in the volume of traffi- han- (1 ed by this comiiany. In ISO.") the number of fi-eight tons carried one mile was ],0r)S,9o2,SS4. while in lJ)()(i. the number of tons carried one mile was 4.4n the Re- publican part.v or on the Democratic party, tliey are .lOintly and i)er- haps (vimill.v responsiltle. The Democratic i)art.v seems williu'j: to sacrifice everything to maintain its local supremacy in the South, and tlie Republican part.v seems willing to give them all the aid they need in the accomiilishment of this glorious ob.iect. It seems agreed by both sides to operate polit- ically in the South under a suspension of all rules. Secretary Taft gravel.v tells the country that. "In my (his) .iudg- ment the Rejinblican ])arty of North Carolina i and he doubtless meant this as descrii)tive of the South generally), would be much strcmger as a voting part.v if all the federal offices were filled by Democrats." That s(>ems to be an Ohio idea. Mr. Hayes made some experiments alonir this line without achievins: anv verv brilliant results. The man 21 whose iioliticnl nMiliation is securiHl by the .uift of ;iu office, is in tlie inarkot to the highest hi'dder, mikI generally returns to his former affiliation, or shifts to a more lucrative one as soon as his tenure of office exjures. I do not mean here to disconraj^e the recognition of new converts to the faith; only to sugj^est that the fibre of that faith which comes iuto action so haltingly is a legitimate subject of in- (luiry. Not a disbarment or a disqualificatiou for office, that he is a new convert, and he should not be discriminated against as a class. Mr. Taft admits the fact that the South has not that influence in governmental affairs that she should have. "* * * The real hojte of the South is in having a number of her states break from the Demo- cratic column and assert their iiideiiendence of past political tradi- tions -in order that this section may be accorded that imi)ortance in national matters to which her population, her wealth, and her intel- ligence entitle her." If her population, her wealth, and her intelli- gence have not secured for her the measure of influence to whicli she is entitled, what other resources or qualification does she needV The only conclui^ion to be reached is that she is excluded on account of politics, and by the action of political parties. We nuist face the conclusion that it is a "political heart" whicli pumps vitality into this race cpiestion in our body politic. That under our constitution and laws it must be dealt with by the political de- jiartments of our government. "Earth is sick. And Heaven is weary, of the hollow words. Which states and kingdoms utter when they talk of truth and Justice." Chief Justice Taney, in the case of Luther vs. Borden et al., in V. S. Rep. 48. says: "Much of the argument on the part of the plaintiff turned upon political rights and political questions. ui)on which the court has been urged to express an oi)inion. We decline doing so. The high power has been conferred on this court of passing judgment ui)on the acts of the state sovereignties and of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, and of determining whether they are beyond the limits of powei- nnirked out for them re- spectively by the constitution of the United States. This tribunal, therefore, should be the last to overstep the boundaries which limit its own jurisdiction. And while it should alwa.ys be ready to meet any question confided to it by the constitution, 'it is equally its duty not to pass beyond its appropriate sphere of action, and to take care not to involve itself in discussions which properly belong to otlier forums." No one, we believe, has ever doubted the proposition that, according to the institutions of this country, the sovereignty in every state resides in the jieople of the state, and that they may alter and change their form of government at their own jdeasure. But whether they have changed it or not by abolishing an old government, and es- tablishing a new one in its place, is a question to be settled by the political power. And when that power has decided, the court's are bound to take notice of its decision and follow it." If an attempt is made to invoke the power of the courts, in solving and adjusting these inequalities of citizenship by grafting a political 22 ri.irlit on a civil ri.trlit, and alleging the infraction of both, it is a long, rocky and expensive road to travel; a jonrney not apt to be nnder- taken by an individual alone. He wants and ninst have company. Therefore there must be some concerted action by. those similarly wronged. A number of individuals must feel that the initiative rests with them. Assuming the concurrence of favorable circumstances, willingness to undertake. the journey and ability to meet the expenses ; if you elect to bring an action for money damages for the deprivation of a jxilitical or a civil right, or both, the chances are that if you finally get a judgment, the execution could not find anything with which to satisfy the judgment. What judgment could the court ren- der that would establish the political right? Some of the difficulties encountered in an effort to hit the target may be seen by referring to the case of Mills vs. Green, a South Caro- lina case reported in V. S. Uep. I.ll). Mr. .Justice (Jray, delivering the opinion, says : "In the case at tlie Imr. tlie wlutle olij<'ct of tlie bill was to secure a right to vote at the election, to be held, as the bill alleged, on the third Tuesday of August. b'^O.", of delegates to the constitutional con- vention of South Carolina. Before this appeal was taken by the i)lain- tiff from the decree of the Circuit Court of A]>iieals dismissing his bill, that date had ])assed. and, before the entry of the ap]ieal in this court, the convention had ;i.ssembled. |»ursuant to the statute of South Carolina of 1S94, by which the convention had been called. * * * The defendant moved to dismiss the api>eal, assigning as one gi-ound of Iiis motion, that there is now no actual controversy involving re;il and sulist.