The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-11-29

human nature docs not work that way
ano wrong alte0ys breeds smother lue
Justice hoeet4 bnirol ou botu sldcs. and
hatred vjolpueo. Violence degenerate
into detjiah cruylties end HE ue2t lbiut
We kuuv our morning newspaper de-.
services bow negro rayisher has benu
burned nt he stake down South and ha
Hcah torn from the bones
Men nud women otherwise w0rthv
acem 10 lose their humanity and their
reason under these circumstances
have heard Southern men Of gentle breed
iur ardcutly defend the atrocious fortunes
inflicted on the negroes, md Southern
women declare chat the fortunes ought
10 have been prolonged and refined
They look at the victims OF the negroes
brutality, aud forget the causes leading
up to IT, Hanging they affirm, or punish
ment by process Of law, is too good for
negro criminals: il puffs them up with
the notion that they are as good as hui
man beings. Hang a niger, and next
thing they will be asking to marry into
your family or he chairman Of your de-
batingHlub. No, the only way with them
is to torture them to the utmost limit
Of your ingenuity and their consciousness
If you demonstrate, they reply: "Ah, You
don't know these deyils" II you rcjOiu
that you know something Of human ma
ture-"Ah, but these niggers areR't hu
mani is their answer; and that settles
It,
II may bc that the regular courts fail
of doing their duty in relation to the
negro ravisbcrs and murJerers; there
may be technical difficulties in the way Of
proving guilt or the laws delays may
annul the wholesome effects Of punish
ment when it comes. We may conccde
all that, and yet the truth remains that
these Southern lynchers are adopting the
very worst means possible to attain the
end Mt which they profess to aim. The
animal sensuality Of the negro, and his
lack Of will power bring about the first
crime and then he murders his victim for
the very reason that he knows that dis
covery will insure torture. Were he
certain Of due trial by law, he would
often hold his hand and take his chances
But it is the torturers, and not the
tortured, that must arouse our most seri-
Gus concern. After however lingering
and painful a death the negro dies at
last and his troubles are over. But his
executioners do not get off SO easily.
has kindIed q fire under q negro over
night or Of q woman who has pokcd
ont his eyes with a red-hot stick. Con-
slider the influence of such spectacles upon
those who witness them They have UNI
lawfully violated, once and for all the
fundamental instincts OF humanity The
violation committed by the ignorant saw
age whom they destroyed viii not bear
SO hard upon him hereafter as will this
crime upon them. They can never re-
cover from the degradation that they
have inflicted on themselves; and the
more they attempt to justify it, the more
deeply will its poison sink into their
souls. BY murderig the mental part
Of the negro, they murder what should be
immortal in themselves. The negro has
by far the best of the bargain.
They do not attempt to justify it and
from that the step is easy to repeating
the monstrous deed, and enjoying it,
They grow to love revenge. torture, wan
ton cruelty; they learn to infict agony for
the pleasure Of inflicting it, just as one
drinks wine or hears music. The crime
Of the negro becomes mere preteXt for
calling out the neighboring families to a
torture-bee; the entertainment is popular,
as, In classic times, were the perform
ances Of the Roman coliseum. 1t is free
murder with no admission fee,
When negroes we're slaves they bore
a fHoney value and such diversions would
have been too costly; but in these days
Of freedom and enlightenment, let US
improve the shining hour. Such is the
law of our nature each crime we commit
upon it procreates blacker evil still
Such are the penalties these Southern
outlaws have brought down upon them
selves.
And why specify Southerners? We
here in the North, with indefinitely less
warrant and provocation, follow their
example We, too, have our whitecaps
and our lynchers In the midst Of a civ
ilization where schools and churches are
only less plentiful than liquor saloons,
we drag men or women from their beds
and whip or hang them. We can throw
no stones at the South ON this score. The i
contagion spreads; even the press, either