The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-03-11
Press and Pulpit.

Press and Pulpit.
We have received a proof of the follow
ing editorial, which IL to appear in the
Reform ADVOCATE. of Florence. this week:
'Tbe murderers of the poor negro
woman and her son at Broxton Bridge,
in the county of Colleton, have been ac-
Quilted. The evidence pointed directly
10 thsir guilt, but a Jury of their country
men, in violation Of their sacred oaths,
have set them free, and the same result
would probably have been gained in any
county in the State. [. Is q condition Of
affairs that blurs the e%scutcheon of South
Carolina and causes those of her citizens
who wonld deal equal justice to the
negro to shed tears Of modification and
despair.
Tine State newspaper calls upon the
press of the State to wage war upon such
Injustice. We sanction the call and go
farther; we call upon the fathers and
mothers of the land 10 teach their chill
jren that the negro is q human being. en-
bowed by his Creator with a soul and by
bis State and country with rights and
privileges which are entitled to respect
and protection.
"We call upon the churches to in~culcate
this doctrine in their members; to bring
to tha attention OF their congregations the
great injustice b i,g done t lls dependent
race, aud in the name of a dying Savior,
whose blood was shed for all, to demand
Justice for them. We can arouse the
latent fires of sentiment as against tho
duellO, as against strong drink; does the
blood ola murdered negro appeal to no
one? 1t really seems 80, and when we
hear the light talk of our young men re-
garding this unfortunate race, we shud-
der for their future.
"Politics has had much to do with
shaping the destiny Of the negro; had he
never been made a voter, we firmly be
lisve tbat.the love and affection which
existed between the races during the days
Of slavery, would have in the main con-
tinued. There pas q chasm dug between
them during the days of reconstruction
which hes deepened instead of filling up,
| and which is th Q of the many H.
| justices that have been heaped upon
| them. 1t is all right and just that the
WHITE man should rule in this State, and
we even stretch U conscience to allow If
necessary q little fraud in the accom-
plishment of that end; but white suprem-
| acy is not vandalism or brutality; white
| supremacy is the enforcement of law and
| order, and since we have determined that
we will rule, which is Just and right, we
are in honor and good faith bound to see
| that our rule Is that of law, and that I'M.
der the law all are treated alike, regard
| less of the color of their skin. The negro
is a mental and as such appeals to our
| ideas of justice and right more than If he
were our equal, and we can expect
| the blessings of the Divine Creator upon
ua as a State while we violate His in
functions and attempt the oppression OF
any class of our citizenship"
This is we'll said, and we endorse it all;
! save all the conformation of fraud. The
white race is the master race. and its
| assumr.ion of the right to rule, prospect
i've OF naiorities, carries with 1t the
moral obligation to deal justly with the
| race that il ruled. Two-tifths of the peo-
| pie of South Carolina lain domination
| over three tifths-and on what ground?
| Because they, the minority, are the su-
| periors OF the majority in civilization, in
| Intelligence, in the capacity 10 govern
with Justice, integrity and humanity. And
! are we who make these claims to allow
| ourselves to be disgraced and degraded
by the brutal acts of some of our race
10 the level Of the Dahomeyans and the
| Ashantis? Are we to lot it be blazoned
To the world that our civilization is but
| skin deep, and that in our hearts we are
more brutal than those we assume to
hold in cbeck?' We cannot escape this
| condemnation, this blasting scorn OF man
kind, while we permit such crimes as
| those of Broxton Bridge to go unpun-
| ished and condoned.
We have societies for the prevention Of
| cruelty to animals, and the man who
4 YI,,t,os hto dor m Aaoth Ia nnf nnlu MN.
| ished but he is held in detestation by his
| EeighboIs. Must we have also q society
| for the prevention of cruelty to negroes,
to ensure for helpless men and women of
| that race the protection given to dogs?
The Reform Advocate is right; this is
not only a subject for the press but for the
pulpit; not only the pulpit but the fire
| side. 1t but anticipates us in this, for we
| had intended to appeal to the Christian
| ministry of the State for persistent war
| fare against these crimes that cry to
| heaven. Sam Jones told the truth the
other day when he said that if the
| preachers would ''preach less about the
| sweet 'by-and- by and more about the
nasty now" they would do more good.
South Carolina, unhappily-as we are re-
| minded by recent crimes and verdicts-
has not reached q state of Christianity
or morality 30 elevated az to need no
| primary instruction in either. We need
q pulpit which will grapple courageously
| with the evils of the day, the attrocious
| crimes that are staining our State and
making our boosted religion O mockery.
| And we need not only that murder shall
be warred against but that condition of
the public conscience which condones
| and acuuits it. The roots of brutality and
| murder, deep in the snb.stratum OF the
race ISSUE" should be sought and e1-
tirpated.
We are glad to see reform" papers,
like our Florence contemporary taking
this matter up, for many of them, by
raising unnecessary political "raca is
sues'' in the recent past, have-un %ittiDg-
| ly, of course-contributed to maintain
the hatreds that in brutal minds find vent
in such crimes and verdicts as Colleton
has recorded. And some of them have
80 fully endorsed l~ynchings that the I'M
| discriminating have interpreted that en-
| dorsement as meaning that negro life is
an inconsiderable thing.
We do not say this by way of taunt, but
to impress upon contemporaries Of that
political utilization the double duty which
rests upoI them-to tear down bad senti-
| ment and build up good. The Charles
ton Evening Post, we observe, intimates
that the Columbia Register can with i'll
grace denounce the Broxton Bridge muir
ders and acquittals, because a member OF
its staff had something to do with q
lynching in Lexington several years ago.
1t is true that we were Informed at the
time that the editor of the Register had
taken a shotgun to the scene and de.
handed and obtained the privilege of
firing the first load into the swinging
man-but so far from holding that for
this reason the Register should not now
denounce mob law, wet think it eminently
proper that it should. We are sincerely
| glad that 1t is converted, and we have
taken much pleasure in pu publishing its
! vigorous editorial on the subject.
This is a matter far above political or
personal considerations. The evil to be
eradicated is one that threatens the
moral and religious life of the State and
shames our manhood and our civiliza-
| zion. Every agency which can contribute
| 10 so great an end should be welcomed
| o,d ronopni,ad -HnyU7nbjn ,H0fp