-intial rights itetween the jtarties to the record, ;ind no subject- matter upon which the judgment of this court can operate. "We are of opinion that the appeal nuist be disiiiissed upon this ground, without considering any other question appearing on the rec- ord or discussed by counsel. "The dut.v of this court, as of every other judicial triliunal. is to decide actual controversies by a judgment which can be carried into effect, and not to give oitinions upon moot duestions or abstract projio- sitions, or to declare princiiiles or rules of law which cannot affect the matter in issue in the case before it. It necessarily follows that when, pending an appeal from th(> judgment of a lower court, and without any fault of the defendant, an event occurs which renders it impos- sible for this court, if it should decide the case in favor of the plain- tiff, to grant him any effectual relief whatever, the court will not pro- ceed to a formal judgment, but will dismiss the appeal." The above decision is modified by a divided court in the case of Giles vs. Harris, 1S9 U. S. Rep. Mr. Justice Holmes, delivering the opinion, says : "This is a liill in ecpiity 1)rought I)y a colored man. on behalf of himself, and on behalf of more than r>.()0() negroes, citizens of the county of Montgomery. Alaliama. similarly situated and circum- stanced as himself, against the board of registrars of that county. * * "This election has gone by, so that it is impossible to give specfic relief as to that. But we are not prepared to dismiss the bill or the api)eal on th.-it ground, liecause to lie enabled to cast a vote in that 23 election is nut, as in Mills against Green. loO IJ. S., the whole oltjeot of the bill. It is not even the i)rincii)al olt.iect of the relief souirht by the plaintiff. The principal object of that is to obtain the permanent advantajies of registration as of a date before 1903. * * *" "The (liflicnlties which we cannot overcome are two. and the first is this: The plaintiff alleges that the whole registraticm scheme of the Alabama constitntion is a frand upon the constitution of the United States, and asks us to declare it void. But of course he could not maintain a bill for a mere declaration in the air. He does not try to do so. but asks to be registered as a party qualified under the void instrument. If then we accept the conclusion which it is the chief )»uri)ose of the bill to maintain, how can we make the court a party to the unlawful scheme by accepting it and adding another voter to its fraudulent lists? If a white man came here on the same general alle- gations, admitting his sympathy with the iilan. but alleging some special prejudice that had ke]>t him off the list, we hardly should think it necessary to meet him with a reasoned answi-r. But the re- lief cannot be varied because we think that in the future the partic- ular plaintiff is likely to try to overthrow the scheme. If we accept the i)laintifl"s allegations for the purposes of his case, he cannot com- plain. We nuist accept or reject them. It is impossible simply to shut our eyes, put the ]»laintiff on the lists, be they honest or fraudu- lent, and leave the determination of the fundamental question for the future. If we have an opinion that the bill is right on its face, or if we are undecided, we are not at liberty to assume i>t to be wrong for the purposes of decision. It seems to us that unless we are ])repared to say that it is wrong, that all its principal allegations are inmia- teriaf and that the registration i)lan of the Alabama constitution is valid, we cannot order the plaintiffs name to be registered. It is not an answer to say that if all the blacks who are qualified according to the letter of the instrument were registered, the fraud would be cured. In the first place, there is no probal)ility that any way now is open by which more than a few could be registered, but if all could be the'difhculty would not be overcome. If the sections of the consti- tution concerning registration were illegal in their inception, it would be a new doctrine in constitutional law that the original invalidity could be cured by an administration which defeated their intent. We express no opinion as to the alleged fact of their unconstitution- ality beyond saying that we are not willing to assume that they are valid, in the face of the allegations and main oltject of the bill, for tlie purpose of granting the relief which it was necessary to pray in order that that object should be secured. "The other difficulty is of a different sort and strikingly reinforces the argument that equity cannot undertake now, any more than it has in the past, to enforce political rights, and also the suggestion that state constitutions were not left unmentioned in Sec. 1970 U. S. by accident. In determining whether a court of equity can take juris- diction, one of the first (piestions is what it can do to enforce any or- der that it may make. This is alleged to be the conspiracy of a state, al- though the state is not and could not be made a party to the bill. Hans vs. Louisiana, 134 U. S. 1. The Circuit Court has no constitu- tional power to control its action by any direct means. And if we leave the state