behind the attitude of both Congress and the courts is the apathetic tone of public opinion, which is the final arbiter of the question. In the technical sense, the Amendment is still a part of the supreme law of the land. But as a phenomenon of the social consciousness, a rule of conduct, no matter how authoritatively promulgated by the nation, if not supported by the force of public opinion, is already in process of repeal."
It cannot be safely conjectured what the Supreme Court will say when it squarely faces the suffrage laws of the South in their relation to the Fifteenth Amendment. Until then, each is entitled to his opinion. That the citizenship, age, sex, and residence qualifications are in perfect conformity to the Amendment there is no doubt. The qualifications of tax payment, property, and education existed long before the Fifteenth Amendment in the States of the men most active in securing the adoption of that Amendment. It is hardly to be supposed that the Senators and Representatives from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania understood the Amendment they were advocating to be nullifying the suffrage laws of their respective States. Moreover, a property or educational test is not an abridgment or denial of the right to vote, because it lies within the power of everyone, regardless of race, to accumulate property and acquire literacy.
The "Grandfather Clauses" are the most doubtful parts of the suffrage laws. In one sense, they are not at all a denial or an abridgment of the right to vote. Granting that the property and educational tests are constitutional, the "Grandfather Clause," instead of abridging or denying, enlarges the right to vote by giving the suffrage
