Speech #710019951

Garfields construction of the fourteenth amendment is that all male persons 21 years of age were to. be placed In one column and in the other column there should be placed all male persons 21 years of age who are denied the right to vote in any State for what? For any other cause than crime or participation In the rebellion. Then he cited 11 different classes which are denied the right to vote in several States. among which is on account of residence less than the required time in the United States. clearly showing that. in his opinion. persons not naturalized are to be taken into consideration the same as others denied the right to vote. Of course. since the ratification of the nineteenth amendment it would mean all persons 21 years of age should be counted instead of all male persons. The contention on the part of the proponents of the present apportionment measure is that it will take a constitutional amendment to empower Congress to exclude aliens in counting the whole number of persons in finding the population as a basis for apportionment.