These cases are writs of error to the supreme court of the state of alabama.
In No. 337, the action was brought to recover damages in the sum of $5,000 against the board of registrars of Montgomery County, Alabama, for refusing to register the plaintiff as a qualified elector of the state. The substance of the complaint is: The plaintiff is a native of the state of Alabama, a resident of Montgomery county for thirty years, and of the voting precinct for more than two years. He applied for registration, having theretofore enjoyed the right of voting in the state; the application was made to the board to registrars on March 13, 1902; the plaintiff complied with all reasonable requirements of the board, but was arbitrarily refused the right of registration for no other reason than his race and color. At the same time a large number of negroes similarly situated were likewise refused, while all the white men were registered and given certificates, without denial, nor was any question raised as to their qualifications. The registrars required the plaintiff and all members of his race to furnish the testimony of two white men as to their qualifications, and refused to accept the testimony of colored persons, while all the white men were registered without any proof except the oath of the applicant. It is alleged that §§ 180, 181, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, and 188 of article 8 of the Constitution of the state of Alabama, which went into effect November 28, 1901, under authority of which the registrars were acting, was intended, designed, and enacted by the constitutional convention to deny and abridge the right of the plaintiff and others of his race in the state to vote, solely on account of race, color, and previous condition of servitude. The convention of the state of Alabama was composed entirely of white men, although the population of the state is composed of 1,001,152 white and 827,545 colored persons. It is alleged that article 180 of said Constitution is repugnant to the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States because subdivisions 1 and 2 of said section do not contain a statement of qualifications applicable to all, regardless of race, color, and previous condition of servitude, but discriminate against negroes solely on account of race. Subdivision 3 is unreasonable and void, in not defining what character a good citizen must have and what obligations he must understand under a republican form of government, and gives to the registrars a wide discretion and authority, and invests them with arbitrary power. That § 181 of article 8 is repugnant to the said amendments to the Constitution of the United States in that, while it pretends to describe the qualifications of persons who shall apply for registration after January 1, 1903, it was in truth and in effect enacted to apply to the plaintiff and all negroes of the state, and not to operate against and affect any white persons in the state, and is a part of a scheme to disfranchise the negroes of Alabama on account of race, color, and previous condition of servitude. By refusing to permit the negroes to register the board of registrars is forcing them to wait until January 1, 1903, when § 181 comes into effect. It is charged that said board is composed exclusively of white men, and the right of appeal given from the action of said board to the circuit court and thence to the supreme court of the state was given to more effectually hinder the plaintiff and others of his race in their right to vote, and not to accomplish their registration. The negroes are excluded from serving on juries in the trial courts of the state and have been for many years, although qualified for the service, on account of race, color, and previous condition of servitude. That on appeal the plaintiff would encounter the same prejudice and obtain the same result as before the board of registrars. The defendants, well knowing the object of the constitutional provisions, were appointed by the state to administer the same, and while so engaged did wilfully and wrongfully refuse to register the plaintiff and others of his race for no other reason than their race and color, and thus deprived them of the right to vote as electors of the state, contrary to the provisions of the 1st section of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.