Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE CRIME OF LYNCHING. Oar Duty to the Negroes Set Forth by the President of Roanoke College. 4,SOTTTHEREB'A" WEAK DE FENCE OF THE MOB. Ia the Sun of the 6th instant "A southerner" attempts to defend the Georgia mob for barning Hose and for banging Strickland ou the unsup ported testimony of Hose Aftei saying that "so long as negroes out rage white women in the south, just 80 ioog will they be lynched for it." your correspondent shows a state of amazing ignorance bj the assertion that they do not lynch negroes in the sooth for any other crime He writes from Charleston, and I take it for granted that he resides in Charleston, S. C. Does he not know that the men who lynched Baker, the colored postmaster at Lake City, haye just been tried in Charleston for that awful crime ? Has he already forgot ten Phoenix ? Does he not remem ber that a few years ago at Broxton's Bridge South Carolina, two negroes, who were suspected of stealing a Bible from a church, met with a cruel death at the bands of white men ? Asd hew could he so soon forget the killing of five negro prisoners at Palmetto, Ga , and the recent lynch lng of a dozen or more in Little Siver county, Ark, none of theee Oeing even accused of rape. But let us take the record of lynchings for last year, as kept by the Chicago Tribune, and published In detail early in January, with date, name of person, place; and crime, so that, if errors are made, there is every opportunity to correct them. According to the Tribune, which is generally recognized as good author i ty on this subject, 127 persons were lynched in the United States last year, 118 of these in the south and 9 in the north. Of the total number, 102 were negroes, 23 whites and 2 Indians Of the 127 only 16 were for rape, 7 for attempted rape, and 1 for complicity in rape ; that is, ooly 24 of 127, less than one fifth, were for rape or for connection in any way with that crime For murder there were 61, suspected of- murder 13, theft 6, and so on ''Mistaken iden tity" cost two unfortunate creatures their lives These are facts, and yet j "A southerner" asserts that negroes are lynched in the south only for rape. If that is the extent of his knowledge of plaiu facts, his defence of the mob is scarcely worthy of the name. I am a native of South Carolina ; I was old enough to serve in the Confederate army toward the end of the war, and my home lay in the line of Sherman's invasion, near Coi a m bia. I was educated in the south and have always resided there, having devoted 28 years pf my life to educa tional work in Virginia I know a good deal, therefore, about the peen liar conditions in our section of the country. I am fully aware of the evils of the reconstruction period and the trials and provocations of the southern people. And if mobs in the south had confined themselves strictly to the punishment of persons certainly guilty of rape, there would be less occasion today to condemn the lawlessness of mob role Since only 9 of the 127 lynchings occurred in the north and west, and only 24 had any connection with the awful crime of rape, it is evident that the people of the south, especially, must give this matter the most serious consideration. - The only position to be taken by law abiding and law-respecting peo pie ia this: That lynching for aoy crime whatever .ia itself a crime against civilized society. Wherein doescivilizaiion especially differ from barbarism ? Io civilized society we bave laws for the protection of person and property, for the administration of justice and the punishment of crime Under barbareas and savage conditions brate force roles and re venge dictates punishment. To say, theo, that in the south or anywhere else in our country it is necessary to lynch any class of persons for any crime whatever is to confess that our laws are defective, the administration of justice uncertain and our boasted Christian civilization to that extent a failure The remedy for this condi tion of affairs is certainly not in lynching, for every mob tramples the law under foot There is no such thing as a com munity "taking the law into its own bands ' in a civilized country. To attempt to do this by lynching is to set law at defence, and this has been done so frequently in portions of the sooth since the war that re spect for law has greatly diminish ed If white people trample the law nader their feet by lynching negroes sometimes by savage methods, should not we, the superior race, expect the negroes to follow oar example of dis regard for law ? And if white peo pie act like savages, as they did in torturing and burning Hose, should we not expect some outbreak of revengeful savagery on the part of the negroes ? The statement has even been published that Hose, io a oirit of revenge, killed Cranford because *;e was tbs alf*ged leader ia murdering the five groes at Palmetto And the umbia, S. C., State, of the 4th i attributes