out of consideration the court has as little practical powei' to deal with the people of the state in a body. The bill im- ports that the great mass of the white poimlation intends to keep the blacks from voting. To meet such an intent something more than ordering the plaintiff's name to be inscribed upon the lists of 1902 24 will he lUHMled. It' the conspiracy aud the intent exist, a name on a piece of paper will not defeat them. Unless we are prepared to super- vise the voting in that state by otiicers of the court, it seems to us that all that the jilaintitf could get from eipiity would be an empty form. ■'Apart from damage to the individual, relief from a great political wrong, if done, as alleged, by the people of a state and the state it- self, must be given by them or by the legislative and political depart- ment of the government of the United States." It has been held that the first section of the fifteenth amendment is self-executing, and that of its own force it renders void all legis- lation which discriminates against citizens of the United States on account of their race, color, or jircvious condition of servitude. As before jiointed out, however, such discriminations as are made are made in practice and not in legislation. The main and ditticult (luestion is how to reach and correct the wrongs of practic(> ; wrongs which all liands publicly decry, and whi<-li both [)arties all over the c(mutry quietly <-ountenance and connive ;it. Political wrongs are by no means confined to the Soutli. They may aud doubtless do differ in character. It is a wrong of no less mag- nitude to segregate the voters '"into blocks of five with fun(is to handle them," and it is more insidi(ms and demoralizing than the changing of voting precincts without adeiiuale notice to all the voters, shifting the ballot boxes during the day. or even the falsification of the re- lurns. Fewer men ai'c corruiited l)y these practices than by whole- sale bribery. Are oui' brethren in otlier sections of the country, there- fore, in a condition to throw stones? They cut a ludicrous caper when they attempt it. They are tarred with the same stick. I do not iK'licvc that corrupt election i)ractices prevail throughout the country to any such extent as to call for any general legislation on the sul).iect. The decision of particular contests seems to be all that needs be anti<-ipated. And after all is said, deplorable as are the corrupt election in-actices in the country, they must find their speediest and surest correcticm in the development of a healthy ami ])atriotic local sentiment on the subject. The recent constitutional amendment in North Carolina has liiost certainly improved political conditions. It has emancipated many white Democrats, and the party lash is not so terrible as it once was. If, therefore, the assumption is correct, that no general legislation by congress, such as was attempted in the so-called "force-bills" need be apprehended, so long as conditions do not iiecome nnicli worse than taey are now; it is e(pially correct to assume that congress will not attempt to interfere with, and regulate the conditions prevailing in any particular state, under the provision of Article IV. Section 4, of the Constitution : "The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a re]iublican form of goveriunent, and shall protect each of them 25 against invasion : iind on application of the legislature, or of the exe- cutive (when tlie legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence." It is difficult to eonceive of conditions which could make this pro- vision the basis of congressional interference, except in the case of armed revolution, with which the state authorities were not able to cope. Alexander Hamilton in advocating the adoption of this provision, says, in the Federalist, XXI : "The inordinate pride of state importance has suggested to sonie minds an objection to the principle of a guarantee in the fed- eral government, as involving on officious interference in the domestic concerns of the members. A scruple of this Idnd would deprive us of one of the principal advantages to be ex])ected from union: and can only flow from a misapprehension of the nature of the provision itself. It could be no impediment to reforms of the state constitutions by a majority of the i)eople. in a legal and peaceable mode. This right would remain undiminished. The guarantee could only operate against changes to be effectetl by violence."- Action has time and again Iteen invoked under this provision, in cases in the courts, one of the latest being that of Taylor vs. Beck- ham, from Kentucky. 178 U. S. Rep. Chief Justice Fuller in deliver- ing the opinion of the court, says: "It was lonu- ago settled that the enforcement of this guarautee belonged to the ]iolitical department" . . . "We must decline to take jurisdiction on the ground of deprivation of rights embraced by the fourteenth amendment, without due process of law, or of the violation (.f the guarantee of a republican form of government by reason of similar deprivation." Again, on tliis subject. Chief .Tustice Taney in Luther vs. Borden. says : "It is the ])rovince of the court to expound the law. not to make it. And certainly it is no part of the judicial functions of any court of the United f^tates to i)rescril)e the (pmliflcation of voters in a state, giving the right to those to whom it is denied by the written and es- tablished constitution and laws of the state, or tak.ng it away from those to whom it is given : nor has it the right to determine what po- litical privileges the citizens of a state are entitled to, unless there is an