Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1894-06-22

remains for the Republican party o
Iowa to do its duty and condemn thes,
disgraceful scenes perpetrated upoI
| the American soil-to stand for Law
and simple justice. Will the. party
meet this living issue squarely .ane
fairly? The .colored Americans have
waited for some action by their ole
friends. Shall they wait in vain.
They ask permission to live according
to the laws of the land in peace anC
die honorably.
We quote from Judge Albion w
Tourgee:
The Republican press, with a few
praiseworthy exceptions, bewail with
almost fearful earnestness the indis-
cretions of Miss Wells and others, in
making such an appeal to English
prejudice" especially at this time,
when the Repu blican party, which is
the true friend of the Negro, is about
to win decided victory" !"
We are assured with gravity which
is really ludicrous that 'sthe effect OF
British interference with American af-
fairs will be to deprive the colored
man of the sympathy of the Republican
party If this were intended for a
jest it would be the ssboss'' joke Of the
season. Republican sympathy" in
deed! There is one thing hopeful about
that statement The writer's conscience
did not permit him to say Republican
aid' or .Republican effort" or Ere
publican cooperation" but only 'sRe-
publican sympathy!'
Why? All, God of liberty, that it
should be needful to ask! Was it be-
cause he knew and realized that it was
the fixed determination of the leaders
Of the Republican party to emasculate
that grand organization by obliterating
it's distinctive principle and making it a
sterilized Wing party, concerned only
with economics and deaf to liberty and
the rights of man? Thank heaven
there are still few-very few it must
be admitted-Republican papers which
have the courage to declare chat ssthe
rights of man are paramount to the
rights of things and Justice to the
citizen is the only secure foundation for
national prosperity"
The, churches have been appealed to
in this matter but they have turned a
deaf ear to the question. Instead OF
condemning they have made apologies
for the deeds Of mobs. They split on
the rock of the sschief corner stone of
he southern confederacy"- human
slavery. One faction admitted slave
holders as communicates while the
other was as silent as the tomb on this
question which was then agitating the
entire country. There never existed a
people who prayed more and believed
and attended religious services more
than colored Americans and they
naturally turned to those processing re-
ligion for help and snccor in their
years of trouble. But it remains for
the American home Gods temple to
do what those who alleged themselves
to be Gods chosen people refused to do.
We quote the same authority again:
The religious press, with very few
exceptions, labors to show that the evil
is not SO bad as it is represented. Con-
fining themselves solely to the matter
of lynching, they lay it is growing less,
basing their assertion on the single
fact that there were not SO many formal
hangings last year as the year before,
quite neglecting the fact that there
were many more murders, and that there
was an incredible Increase in the bar
barity and atrocity Of such acts. They
ignore, also, the supremely significant
fact tLat in a group Of States in most,
if not all, OF which murder, rape, arson,
and burglary are capital crimes, only
three white men have been executed
for crimes against colored citizens in
quarter of a century.
Now, every man who has not been
asleep during that time, or so absorbed
in mis- own salvation that he had no
thought to give to those who, though
sscapable Of being Christianized can
never be Americanized,' as leading
religious authority laeely declared,
knows these facts:
l. That during that time more than
1000 colored citizens have been killed
in those states by white men.
2. That thousands of colored smen's
homes have been broken open and the
dwellers therein scourged and often
slain.
8. That thousands of colored women
have been outraged, often with de-
moniac orgies which language is mad
equate to depict.
4. That it is just as safe for white
man to kill negro in those states as it
is for him to kill a dog.
Why is the religious press of the
North silent or excusative in regard to
these things? One great reason is that
it knows them to be done, ,nstigated,
and justified by their cc-religionists of
the South. When the recognized
leader Of a mob which burns a Negro
in the presence of thousands is a lead
ing member of church and an active
worker in the Sunday school, it is not
to be expected that the press 0 that
denomination will be eager to apply to
the crime the same epithets it would
otherwise find appropriate.
There is no reason to doubt that II
the perpetrators of mob violence at the
South were Catholics, or even the
greater portion Of them Catholics, the
religious press of the country would
Il, no hoe ', .. n lame with ipdipnapt prO-