the crimes of neg against white women to ''resent at political and social repression a yearning for revenge, socia personal " "The cause of his crit says the State, "is in most cases animal passion simply-it is comp and, judged by the circumsiai attending it and the class commit it, is to be found in the ion of brutality with revenge, most of all in the desire to ace ph*8h by force the one thing dei by caste." Lawlessness breeds lawlessn hatred, begets hatred, revenge inc to revenge. If we sow the wind may expect to reap the whirlw If we sow lawlessness, hatred, venge, cruelty, and brutality, should not expect to reap the fr of civilization We rather she expect to relapse into barbari The words of Judge Brawley, b self a South Carolinian, in dismiss the jory after the disagreement in trial of the Lake City case, dese most serions consideration. "Who ever heard of a lynching years ago or mob violence to redr grievances, or the execution people without trial" ? he BI * Who ever heard of the hom home of a man being horned and children butchered ? All these tbii indicated that the law is no lon respected by communities sod peor and what does that mean ? It mei anarchy ; it means the disinterg tion of society ; it means barbar if This court cao do little, bot all of cao do something, and rememl that the white race R Sooth Carol cannot escape its responsibility. } cao have DO real civilization prosperity ontil we torn oor faces, the light." For years the Boothera people g< erally jostified lynching for rape the belief that only by this sw method of punishment could negri be deterred from the terrible crii ! and the civilization of the sooth preserved Bet the mob does r reason ; it draws no line or jost d tioctions ; the innocent soffer w the guilty, and as we have airea seen from statistics, more than fox fifths of the lynchings in the Unit States last year were for crimes ott than rape. Is it not time to pac abd to ask ourselves, what is to the harvest ? What is to be t effect on the character of oor peopl* How will all this effect the mater development and progress of t sooth ? Will not capital grow timi immigration still farther decrease a: property depreciate t Was Jodj Brawley only juggling with wor when he said, "We caa have no rc civilization or prosperity ont:! v toro oor faces to the light ?" There are some hopeful signs. Mai ef the influential papers, like tl Riobmood Times, the Charleston Nei and Courier, the Colombia (S. C State, the Atlanta Constitution, tl Atlanta Journal, nd other leadic I dailies, condemn lynohing for any oana I and advocate the punishment of a crimes, however brutal, by due prece I of law. Many prominent men of tl sooth have condemned lynohing in ti strongest possible language Io ti Atlanta Constitution, of the 2od inst appears a letter from Mrs. P. H. Mei of Auburn, Ala., a native cf Georgi and a "Daughter of the Confederacy, who expresses ber "otter horror an detestation of the awful crime commit ted by those parties who mutilated tortured, and horned alive Sam Hose She makes this earnest appeal : "I the name of humanity, of civilization of Christianity, and of southern womat hood, io whose honor these deeds ar said to be done, I implore the Georgi women to otter a solemn, powerfo protest, and let the world know that w abhor soon unparalleled bratality, sud horrible cruelty " Snob cheering sign and the belief that many tbcaghtfu persons who are silent, as I hav< hitherto been, deprecate the presen state of things, have encouraged me ti write this letter. I have written fron a sense of doty and with the eames desire to do good fer the oaase o humanity. I appreciate the man] noble qualities of the southern people and my heart is sick because some mee ia their madness-have brought reproach j on our civilization Lot us hope thai j not only the city dailies, but the coun try weeklies, and especially the religious journals, will urge upon out people the duty of respect and rever ence for law and ihi importance ol restraining the spirit of revenge in j order to permit judicial tribunals to mete out punishment to all classes ol criminals It would be well, too, to have mass meetiogs to discuss these grave questions. If our laws and methods of legal procedure are defective, as is frequent ly charged, let us remedy these defects, I and not try to excuse lynching by the weak plea that the laws of our own making a;e inadequate to protect cur civilization. Certainly we shall never preserve that civilization by adopting barbarous and savage methods of punishing criminals. And let us not forget that the superior race is respou sible for the preservation of our civilization. Negro clergymen, editors, teachers, and leaders generally should denounce the crimes of their raoe in tba plainest terms and appeal for simple justice at the hands of the while people. With no sympivby for criminals of either color or any oiass, I may yet add that so long at frenzied mobs