The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-11-12

lynchers are not discriminating in re-
gard 10 evidence, and there j. always
danger that innocent men may fall vic
Tins 10 the unreasoning fury Of an ex-
cited mob. And vet when the provOca-
tons are considered, il will seem rather
remarkable than otherwise 10 those who
are familiar with the present condition
Of the Africanized States, that so few
eases Of mob law occur i'm communities
which are systematically robbed BY mid
night pilferers, and in which the discov-
cry If plots to murder and burn are not
OF unfrequent occurrence.
The recent tragedy in Clinton, LOUISE
ana, was direct result Of "A state Of
things for which the present rulers of
that state are chiefly responsible. In
the parish or county in which the out
rage occurred, the white citizens who
pay the taxes have been completely at
the mercy of the negroes, who hold all
the most important Offices. The taxa
ton there Is 800 and 400 per cent.
greater than before the war; the iuries
are usually composed Of the most ig-
norant plantation negroes; and their
hatred Of the whites is so great that the
latter have no possible chance of obtain
ing Justice in the courts There was re-
Gently riotous raising of the negroes
in that parish, and il was ascertaiRed
that John Gair, "A noted colored politi-
clan Of the worst reputation, was the
instigator of it. Then he induced his
sister-in-law, a woman named Mathews,
to attempt the murder of DR.. j. w.
Saunders, a prominent citizen. She
poisoned him by giving him arsenic in
drink of water, but the dose failed to
kill the woman was arrested, confessed
her crime, and declared that she was
instigated to the act by Gair. The latter
fed, but was arrested in Baton Rouge.
While on his way to Clinton under
guard he was shot by armed men in dis
guise, and the woman was hanged by
the same mob.
Now, every body must condemn such
lawless act as this, though il Is evident
that those who took part in the lynch
| ing had good reason to believe that any
attempt to adequately punish the Of
/ tenders by legal means would result in
/ failure. But before condemning
the whole white population of Louisi-
ana for an exhibition of mob violence
in which but few men took part, it
will be we'll to remember that similar
exhibitions are not unknown in States
where the courts of justice are in salts
factory operation. Ii was only the
other day that two brothers, Amos and
Isaac Cartwright, who we're accused
of having killed a sheriff in Portage
County, Wisconsin. were taken from
the jail and lynched; while but a few
weeks before mob said 10 have been
composed of the most substantial citi-
zens Of Bellefontaine, Ohio, hanged a
man named Schell on suspicion of hav-
ing committed murder, though subse
quent developments show that he was
probably innocent of the crime. Even
in staid, puritanical, New Hampshire
it was with great difficulty that the lead
ing citizens of Pembroke were restrained
lately from killing an innocent man
against whom they had no evidence, be-
cause they chose To accuse him Of re-
Voting murder. And, to come nearer
home, the brutal murder and mutilation
IF the late Charles g. Kelsey at Hunt
ington, Long Island, with preliminary
barbarities in which prominent church
members assisted As spectators, if not
in more active way, will be fresh in
the recollection of every reader.
The crew of carpet-baggers and adj
venturers who, through the illegal inter-
ference Of President Grant. have control
Of the State Government of Louisiana,
are endeavoring TO make political capt.
tai out Of an outrage which is the legiti-
innate result of disagreement and ju-
dicial corruption; and they would have
the North believe that isolated cases
like that Of Gair's lynching afford proof
that the Southern people are ripe for a
new rebellion, and are already engaged
in war of determination against the
freedmen. The truth is that very few,
If any. Northern communities would
have submitted TO the oppression OF
thieves and ruffians with half the pa
tience that the people Of Mississippi and
Louisiana have shown.