Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1894-08-18

ge n6r eHOrIb OF OoiSh W Bi'0 en0 o.
. Co the truth OF what she assays. ell
Miss IDA b. WELLS has only told a v
art OF the whole truth. To tell 1t
"a It Is would tend to leave one I'M p
with this section to CO
doubt that the horrors of the Middle
Ages had been outdone. "
No crime however base can Justify n
lnhuman and barbarous toItures by i
a Christian people Lynching In the 8
South is not by any means confined c
to the punishment of the la ~less and
the depraved. 1t Is not exercised $
only upon those guilty of assault
upon female virtue and 1t is fallacy G
to presume so. IL
A colored man guilty OF rape upon
a white woman is not always punish
ed, but some other colored man is,
the idea being that some Negro
must suffer, Just as the early settlers
proceeded to kill Indians wherever
found because some member of their
family had been scalped by them.
White men with blackened faces who
have committed heinous crimes of
this description have only TO secure
the lynching of some Negro in order |
to be safe from pursuit.
i The raping of a colored yo!nen by |
a white man Is not onsixsred a
crime, and although th9occurrence is
common, there is no recovA Of where
the extreme penalties OF the law
have been visited upon any who
have been charged with so grave an
offence.
n Illicit intercourse with 9 white
woman, even with her consent is in
} the South regarded as rape, and
when the information is given to
. other white persons death is the pen
/ atty.
I'll To be intimate with a white wo-
{ man to whom colored man has
!, been previously welded is punisha-
BILE by the incarceration of both par
D ties In the state penitentiaries.
eI Law-abiding citizens are lynched.
8 AUGUSTUS M. Nicely was lynched in
a Tennessee. f. Is. HooD, law-abid-
n ing school teacher, was lynched July
Is 2, 1894, In Mississippi. WILL La
/. vENDER, The was innocent law
II abiding citizen was lynched at Roam
Y oke, Va. The colored boy that acct
dentally but lightly touched a white
( lady with a whip yet was lynched
,f therefor was lave biding citizen.
$ The argument that in order to stop
10 lawlessness, remove the cause there
e. for is peculiar reasoning and so faI
n as we can see will tend to remodel the
9 criminal departments of all govern
Is ments.
Del The presumption is that until thu
Id said causes are removed no effort Il
punish the lawless should be mad
,p nor steps taken to condemn thei
ee actions.
nd The lynching of human beings
No. llawlessness. 1t should not be pun
IL ishad. but the cause which produce
to ths.IJnching should be stopped, an
the remedy found Ia that way. Tn
m murderer should not be punished fo
CHI the murder committed, but til
ee cause which produced the murdt
should be removed and then murdt
lse will be stopped.
ol- The thief or robber should not /
IN punished for the theft or robber,
nv but the cause which produced ii
he theft or the robbery should be T
moved and the trouble complaint
of will disappear. Fine theoretic
argument that. 1t holds good In Il
" practice of medicine, but is not alt
gether the remedy with regard
In crime, but punish by legal process
hes the criminal after he has commit,
ST. it. Miss WELLS is not apologisiI
po. for crime, but is condemning t
ion method of Furnishing it.
of AS to the remarkable progress
the race, we regard this not as In
as,- eating that they are not unduly p
To ished, but rather that they ha
ais been nerved to greater efforts by I
i'm prejudice and desire to accompl
.;no more on account of their undone C
t it dition.
1t is the stolid determination
With the ex-slave to build foundati
,urn for the children. Mr.. AsTwOoD's
hat sertions that If the situation was
n OK bad as pictured by Miss WELLS Il
atri- there are good white men and
s. of men who would champion ii
Ina rights is already answered by tn
.fore who have.
rati- The late lamented HENRY
be- GRADY spoke golden truths in
behalf. The much admired and
the tice loving Rev. DR.. ". w. LANDl
+ the backed by host of others, not
the cepting the distinguished sch'
and statesman, Hon. j. L. M. C
n all RY, d. D., have spoken In behal
that human rights and deprecated
= IL OutraQes to which we have been