established constitution or law to govern its decision." The political powers of the government acted under this provis- ion in passing on the credentials of senators and representatives from the states that had lieen in insurrection during the civil war: and it was potent in securing the amendments to the constitution of those states. But we are all now happily reunited, and the power of this provision is slumbering. There is nothing on the horizon to indicate the probal)e occurrence of events in any state in the union to awaken it. 26 There is at almost every session of congress one or more l)ills In- frodnced. whic-li are fonndecl on the seoonrl section of the fourteenth nuHMKliiicnt. whicii is in these words: "Representatives shall be apportioned anions the several states according to their resjtective numliers. counting the whole nunilier of I)ersons in each state, excluding indians not taxed. Rut when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for president and vice-president of the United States, representatives in ccmgress. the executive and .iudicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature therof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being 21 years of age, and citizeiis of the Tnited Sta.tes, or" in an.v way abridged except for participating in reliellion. or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall l>e reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole num- ber of male citizens 21 years of age in such state." It lias been held in the case of McPherson vs. Blacker, 146 U. S. R., that the right to vote herein referred to and intended to be protected. is the right to vote as established by the consitution and laws of the state. This provision therefore, provided, of course, it is a workable Itiece of constitutional machinery, can be invoked to reach many of the corrupt election practices. It is simply a (juestion of whether they prevail to such an extent as to denmnd action by congress. The provision is penal in its nature. In modern times there are not a great many men prevented from voting who desire to vote, and are qualified to vote under the constitution and laws of the states in which they live. Intimidation to keep him away from the i)oIls, or to pre- vent his voting, has given place to milder and more persuasive meth- ods of influence. For numerous party reasons it is desirable that the vote polled shall be as large as possible. Representation in conven- tions is, by many of the plans of party organization, based on the vote polled. This is a great incentive for each county to send uii a large vote. Her favorite son may need that strength in a nominating con- vention. Rivalries among i)arty leaders induces each one to see that his county shows up with as large a vote ])olled, or returned, as pos- sil)le. Where there are, as sometimes happens, ficticious votes re- turned, in order to increase the strength of some county, or some" candidate in a nominating convention, then the unsuccessful ones, though they many have connived at silimar ]iractices. make the welkin ring with their lamentations. It would practically require a census and special investigation of of the case of every supposed voter in the state, who failed to vote at the preceding election, before congress could, with any justice, reduce the representation of any state under this provision. The "stay at home" vote is large in almost every election, and it can by no means be sweepingly asserted that these "stay at homes" have had their right to vote "denied, or in any wa.v abridged." There has been some talk in the past, of changing the Repulilican r 27 party's plan of orgaiiization. and redneing the representation of the Southern States in the national nominatini; convention: alleging as a reason for so doing that tliose states give no Repnhlican votes in the electoral college to the imrty's candidate, and that they should not he allowed to hold in the convention a strength which might enable them fo name the candidate. This talk shows a desire, in ci'rtain (]uarters. to' still further discriminate against the South. Southern Kepnl)li- cans should not he intimidated or coerced hy such talk. More inde- pendence, and more concert of action in national conventions is one thing Southern Uepuldicans need to nnike their party at home stronger as a voting party. It is cowardly to exercise and enjoy ones i)olitical and party rights in a fawning manner. If they cannot he used in any other manner, then they ought to he abridged. Southern Kepuldicans. can. indeed, do nothing that will m(n-e advance the cause of tlie South, generally, and of the ne])uhlican i)arty in the South, than hy taking a manly and independen.t stand in the national convention. If. as a re- sult of such conunendal)le conduct their representation in their party conventions should be reduced, they should welcome it. Discord and division, n< kleness and unreliability are characteristics which will moi-t> certaiidy in.vite a reduction of rejiresentation than unity and concord. There is a great future for the Republican party in the South, but local Republicans must inaugurate the movement for habilitation. Under existing c(niditions the tirst step in this direction must lie taken at the national convention. "Xo wave on the great ocean of time, when once it has floated past us. can he recalled. All we can do it to waich the new form and mo- tion of the next, and launch upon it to try in the manner our best judgment nmy suggest, our strength and skill." LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 366 096 5 m LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 366 096 5 •