Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-04-20
INNCHINGS.

Some days ago several colored bishops
called upon President Mckinley and
urged him TO put a stop to lynchings.
President Mckinley. of course. has no
thing to do with putting stop to lynch
ings. He has no more power TO put
stop to them than the man in the moon,
although his nominal and theoretical po-
sition as the head of the trio-Mchinley
Hanna. and Reed-that is trying TO run
these United States, may reasonably have
given rise TO a contrary impression.
However. the incident affords the
1ynchburg News an opportunity to make
this good point:
"Mr. Mckinley ought 10 have availed
himself of the occasion-whether he dld
or not we do not know-to do what Presi-
dent Harrison did not do upon similar
occasion A deputation of negroes called
upon President Harrison on a similar err
rand and while he expressed to them the
utmost adherence of the crime of lynch
ing their race in the South, he forbore to
give them one word OF admonition against
the frequent preparation by their race in
that section of the awful crime which.
in nine cases out Of ten, constituted the
provocation for the summary punishment
of the cuprt."
And i'm this connection ii may be stated
that some of our northern contemporaries
are beginning to dispense to their read
ers more impartial light than heretofore
touching lynchings at the South. The
Providence Journal for instance. admits
that the South executes summary
vengeance in other than negro cases
though. of course. less frequently" and
says. further. that the South lynches
the wretches whom it suspects of as
saulting or numbering its women, not only
because it desires to punish the offenders
but because it fears for the safety of
the mothers and daughters who" adds our
Providence contemporary, ARE left. To
the vengeful feeling of a mob is added
sickening dread of some similar catastro-
phe within its own homes"
The Journal does not state, as 1t ought
to, that rarely, If ever, has an innocent
victim been lynched at the South, and
ii makes no reference to the many lynch
ings that have recently taken place in
the North and the West. In fact, its
article is mainly in the nature of COM
harrison between the "hot-headedness" of
the people of the South in the presence
of a shocking crime, and the 'cool-head-
edness" of the people of New England
under similar circumstances. But the
article is none the less distinct advance
I'm the way of doing justice to the South
in respect to this matter AS 10 the
South's executing summary vengeance
less frequently upon whites than upon
negroes, the Journals "of course eX-
plains that. These two words constitute
an admission that the crime that pro-
vokes nearly every case of lynching In
the South is confined almost exclusively
10 the negro race. AS to the question OF
uniting O. stop TO lynching, we iterate
what we have said frequently in dis
cussng this subject. The only way TO
accomplish that is 10 put an end to the
provocation.
The Journal and one or two other
northern papers we could name are on
the right tack. They are recognizing
the facts as they exist. Let other north
ern friends Of the negro DO likewise, in
stead or drawing up an lnldihouS ihuiS'-
ment against the whole South every time
one of the negro race pays summary
the penalty Of the most brutal crime
known TO society, and the chances are
that they will contribute materially 10
the stopping Of lynching. The respect
able negroes of the South, who nave re-
cognized the facts and shown no sym
pathy with brutes OF their own race that
have been lynched, have done more TO
reduce the number of lynchings thnn
AL the diatrbes that have ever been writ
ten against ''mob law" and Tor the rea-
son that their failure 10 extend sympathy
mr. make excuse for the victims has had
a strong influence in diminishing the
crime for which lynching is inflicted.