The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-11

An Injustice and Injury to the South.
Il am probably the only politician pres
emit have been elected governor of
state and / am a candidate for the
United States Senate, and expect to be
elected, - said Gov. Tillman, of South
Carolina, to the International Temper
ance Congress at Prohibition Park, Sta
ten Island, on Monday, June {.
Il said in my canvass two years ago,
and I say now. that governor as l am, I
would lead a mob to lynch any man, white
or black, who had ravished any woman,
white or black, " wrote Gov. Tillman to
the Rev. J. J. Hail. of Norfolk, Va, On
June !.
| On May 80 Gov. Tillman attended and
made a speech before a convention
of southern men held at Au-
gusta for the purpose of correcting
errors regarding the south and devising
ways and means TO induce a desirable
class of immigrants to come to this sec
/ ton. His speech contained some excel
lent points; but there Is grave reason to
fear that the good it may do will be more
than counteracted by the evil that viii
follow his utterance with regard to
! lYnchiDgs. For the facts which he took
pains to emphasize to the temperance peo-
! pie on Staten Island, that he is poll
tician, has been elected governor, and
expects to be sent to the United States
Senate, are generally known, and will
| give weight to his utterance on lynchings.
| the Rev. Mr.. Hall asked Gov. Tillman
for an expression on the subject IN order
/ to Cyaf1 with VII 70 mi IA
monstrous ISLANDERS upon the southern
white people being uttered by the mulatto
woman, Ida Wells, who is in London seek
! ing to infame foreign public sentiment
against our section of country So far
from standing by the law and his own
race and country, Gov. Tillman has put
into the hands of Ida Wells a terrible
weapon of attack. With Gov. Tillman's
letter she can say to her British audi
ences; "Here is evidence that 1 speak the
truth here is the letter of a leading poll
tician of the south, the governor of
southern state, who is about to be given
a seat in the federal Senate :;
he says, governor though he is,
he would lead lynching party. Could
he be a governor or a United States sena-
tor if he were not representative of
southern public sentiment"
And is it likely the south would have
friend in the audience well enough in
formed TO controvert the libel2 1t must
be borne in mind that the south is seek
ing immigrants from among Industrious
! Englishmen as well as other nationalities.
The English masses keep well informed
of the public questions of the day Is it
at all likely any of them would care to
emigrate to a country in which the leader
of lynching bee was leader of public
opinion, a governor and prospective
senators
The letter will be used to the great
prejudice Of the south, in a similar man
ner, in the western and northwest tern
parts of this country, from which it is
hoped to draw immigration to the south
The republican papers are already making
the most they can to the south's disad-
vantage of it. Most of them, in COM
menting upon Gov. Tillman's letter,
ignore the fact that lynchings occur in all
parts of the country, when the truth is
that the better sentiment of every section
condemns the disregard of law.
The crime for which lynchings most fire.
quently occur is regarded with especial
hatred and adherence in both the north
and the south, and public sen timent calls
for the speedy punishment of its perpe-
traitors But the courts are organized for
the purpose of Furnishing wrongdoers,
and good citizens, more especially the gov
emo rs of states and prospective senator's,
should insist that the law and the courts
be forever upheld. In departing from
that safe and only tenable ground, Gov.
Tillman has done injustice and injury not
only to his own state but to the whole
south. If he is so much in favor of lynch
ing, why didn't he have a law enacted by
his legislature legalizing it? What reason
is there for having a law which the chief
executive openly states he will violate if
the occasion for doing so arrives2