(5)  All  the  constitutions  have  an  educational  clause;  but  in  two
states  taxes  on  property  w^orth  $300  may  be  a  substitute  for  reading
and  writing;  and  in  IMississippi  it  is  provided  that  the  voter  must
"be  able  to  read  any  section  of  the  constitution  of  this  state;  or  he
shall  be  able  to  understand  the  same  when  read  to  him,  or  give  a
reasonable  interpretation  thereof."  .  .  .  The  whole  machinery  of
[such  clauses]  is  in  the  hands  of  the  white  election  officers,  who  are
expected  to  be  easily  convinced  that  a  white  man  understands  and
with  difficulty  convinced  in  the  case  of  a  Negro.
(6)  Five  of  the  sik  constitutions  contain  the  remarkable  "grand-
father clause,"  which  in  somewhat  different  phraseology  sets  forth
that  the  descendant  of  a  person  who  was  a  voter  prior  to  January  i,
1S67,  shall  vote,  notwithstanding  his  inabihty  to  satisfy  the  in-
telligence or  property  qualifications.  This  is  the  most  doubtful
part  of  the  whole  system,  for  it  sets  up  an  exemption  from  the  ordinary
qualifications  which  applies  only  to  members  of  one  race  and  cannot
possibly  be  acquired  by  members  of  the  Negro  race.  .  ..
197.    Civic  capacity  cannot  be  created  by  proclamation ^

In  the  whole  of  American  politics  there  is  no  more  inflammable
subject  than  that  of  Negro  suffrage.     Whatever  attitude  one  may


1  From   the  American  Law  Review,  Vol.  XLV.    Charles  Wallace  Collins,
Fourteenth  Amendment  and  the  Negro  Race  Question";  pp.  853-856.