of white meo punish, tortore, and kill Degrees without giving the poor wrefcohes even an opportunity to olear themselves of alleged crimes, we ought not to expect negroes to be too ready to aid in noding and surrending persons of their color accused of crime. Would white men turn over white criminals to be tortured and killed by mobs ? The leaders of the negro race are in favor of the punish ment of criminals, and I am con deot that if the white people of the south will allow all crimes to be punished by legal methods they will Sod hearty co-operation on the part of intelligent negroes throughout the ccuotry. Bat so long as lynching is resorted to, for almost any crime committed by colored men, just so long will the negroes feel that they are the victims of race prejudice and hatred It is this feeling which doubtless causes many of them to regard the victims of mobs as martyrs. Booker T. Wash ia g toa has well said that the negroes are a patient and long suffering people, and that they can better B ford to be wronged than the white people can afford to wrong them Is not that true ? But they are, never the less, human beings, with like hu man nature as ourselves (a good deal of uglo-Sazon nature, too, by reason of the mixed blood in their veins) and we should be careful not to give these weaker people any exeuse to commit desperate sod revengeful acts. White men of the south, if we try to imagine ourselves in tho place of the negroes, these questions will assume a different aspeut to us. Let us remember their patient submis sion in the long years of slavery, their faithfulness to the whites during the war we waged to keep them io bondage, their usually ready response to kind and just treatment, their eagerness to improve their condition by acquiring education and property, and let us resolve to do them simple jastiee and encourage them in their efforts to elevate their Fsoe That they have io their ignorance committed great blunders should excite our pity ; that some of them have been guilty of brutal crimes does not justify us in condemning the race ; but we ought rather to ask our selves whether juet such things were not to be expected of a people long held in slavery, suddenly emancipated, and, with no preparion for citizenship, suddenly enfranchised. Nor oan we remedy the evils of the fearful period of reconstruction by violating human and divine laws. If we take this calmer and broader view of the situation we hall be forced to the conclusion that the negro has a claim on us, not only for justice, bot also for patience and forbearance, while he is plodding his weary way through the wilderness of trial and struggle to the promised goal of character, intelligence and man hood. Through long centuries of toil and strife our own race has reached its present civilization, such as it is, aod by just as muon as we are superior to the negroes in this respect, by just so mach are we under greater obligations to help the weaker and less favored race in every worthy endeavor for morai, social and mrterial progress. Where the need is greatest the call of duty is always loudest. Hence, instead of adopting a policy cf repression or suppression, by legislation or other wise, our attitude toward the negro should be one of sympathy, encourage ment and helpruloes9. Julius D Dreher. Roanoke College, Virginia. BACK TO HIS BED, The latest reports from Governor Etlerbe are to the effect that ne has again been compelled to take to bed He has been sitting up a great deal and has been riding about the coun try, but this was all done by the sheer force of bis will power and does not indicate that he is improving physically It is learned that his phy 8 cians have stopped his taking these trips and have persuaded him to rest quietly He will be allowed to sit up, it is stated, under proper circum stances. The governor, it is said, does not relish at all the orders of his physicians, not believing himself as sick a man as they think he is. Columbia Record, May 22 Newport News, Va . May 21 -The Spanish cruiser Reioa Mercedes ar rived at Hampton Roads this afternoon at 2 30 o'clock in tow of the Merritt Wreckiog Company's tugs Merritt and Reseue and accompanied by (he steam er S. T. Morgan. She is now at anohor nearly two mile9 off Old Point Comfort, where she will be held in quarantine for five days D. G. Mills, the Now York 25. 000,000-er, says that while be bas been reasonably happy, his happiest days were when he was a small country merchant. Theo be could go fishing without tho newspapers telling how many fish he did or didn't catob. Speaking for its own section, the Philadelphia Record says : The blacks have few opportunities to learn mechanical crafts, and it is doubtful whether the most skillful colored mechanic could obtain remunerative employment in the North, such is the prejudice of race in this section of the country " lt may be an item not generally known that the United Supreme Court recently banded down an epioion to tbe effect that poultry running at large is ?ild game, and the owners of property on which chickens may trespass bave a legai right to kill them. This is worth mrkiog a note of, now that gar dening is io fall blast. Scheine of Government. AMERICAN COMMISSION MAKES A PROPOSITION. Manila, May 22.