The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-08-10

1t. 1t is the spontaneous outburst OF !
emotions long felt and long s%mothered,
and those emotions are based upon
love-love for home and wife and chill
dreD, love and respect for the wives
and daughters Of the neighbors.
J4ynching negroes for this crime is no
evidence Of lawiessnessa among our peo-
pie. The crime stands out by itself as /
an atrocity for which no law Ia de-
quate and no remedy has yet been
found. Why 1t should be on the in
crease In defiance OF lynchings we can
not tell. 1t may be that since the war
northern philanthropy, supplemented
by southern of~ice-seekers, have 80 ex-
allied his consequence and his desire
for social equality that his fear OF gun
ishment has been allayed. But certain
it Ia that the race has not yet been
greatly inundated by lynchings, and
they are considered martyrs by most
OF their preachers aud teachers aud
editors. How many moro outrages
there would be IL those ~lypchings
should stop we can only conjecture.
Bishop Turner proposed . day of fast
Ing and prayer for the ~deliverance OF
his people from these horrible lynch
ings, but not q word about tho outrages
that provoke them.
Built Is curious and mewhat anus
Ing to read the different counts In this
general bill OF Indictment against the
people who resort to violence. Some
assert ~vehemently that there Is d de-
iect in tho laws machinery, and some
say o One preacher says that so per
cent OF those indicted escape. One
more would come square up to Judge
Doo!y's estimate whom he said Gen
tiemen OF the jury, l charge you that
the ninety-nine guilty ones have al
ready escaped" One learned lawyer
says that ryder would certainly have
been tried and convicted in September,
anu doubtless been speedily executed.
Another says he would have been sen,
to the asylum as a ~lunatic. Judge
Bleckley says the law needs no reform
ing-.that 1t is rightn now. The Bar as
ISOLATION nave resolved hat it does
need reforming. One preacher quotes
scripture that a THE land must not
be detiled with BLOOD" but docs not
give the context that q y innocent
blood, and the further context that
says Deliver him unto the hand Of the
avenger of blood that he may die, and
thine eye shalt not pity him." Life for
lie, hand for hand, etc. Let them
stone him with stones" etc. 1t seems
axe a ourlesque for any preacher to go
to the old Mosaic law for text against
=" hCluOub
crimes. The avcnger Of blood was on
the warpath all the time and even the
man who unwittingly killed his neigh
Dor, not batting him beforehand, had tt
fly for his life to the city OF refuge lest
the avenger OF blood overtake him, and
being hot shall Stay him. Yes, being
hot shall Stay him. Those avengers OF
blood must have been blood-thirsty fell
lows indeed. 1t was an awful code OF
W hnf thn nh Id n al T,,, -- -
awful race to deal with. | wonder what
the boys OF this generation would say
to u law like this: "Ifa man have a
stubborn and rebellious son who will
not obey the voice of his father or his
mother, then shall his father lay hold
on him and bring him to the elders and
say this, our son, will not obey our
voice. And all the men of the city
shall stone him with stones that he die.
And Israel shall hear and fear % What
a horrible death was that And vet it
ment. If | was Il preacher / wouldn't
go to the Old Testament for a text
against lyuching. | wouldn't aver
quote Cain, whom the Lord marked,
Tor 1T Teens very certain hat II the
Lord had not interfered the people
would have lynched him. Josephus
says that the Lord protected him be-
cause of his Offering and because he
~entreated and said ''Is my sin too
great to be forgiven?"
To my mind the sum Of the whole
matter Is that neither the laws DELAY
o its uncertainty has anything to do
with the impulses and emotions that
control men when they pursue and
overtake and identify and EXECUTE a
negro Tor his crime against helpless in
nocence. Every parent and husband
and brother In the peighborhood imme-
dlately becomes An avenger of blood
IL the brute has already been caught
by the officers OF the law and securely
placed in prison, then let him stay
} there and meet his doom accord.
ing to law. would not take any pris-
oner away from an honest and faithful
s~heriH-unless perhaps the victim was
one OF my family, nor even her unless
1T could be done without shedding the
blood of officers or friends.
For oil other crimes the laws we have
are good enough for all gooG citizens,
and ! leel no great concern for the bad.
| suppose thai at least half the lawyers
carry concealed weapons, but they
don't carry them for me. Certain it IL
| wan6 no advice on this subject from
press or pulpit, from judges or law
yers, aud especially from young un-
married mep or those who 1.-Two In rock
built cities. l had rather hear and
heed the voice Of the women Of this
Southern land, the mothers and daugh-
ters who alone are the victims when
peril comes. II 1t comes at all. What
do thoy sayp BILL ARR.
~ II q N1ur