The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1897-12-02

Blight Upon Southern Civilizatio,
anne NOW for opr People to Eman
cipate Themselves from The Tyranny
OF q Bloody Custom
:. lThe following contribution to the Sun
day News is from the pen of Col Edward
.'''' McCrady, OF Charleston, and merits a care
tut tperusal from all Of our citzcns-ED.
r Every law-abiding citizen must
= a: stand appalled, at the frequency O
homicide in the. State. There il
scarcely an issue of;a paper which does
...., not chronicle or comment upon some
: ;'e atfray or "diiliculty," as 1t is euphemis
~, :, tically termed, involving the life o
Ys' 4 some citizen. IT. IS verify true that oul
,brQthers' blood cries out from the
- ground against us.
Some years agu--1SS0 there ap-
peared work entitled Homicide,
North and South" +" in which Mr.. Red
II ~ fold, Che author, in DO unkindly spirit
~ :. examined and discussed this subject.
IS ~sEhe result Of his investigation was
:, - fearful I.
First. He found that from the re-
ports OF our own newspapers it ap-
peared that the number or hOmicides
x ia oar Southern States wore propor
; : tlonately greater than in any country
on earth :the population of which is
rated rs civilized.
Second. He found that the number
OF homicidcs in the Southern States
In the fifteen years before he wrote
w., reached the enormous aggregate OF
49, 10000.
In these Investigations Mr.. RED field
selected the States OF Texas, Ken
..... lucky and South Carolina for figures
upon which to base his estimates,
because in each Of these States there
was publlshed newspaper covering
local affairs in the entire State with q
nT
at least an approximate collection OF
cases OF hOmicldeS for u given period
Inc year 1878 was taken an average
year. The rtsIlt Frt rtsvntcd some
amazing contrasts and brought out the
differences in this respect between
Southern and Northern c,vljzaton in
sy,t iearlul colors. 1t is aiuful and mort
:; lying Tor Southern lnan-for a South
CarollnaE-tO tell even to his own
people what was thu, shown. But IL
recognition OF evil must come before
~; any 'etfcctual effort to amendment. If
WIFI shame, at least Win lrankness,
let US look at the condemnn.. facts.
>.Sx In Texas during the year t:.ure were
~ more homicdes than in tno ten States
= OF Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
MASSACHUSETTS, Rhode l,laLd, Con-
necticnt, New York, Pennsylvania
Michigan and Minnesota, with an ag-
= gregate population OF nearly, if not
,< quite, seventeen millions.
In Kentucky that year there were
more homicidcs than In tuc eight
q States of Maine, New Hampshire, Yer
$ . mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
= Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Min
ncsOta, with an aggregate population
Of'ncarly ten millions.
In South Carolua that year there
were more homicidcs than in the eight
Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, Michigan and Minnesota,
with an aggregate population Of about
six millions.
In this old State Of South Carolina,
with civilization dating back two
centuries, there are moro than twice
as many men killed annually than in
all the six New England States, with
more than four millions of Inhabitants
Mansaughter in the old State of South
Carolina was twelve or fourteen times
more frequent than in the old State OF
-. - Massachusetts,
'Et[ Mr.: R2dfcld's work was published
in. 1880, seventeen years ago. Is it not
sa'fact that the crime Of Homicide has
"'rather increased than decreased since
he wrote? We fear that it has.
,. Texas was long frontier SEatr. 1t
had had but loose Government, as
.ss, an independent Republic, and It's
9E iianlense area rendered it bat u
~ sbarsely populated community. 1t
still retains much Of frontier life
hcntuChy, IOo, HaU DOfAC bnc same
relation te;.the colonies and the old
thirteen States, and tho bloody i'm
preston 81 those early times it seems
,imp0ssigleNt etface. But, as Mr.. Red
~,:feiq points out, there is nothing in
..;thN >eArly history OF our community to
;: have given such Il turn to the people
*.ofSoHth Carolina. 1T is an old com.
lnunity, with conservative manners
and ways, and as between the whites,
without the friction Of varying nation
alitics, and without the lower foreign
population, in which mUst Of the crime
OF violence in the Northern States is
found. There is no reason why hOmi
eide among the whites Of South Caro-
lima should be more frequent than
among + o American born citizens OF
New England. And yet, measured by
relative population, MIR, II. dIicld finds
manslaughtcr among the white people
Of South Carolina to be more than ten
times moro frequent than amonA
T. American born cltZ9ns Of New Edg-
land 1t Is true, | believe, that this
terrible proportion is ccl.iinud to homl-
eide, and does not include murder. Our
- people do not kill from malice or fOr
plumber, but In hot blood for fnnciGd
wrongs. Murder is everywhere, but
tho fact that hOmicides are SO much
more frequent in the Southern States
than elsewhere should put the South
ern people upon inquiry as to the cause
and tho remedy.
Now what is the cause OF this :?
These figures show that we are a
bloodguilty people. Are we blood
thirsty people? do not believe that
weare
One cause witch is c0mmnr'y al
legged Mr.. Rcdfel>, demonsLr ..-s to be
unfoundcd, viz, lat % wii,1s Of
South Carolina carry pistols h"carse Of
apprehension OF danger from negroes
For if this were true wC would surely
find that the whites u.c their ristol.
moro frequently against blacks than
against those Of their own cU.Cr. The
reycrsn La the Case Mr. Rcdlicld