-A meeting was held this morning by the Filipino commissioners with members of the Uoited States commission. The latter presented to the Filipinos a scheme of government which they said President McKinley would establish, psodiog the aotion of congress. By this scheme the natives will be represented by aD advisory council elected by the peopie, probably on the branch of the chief of the department of administration. It is unofhViaily stated that Graoio Gonzaga, a member of the Filipino commission, considers the scheme a liberal one. Io accordance with the scheme the president is to appoint a governor gen eral, who will appoint a cabinet. The president will appoint the judges of the courts. There will also bc a gen eral advisory council, elected by the Filipinos. Tomorraw the Filipino commissioners will visit the Oregon and lunch with the American commis sioners. The insurgent disintegration is progressing, though a large force is still maintained. Conditions are im proving daily. Washington, May 22 -General Otis cables the conditions as follows : "Io Balacan province troops are maintain ed at Guinga, Baliag and San Miquel. Lawton is proceeding down the Rio Grrnde from Isidro. He bas driven the enemy westward from San Antonio, Carlo and Arayat, where he was joined yesterday by Kobbe's column. He will reach Santa Ana and Cantaba today. The inhabitants of Pampagna aod Buiacan are returning to their homes. The only fear is as to insur gent troops in the south MATTERS IN MANILA. Manila. May 20, 10 a. m -Geo Gregorio Del Pii^r. commander of the insurgent forces io front of Gen Lawton's division ; Lieut. Col. Alberto Barretto, judge advocate ; Major Zaatita. of Aguinaldo's staff, and Senor Granoio Goczaga, a former mem ber of the Filipino cabinet, the commis sioners appointed to co-operate with Se cors Florento Torres, Hablo Campo and Theodore Yanco, of Manila, for the purpose of negotiating terms of pence with the American commissioners, reached Manila by special train from Malolo8 at 8 15 this morning. The party was met by Lieut. Col. Barry, adjutant general, and cooduoted from the train to the launch Capitan and taken to the palace at Galaoaoac, and after breakfast were driven through the Ayuntamiento. The party was closeted with Gen. Otis for more than an hour ; but the interview was decidedly \ atisfaotory, the commission having notmog definite to propose and being unempowered to negotiate terms Tbe commissioners brought a com munication direct from Aguinaldo ask ing for sn armistice pending the decision of the Filipino congress as to what policy should be adopted. As before Gee Otis refused to entertain the proposition The commissioners, after leave the City Hall, acoep'ed an invitation to visit the Oregon and the other vessels of the Amerioan fleet in the bay, and they were also granted permission to see their families before returning. Manila, May 22, ll a. m.-The Filipino commissioners 'who arrived here on Saturday to negotiate witbl the United States commissioners held a conference thia morning with Messrs. Sohurmao, Worobester and Denby. They say that they are without power to bind the so called Filipino govern ment in any particular, and caa only refer any results of present negotiations to Aguinaldo 8 40 p m.-The Filipino commis sioners, Gen Gregorio del Pilar, Lieut. Col Albert Barretto, Maj. Zcalita and Senor Graoio Gotzaga, with their families, spent today in visit iog friends io Maniia and conferred with Se ores Florentine Torres, Pabio Ooampo and Teodoro Yanco, the mem bers of the local Filipino association, who wili participate in the American commissioners. Senor Torres was a member of Aguinaldo's commission before thc war. He apposes independ ence and fav"rs autonomy, aod he has been most iLfluent&l in persuading the followers of Aguinaldo to make the preeent advances. A Speedy Trial. Athens, Ga., May 22 -Charles Colquitt, a negro who attempted to atsault the 16 years old daughter of J- P. Dooley at High Shoals Saturday night, was captured today and p.aced in jail at Watkinsville. Judge Russell will hold au extra session of court tomorrow rooming to try the negro The citizens are satisfied with this and no trouble is feared. Colquitt confessed his guilt. - --&~*++~4mm - A new gold district equaling the Klondike in extent and riches is said to have been discovered on the Alaska maitland, ooe hundred miles north of St. Miehael. Two men are reported to have cleared op $50,000 in ninety days, and that others are gathering nuggets by the sackfal. Her Pri vate Punch. The women hurried along Adams street from the Art institute on their way to