The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1879-07-17
VOL. VIII.
INCARCERATION AND TRE TIN
As STATUTE AGAINST INTER-
MARRIAGE OF THE RACES.

INCARCERATION AND TRE TEN-
As SraTUTE AGAINST INTER-
MARRIAGE OF THE RACES.
The case Of The State Y. Emile Fran
co.'s, tried in the district court Oh
Thursday last, has excited considers
BILE comment and involved some very
interesting questions. The itfut: of
this State provides that II any white
person shall knowingly marry negro
or descendant of a negro to the third
generation inclusive he shall be pun
Ished by Imprisonment in the peniten-
tIsry not less than two nor mOIe than
| five years. Francois was indicted un-
der this law, tried, convicted and sent
10 the penitentiary for five years. The
defense claimed that the statute was
abrOgated by the consliI nj 1nal smPnd
ments of the United States, by the
civil rights bill aud by the COnstitu-
tion of 1869 of the Safe of Tel xss
and a vigorous attack was made upon
the policy and equity of the Law as it
stands on our sta ute book. About
little dispute. The Court of Appeals
Of Texas has decided that this law is
constitutional and valid, and Uoited
States District Judge Hughes of VI
giDis, in a recent case, affirmed the
cont utionality Of the Virginia statute
to the same effect. So that nothing
was left to the jnry but to cOnvit t th,
defendant, and judging from the Ver-
| dict their inclinBtiOns were d cid
edly in favor of the law a
| it is. We are inclined SOM
what to think the jury was right.
though perhaps little severe, and
that the law is proper and founded il
reason, though perhaps little iDoquita
BILE in its technical details.
Mr.. Wooten, who represented the
State in this prosecution, seems to b, v
taken the proper view of the policy
and intention of the statute. He main
tanned that the law was not only based
upon broad principles of social health
and social morality, but was likewise
framed in the interest and for the
preservation of the negro race, who,
il the flood-gstes OF licensed mlscegena
tioD are opened, will soon lose their
identity as people and sink beneath
the deteriorating influences of race ad-
mixtures. He therefore claimed that
instead of being prCscriptlve dis
examination against the blacks, it was
provision founded upon proper re-
gard for the safety, purity, perpetuity
and un a;nted vigor Of both black and
white cit zsns. Tle negro Is black
man by creation and historic descent,
and his individuality as a mem
Der of one of the great groups
of the human family rests upon
his color and his attributes as
Jlack man. Therefore thie law embod-
les the very individuality of the negro
race and was intended to preserve and
to perpetuste the distinctive features
of this class of our citiz us as well as
of another. Science has established
beyond question the debasing II fl lence
OF mixture of alien stocks. Phys;ol-
ogy aud comparative anatomy have dis
closed the physical evils of such pro-
cess and social facts are numerous in
support of the assertion tlat a mixed
race is inferior, mentally, morally and
physically, to the parent stocks-that,
as Mr.. Wooten SAID, ''they possess the
vices of both races and the virtues of
neither" The annals of the world are
full of examples in testimony of this
view of the matter. The decline and
disappearance of dozen OF the great
peoples of history may be traced to
the insidious contagion of tainted
blood and corrupted lineage. The
Sarscenic empire, with its glories and
couquests, faded before the silent and
secret invasion of race deterioration;
the Arab became Moor and the lat
t.r, losing the untamed vigor and en-
thusiasm of his ancestors, but inner t.
ing the licentious and frivolous spirit
of his Spanish kinsman, has left no.
thing to the world but the ruins of his
dismantled castles and the love-notes
of his errant 7rou6adours. The Latin
races, as q class, have mixed with
alien stocks, and their distinctive weak
nesses and vices are traceable to this
very admixture. On the contrary, the
Anglo Saxon has never tainted his
vigor nor corrupted his blood from
any foreign source, and his his
toric strength and greatness are the re-
suit in no small degree of the vestsl
scrupulousness with which he has
guarded his ancestral purity. The IA
disns on the frontiers are fast feeling
the blighting effects of this race cor
ruption, and the woes and weakness
ses of Mexico are more than half due
to the mongrel, hybrid and debased
quality of her population. These are
facts worthy the consideration of every
American, for here We are in danger
of the deteriorating influence of inter-
mixtures from every race on the globe.
Especially does it behoove the friend
of the negro to think t vice before he
condemns, as tyrsnnous and proscrip
tive, law that Is undoubtedly calcu
lated to preserve the vigor aud perpet-
uats the existence of the black man on
|. this continent
"THE perfection of national su-
Pemscy" is ssser'ed to be the leading
purpose aud theory of the Republican
party. 1t is presumed that the theory
is to We operative within the Federal
Constitution, otherwise the assertion