The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-08-02

The Negro ChAfaCCer lntoTostInRiy Ob-
cussed by Eli Arp and Bishop Turner.
atlanta Constitution.
Enclosed I send you Bishop Tur-
ner's reply to my letter in last Sun.
days paper. Will you please publish
it.
Bishop Turner is the very best type
of his race, and all who know him re-
spect him. For thirty years he has
been before the people of Georgia as a
considerate thinker and conservative
actor iiE--ns matters that concern the
welfarsa.x his race. We saw his pru-
dence and good will tried at Rome in
1865, when one Captain De La Mesa,
mercenary Spaniard, was lording
over our people like tyrant, and en-
couraging the negroes to all kinds OF
lawlessness. Bishop Turner made a
public speech to the negroes and every
sentiment was sensible, pacific and
kind, and was approved by us ali
The Spaniard also made speech, an
idiotic drunken mess of stuff that dis
gusted everybody.
[ have no issue to make with the
Bishop in regard to the honesty Of the
negro in the interior Of Africa. If his
dishonesty is not race trait here
then there is no apology, no excuse,
no exculpatory conditions. "Abnor-
malized environments and povertous
conditions will not account for
thefts Of ear rings, breast pins, lace
handkerchiefs, parasols and such
things that are neither food nor cloth
ing. The nurses and housemaids
who steal these things can all read
and write, and most Of them are much
farther advanced in the school books,
and they are all members Of the
Church in good standing.
But the Bishop speaks the truth
when he draws the contrast and says
one white man will steal more at one
grab than 1000 negroes will in forty
years. The negro will divide with
you, but the white man, if he steals at
all, takes all that he can get. The
white man will overreach,and cheat
and deceive in trading. He will get
the best of the bargain if he can, but
the negro is not give? to cheating.
He does not know how to drive a bar
gain and consequently is generally the
cheated party. All this is true, but
is it better for thousand negroes to
steal a little than for ten white men to
steal much? One cashier who en-
bezzles one hundred thousand dollars
can be handled and jailed, and drop
out of sight and memory, but thou
sand little petty thefts committed by
thousand different negroes keep up
continual aggravation. Bishop Tur-
ner and many other sympathetic
writer's on this subject are too apt to
lay all the blame upon the old defunct
institution of slavery when the fact is
that not negro under forty years OF
age has any recollection of its hard
ships, certainly not one under thirty.
But most Of the negroes who crowd
the jails now are under twenty, and
have really had better school adyan-
tages than the poor white people in.
the country. The young negroes Of
Cartersville are better scholars to-day
than the white children in the rural
districts. But they will steal.
was brought up with negroes in
and around the homestead, and there
was no kinder master than my father.
1 have no prejudice that l am con-
scious Of, and yet assert that as far
back as I can remember the family
negroes would pilfer little things.
For forty-four years of married life we
have never been without them as ser.
wants in our houshold, and | know Of
but one who was perfectly honest.
Sometimes I have turned away to
keep from detecting them in the very
act, and my solicitude now is for them
and not for myself. Is there no way
to stop it, must they keep on filling
up the jails and chaingangs, keep on
dropping out of sight and memory,
keep at work with sentinel and a
gun always in sight Is it not better
to punish with the lash Of the whip
ping post for these petty thefts and
turn him loose for another trial
Now stealing does not degrade or
disgrace the negro like it does white
person. We all recognize that and
continue to hire them. We condone
the offense before it is committed.
One of the best servants we ever had
said to me when [ complained of her
pilfering: "You don't miss what I
takes They are always kind and
they love to do you favor. They
are good companions and trusty mes
sengers, and if we could pick our
choice I would rather have them for
servants or for laborers than any race
know of. But among them are to be
found all over the land many who are
brutes-devils incarnate-6ends in
human form, and these seem to be in
creasing in numbers. The sentiment
of black heels on white necks is bear
ing fruit. To exterminate these the
lynchings will 60 on and all the world
says amen, whether the brutes be
black or white. Nothing but the
motto of Davy Crockett is wanted.
''Be sure you are right, then 60
ahead" Be sure of the right man,
then go ahead. Mistakes may have
been made, but don't know Of one
certainly not one that was established.
No good man, no reputable citizen is
in any danger, and if lynching will
saves the wives and daughters of our
people from these horrible outrages,
then let the summary process so on.
1t would save them if the negro
preachers and teachers and editors
would cry out against the outrages and
quit complaining about the lynchings.
If they do not begin it soon they, too,
may be held responsible. The sons of
Jacob slew all the males of Sheckem
for the sin of one towards their sister.
This horrible crime is snreadinp ran