the Woman's Euchre club at Handel hall. "Just run in with me here a min ute, " said one. "I've gol to get me a punch. " The clerk showed a collection of punches that made holes of various shapes. "No," said the shopper. "I want just a simple, round punch-this size." And she abstracted a cardboard from her pocket that showed the size of the perforation, j "Oh, very well!" said the clerk. "We I have it. But it's not called for very cf I ten fur private games." And the punch was brought out and sold promptly. The second woman wondered what her friend wanted of that particular punch, but kept her curiosity to herself. The game was exciting, and, as the friend is a good player, she won eight games. The second woman noticed this partiealarly. But when the score cards were exhibited the friend had ll credit marks punched in her score card. The other woman saw then the wherefore of the particular punch they had bought. The friend had won eight games, and then had done a little punching with a private punch. The prizes at these club contests are quite valuable, and the spirit of gam bling has become so pronounced among some of the players that they are not above resorting to unfair means to cap ture them.-Chicago Inter Ocean Her Evening Gown. It is undeniable that foreign diplo mats in Washington frequently find themselves at a loss owing to the nov elties presented to them by American customs. Even the language offers diffi culties. Only the other day the Guatemalan minister was speaking to some Wash ington ladies of what he regarded as a remarkable social experience met with here at the capital. He had been invit ed to an afternoon reception. "And do you know, " he said, "the hostess received the guests in a night gown !" "Good heavens!" replied the ladies to whom this information was ad dressed. "Surely you are joking. Mr. Minister!" "Not at all. I assure you," reiterated the diplomat. "It was in her nightdress that we were received-low neck and bare arms!" "Oh, you mean evening dress, do you not, Mr. Minister?" suggested one of the ladies. "Yes, that is what I mean," admit ted Senor Arriaga; "low neck and bare arms, just like the costume for the opera or ball. ' ' As may be imagined, the laugh was at the minister's expense. In Washing ton ladies quite commonly wear even ing dress when giving afternoon recep tions.-Boston Herald. Feudalism In Hungary. Inconceivable as the anachronism may seem to the western mind, the agrarian system of Hungary has not yet issued from the feudal form. The Hun garian farmer of today is virtually a serf, bonna io his master, the hereditary owner of the soil which the peasant tills, by the tangible tie of personal liability. The Hungarian feudal lord of today is entitled to 50 days' labor from each male adult who dwells on his land. The seignior is at liberty to demand this feudal contribution at whatever time may seem best to him, with the frequent result that tho tenant farmer is employed in gathering his master's harvests while his own crops are rot ting after a rainfall or are being con sumed by an early frost or suffer dam age from one or more of the many pos sible causes which render destructive the slightest delay on the part of the harvester in gathering the fmita of a year's labor.-S. Ivan Tonjoroff in Arena. The Fanny Bone. A man who fractured his funny bone concludes that it is not a funny matter. He said: "The displacement of the olecranon is accompanied by disable ment of the whole arm for a long while. Webster describes the point as follows: 'The large process at the proximal end of the ulna which projects behind the articulation with the humeros and forms the bony prominence of the el bow.' I have it with me. I fell on the ice in 1873 and broke off my left funny bone. It hurt, but I did not know what had happened for months, and then Dr. Henry Fish of Fargo told me. It was too late to do anything then except ex ercise to bring my muscles into condi tion. "A new development set in then, and the lower part of my forearm became flat, while the upper muscles developed. At present I can pull or lift as much with that arm as I could at any time, but I cannot strike or push with it and cannot exert downward pressure with it at all, unless I hold my arm rigid and put the weight of my body upon it. I can scarcely hold a sheet of paper upon my desk, and for fully 12 months I could not use my left arm at all. Per haps it was because I did not have surgical attention soon enough. Recent ly I had a radiograph made, and the fragment of bone was clearly shown ly ing loosely in the joint. After the frac ture two splinters protruded from the skin and were removed." An Undesirable Distinction. Mae-Why did you let him kiss you ? Ethel-I didn't want to be the only girl he had never kissed.