The Washington bee., 1894-09-22

BILE opinion, prevent your coming to
see us, even if only for the purpose of
correcting false impression which you
believe rests on our minds.
We regret, Governor, sincerely that
the opinion exists in the South to a
great extent that the colored people, or
| any Of their leaders, condone crime
committed by any member of the race
Nothing could be further from the
truth. We condemn every species of
;crime. and use our every influence
trough, the press and otherwise, to
stem It's progress.
We demand reasonable and fitting
| punishment for any accused person du-
| ly tried by jury of his peers. But we
| make no ap 'logy to any one in our un-
compromising demand that no man
! shallbe punished by any method other
than that sanctioned 10y the laws Of the
State and nation, and the courts sci
apart to decide upon their constitution
alitY.
CONCERNING CRIME.
No longer than last night we passed
resolutions condemnlng crime, where
ever perpetrated by our race, and de-
precatiEg frequent charges of crime
against us, even though often ground
less. But even this is no argument in
favor of the greater of mob violence,
which violates every form of law and
oft glorified civilization.
We endorse the crusa de of Miss Ida
Wells i'll Great Britain- against lynchiI g
i'll America, just as the Hungarians
endorsed koSSuth, and the Irish Par
nell, during their crusade in America,
in favor of the rights of their people,
and the American people Wendell Phil
lips, Frederick Douglass, and Henry
Ward Beecher in Great Britain, in de-
fence of negro emancipation ipin the
United States. 1t is the prime, lie f r
Which she contends that inspire cOnti--
dence and regard, and touches a re
SponSive chord in our hearts.
We cannot say that all she says is
false i'll this crusade. We certainly
know that hundreds of negroes have
been murdered by resort to lynch-law,
which is no law, who were not even
accused of the unme tiOnabe crime of
which we hear SO much. The Clifton
Forge, (Va.) lynchihg and the one at
Richlands, Va is another which aptly
illustrates this point.
Miss wells has named the instances,
number and severity of the lynchings
committed during the past five years
among which Was one at Memphis
Tenn, her severe criticism of which
forced her exile from. that proud city.
Neither of the three parties lynched
there was accused of the crime so often
charged, and were leading and respect
able citizens. The last iynchlng at or
near Memphis, about week ago, am
ply suStainS and justifies her crusade,
if nothing else could.
A MEMBER.
More than this, the fact that Miss |
Wells is a member OF our association, |
and at one time the secretary Of the |
same, entities her to our esteem, re- |
spect and sympathy, and her self-sacri- |
fc1ng labOrS to our hearty cOmmenda- |
ton.
Most of the members of this associa-
tion are southern men and share what
ever fate this section suffers, but hui
man life is more precious and human
liberty more valuable than financial
success or mercenary gain.
we love the law, and will use our
best efforts to sustain and uphold it,
but we cannot stand idly by and see
our race hung without judge or jury by
a laWlesS mob and not cry aloud
against it. If southern white men
were murdered in the same way every
outhern white man and woman and
newspaper would rise in open indigna-
tion and rebellion against such atrOci-
ties, and they would be right.
We are delighted to know that you,
Governor O'Ferrall, with the Govern
OrS of North Carolina, Georgia, and
Tennessee, backed up by growing pop
ular sentiment against lynchings, are
determined to put stop to them.
Roanoke, Va, stands out as a mighty
sign post to warn the laWleSs disposed
that law is supreme in State and ma
ton.
The humblest citizens has rights
which other men are bound to respect
We ask no more; we can be content
with no less. Again regretting that
the simple performance CT duty we
felt that we owed to a brave little WO-
man who has dared to champion our
cause and speak for those who could
not speak for themselves in land
where great sympathy is known to be
felt for us, prompted your refusal to
visit us and speak d word of hope ana
admonitiOn and even to suggest some
timely advice. and trusting that time
will bring all things right, heal all
jealousies, blot out all prejudices, and
bring about a oneness in sympathy in
love and hope and a clearer understand
ing of the relations which should exist
between the two races and sections
''when the mists have rolled away" we
are yours,
with great respect,
JOHN MITCHELL, JR.,
JOHN G.. DANUY,
w. CALVIN CHASE,
c.. J. PERRY,
SCOTT WOOD,
WIN. M. ALEXANDER,
Committee.