The record-union., 1894-07-07
IMPRESSIONS OF THE SOUTH.
How to Ameliorate the Condition Of
the Working Men.
Institutions should be Established to
Educate Girls in Domestic
Duties.

Especial Correspondence of REcoRD-UNIeN.l
ATLANTA, Ca, June 20, 1S94.-It is
naturally impossible TO recognize sharp
line of demarkation between the region
known as the Southwest and that other
region which we call the South. although
we may be clearly conscious that the tra-
ditions and characters OF these regions are
unlike. Going eastward from El Paso. /
finally reached town which / knew be-
longed to the South. They were hanging
negro. The affair was said to be strictly
private, yet as many persons had been
admitted to the Jail as could find stand
ing-room, and the adjoining streets we're
such sorts and conditions as the country
afforded. There were young men on
horseback from the rural districts. old
men in wagons and boys perched on
posts and roofs and every elevated object
available all gazing ihtently at the win
dows to get some indication of the move
ment within. This was a plain legal
execution for murder. But it is
not executions of this kind which
are at present provoking unfavor-
of the South; rather those which are
held somewhat frequently without the
observance of the forms of law, and not
always for murder.
Probably no reasonable person will
hold that the lynching habit is desir-
able acquisition for any community, still
it is possible that some of the condemna-
ton of it as it has appeared in the South
has been unwarrantably severe. It goes
vii haf fol 1ioh
ishment it must be adjusted to the social
significance of crimes, and also that the
social significance of given crime varies
as the conditions and forms. of society
vary. It is, therefore, impossible to fix
by law definite, uniform punishment
for crime which shall be equally appro-
pirate and just under all the different
conditions of society. In an old and
thickly populated community, devoted
to manufacturing and commerce, the
crime of stealing cattle Is of little signifi-
canoe, since it is impossible for it to be
carried so far as to threaten the existence
of the society in question. But in a
region where the raising of cattle fur
nishes the essential material basis of the
society, that without which it cannot
stand, the crime of stealing cattle has a
far-reaching social significance. The
security of the herds is absolutely neces-
sary to the existence of the society.
Consequently the punishment which
would be just and appropriate in one place
might be entirely Inadequate in the other.
The need of estimating differently the
same act in the two cases has been clearly
Recognized by the members of commune
ties having the characteristics indicated.
1t is in recognition of this distinction that
the raisers of cattle on the plains have
often insisted on capital punishment,
either with or without the sanction of the
law, for any one guilty of stealing cattle.
They recognize that crime must be pun
ished in accordance with it's social signifi-
canoe. But the law is usually made under
and for given conditions, and presumes
for any given crime uniform significance
in all the communities within the juris-
diction of the Legislature. This, how
ever. does violence to the facts, hence
there is sometimes in some places an APP
peal from the terms of the law 20 the
direct judgment of the lawmakers, who
in this case happens to be the people of
the community.
Something of this kind is at present
happening in the South with reference to
the outrages committed by negroes. In
view of the fact that large mum bers of the
negroes are almost exclusively under the
domination of powerful instincts, and
that they have never been taught the ne
cessity of restraint, either by example or
of the most essential conditions OF CIV
ilized life would be frequently violated.
1t might also be expected, in view of the
frequency of these crimes, that there
should arise the thought, that the estab-
lished law, with its uncertainties and in
adequate punishments. is incompetent to
stem The force of undisciplined passion,
and render a sufficient protection to vir-
tue. And the maintenance of this end is
conceived to be essential to the contin-
uance here of civilized society, and more
than balances, on the side of the good,
the evil of Irregular executions.
If it is true that in one section of the
country many criminals are punished
without due process of law. it is not clear
that this fact indicates worse social con-
dition than the fact that, by due process of
law, in another section many criminals
escape punishment altogether.
1t Is expected that visitors in the South
will be impressed with the magnitude of
the so-called negro problem. But it may
readily happen that the unprejudiced OBJ
server will conclude that the negro prob
lem appears difficult because certain
preconcelved solution is desired. and be-
cause there is little or no prospect of
reaching that particular solution. In its
progressive changes, society is not likely
to follow the preferred plans of any
group or class, since these are generally
constructed rather on the basis of wishes
than OH the recognition Of the forces
which are working to effect modifica-
ton OF the society IN question. The
white people of the South have had deti-
mite programmes for the social changes
which they hoped to see realized, but the
events have not indicated that these pro-
grammes were to be speedily carried out;
and because the movement has not been
along their predetermined line, they have
conceived the problem to be attended
with enormous difficulties. They have
not stopped to consider that, after all,
perhaps the problem as they have con-
ceived it is not the real problem that is
to be worked out here.
The task which the two races have be-
fore them in producing harmonious COM
munities is not to be belitGled, but 1t is
unduly magnified by the members OF the
English stock, because its settlement will
practice of sweeping away the alien and
ruling alone. But it Is not more difficult
than the Indian question in Mexico. In
some respects these two social and politi-
cal questions may be compared. The
Indians, as well as the negroes, have been
the slaves of the white race. Both bear
the burdens of the ordinary labor of their
respective communities. Both suffer
under the prejudices of dominant classes.
The negro has the advantage, however,
that it is easier to arouse in him an am
bition to rival bis social superiors, and in
this he is aided by his desire and power
to initiate others. AS fast as the barriers
against him are removed, his wants tend
to increase, and these increased wants
furnish powerful incentive to continu-
Gus work; and when rude people has
been made to feel the need, and adopt the
practice, of continuous labor, il has taken
the most important of all steps upward
toward civilization. Where the negroes
are distributed in not too large numbers
among the whites, as in the border States,
~ FL t1,xt