-New York JournaL Do Not Fear Shark . In hits book on Australia, Richard Se mon declares that the prevailing ideas of danger from sharks are greatly exag gerated. Individual sharks may possi bly, he thinks, develop cannibal tastes, but such are exceptions, rarer Than man eating tigers and crocodiles. The divers and fishermen in the Torres strait, where big sharks abound, do not show the least fear of them REPUBLICAN MISRULE POLITICAL GOSSIP IN WASHINGTON. Some cf the Things That are Being Said of McKinley and His Gar g. WashiDgloD, May 22 -Washing ton is decked out in inauguration toggery for the three day Peace ! Jubilee, which begins tomorrow, and the additional beauty given by na ture furnishes another argument in favor of changing inauguration day frcm March to about this season of the year, when Washington is at its bestj both for looks and for the com fort of visitors Mr. McKinley is finding the hot water in which he has been ever since he has got back to Washington much more uncomfortable than that in which he bathed at the hot springs The mess in Cuba, where the Cuban army is almost on the verge of open revolt, is not conducive* to his peace of mind, but it is no more than might have baen expected from the policy that he has allowed Alger to attempt to carry out over there. Some go so far as to charge that Alger is trying to drive the Cuban army into revolting for pur poses of his own, although it is difficult to imagine what purposes he could have that would be served by such a misfortune as that would nec essarily prove to be. When Mr. McKinley went away he expressed the opinion that Agui naldo would surrender and peace be established ic the Philippines before his return, but he found things very much f 'bey were when he left Washington Aguinaldo is still try ing to negotiate and is still being refused by Gen Otis. Friends of the several candidates for speaker are trying to force Mr. McKinley to declare himself and there is a sort of understanding that in order to square himself in both the east and west, he has said that either Sherman or Henderson would be perfectly acceptable to him. This understanding has resulted in the formation of a combine of Hender son and Sherman supporters for the purpose of shutting out ail other candidates, but that is not satisfac tory to the other candidates. Payne is in Washington kicking hard against being left ont in the cold, and declaring that he intends to remain in the field until the last, regardless of orders from Boss Platt, Mr. McKinley or anybody else The friends of Hopkins also declare that he will not allow him self to be frozen out. It is all very well for these gentlemen to talk, bot the question is how can they help themselves 1 As soon as it becomes generally known that neither ie wanted by the administration, neither will have any supporters left. The most amusing feature of the Speakership campaign is the' frantic efforts of what may be slangly called the Reed organization. Their latest was ac appeal to the ex-Czar to defer bis resignation after he is elected Speaker and has named the commit tees Whatever else be may be, Mr. Read is not a foo!. He knows that at best bis election to be speaker again wonld have been doubtful not a few believe that to have been bis real reason for retiring; and that neither he nor any other man wonld stand a ghost of a show to be elected Speaker when it 'would be known that his only object was to put the organization of the Committees into the hands of his friends and then get out Although everybody knew that Senator Kean, of N J. was a railroad and corporation lawyer, and therefore naturally inclined to favor trusts of all sorts, he surprised many by pub licly declaring, while he was in Washington a day or two ago, that the people of New Jersey would not support any party that condemned trusts, because the trusts organized under their state laws paid so much money into their Treasury.. Surely it is time to do some hard thinking when a Senator publicly states his belief that his srate has been bought by the trusts io be exact, Mr. Kean's words were : .'The annual revenue from the tax on the capital of all corporations creat ed under our laws now amounts to between, $800,000 and $900,000. You can already see that the people who benefit from this influx of wealth are not apt to be antagonistic to the corporations that contribute it " According to current gcssip, Sec retary Alger is ungrateful along with his numerous other faults Ile han announced himself a candidate for Senator McMillan's seat, and the latter has announced his candidacy to succeed himself, it is said at the re quest of Mr. McKinley So the country is likely to see the man who has been kept in the cabinet against the almost general protest of the country, running for the Senate as an anti McKinley candidate This is explained by friends of Mr McKin ley by sayiug that the President is bound by promises to keep Alger in the Cabinet, unless be will voluntar ily resign, but is deteimed to get <JT even by keeping him out of the Sen ate. Paper oofels, new paper oovels at H. G. OBteea k Co's.