The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-01-13


killed ii be laid dowo his arms aud
! came naked out OF his cabin He drop
ped his rife and came out clothed.
Then he was set spoo 6y tnepbera OF
be posse aod SHOT down. x -
ii was equivalent to the violation CT a
nss Of ,ruce-tbe most damniug breach
OF tie laws OF war .
Wiz our condemuers say The iaforcia-
ton on Which We based our criticism
was untrue They do not deny it. II
it vas true, by what code of honor will
they prove our conclusion false Can
not, will no, the meD who condemn
US understand that VIC & Dot speak for
Simon Cooper. whose death was but
paltry pay for his hideous crimes, but
FOR the maobood of South Carolina
10 his card, "Citizco" says:
Could you. Mr. Editor, have been
in this coumnuity aad witnessed the
horrors that We have. you could not, ss
human beiug, condemn the action Of
those citizens who killed Cooper. No
torture which human agency could
devise could ibAict the punishment this
devil deserved -
Gould the men have been there,
"Citizeu," who 10 past days made
South Caroliua a name Of hooor from
ocean to ocean, and witnessed the bor
rors described, they would. if we mis-
take not. have been so ioaamed by a
just anger, that they, arms 10 hands,
would have searched fcr the butte who
like a rabid animal was spreading death
in his path. aud 6udipg him would have
rushed upon him, barricaded though be
was, and killed hin Some may have
died, but their names would be high up
on the hooor role; those who survived
would have had the consciousness Of
baviog bravsly done their duty. The
copscences of some South CsFoluisos
would not have made them feel that
this act was something to be ashamed
Of; they would have needed 20 resou
tons of endorsement to justify their
action 1t was iu the name of men
who would SO act that we condemned
! the manner 10 which Simon Cooper
was killed When he was empty
handed and had practically surreedered,
the legal haugmao should have been
his executlo5er
We are DOT disposed to barshly critl
else those who have condemned us, nor
to show that several statements in the
resolutions are at variance With pub
lished reports, and that others are pre-
sented for the first time. We do not
recognize them, however, as the
spokesmeu for Sumter, Darlington,
Clarendon and Florence. The fact is
that quite number of the citizens of
Sumter whc were 10 the posse at the
time of Cocper's capture. aud were
doubtless as much enraged at the cruel
murder of the Wilson family, coun-
seled against his killing, and for some
time prevented others from takiog the
prisoners life.
If the people of Lyucbburg aod
vicinity cosld rise above their some
what natural passions, aud realize bow
the executions of lyncbers, which be-
gan for one crime only, are extending
in some sections to trivial ofenses
how the ooce semi-respectable court of
Judge Lynch" has become shield
for the naturally lawless. bloodthlrsty
aud cowardly, they might appreciate
the honest purpose of The State 'n its
ceasure. They would kuow then that
the States efforts are for South Caro-
lina's betterment, and that only the
action of its people will reflect 90 the
good name of any community.
As we said in the begioniog. The
State has been censured for coudemulng
Iyncbings before. On one occasion a
mass meeting as Deumark-shsre is as
much safety 10 mass meeting as in a
lynching party-declareo thas tnis papes
was encouraging negroes to assault white
women. That was horrible charge
aud we'll calculated to make even colo
blood boil. but after applying a little
logic we were able to take the matter
more philosophicalIy. As the members
of the mass meeting were supposed to
have lyuched negro for 40 attempted
assault. it was manifest they considered
that crime deserving immediate death
1t vas equally clear that white los'l-
gator of negro to such crime was
more deserving of death than the ne
gro. Then it tappeared as plaln as day
that those who had yuched an unarmed
negro, and then accuse The State of a
worse crime, refraioiug from vis'og
Columbia and attempting to execute
the editor, ''in defense of our homes.
COO victed themselves of either an no
speakable base slander or of miserable
poltroonery.