The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-01-06
FOREIGN AND NEGRO CRIME

In his address at Austin, Texas, to
the National Prison Congress Presi-
den' Winston, of the State University,
stated that over half of che criminals
or colored, although these two ele
neuts constitute ll;tie more than one
fourth If our population. The foreign
element is one and d half times as
criminal as the native white, and the
cnlored CItjz@n is three times as CrlnI-
nsl as the naive white. One hall IT
our foreign criminals are unnatural z@d
and II per cent. Gan neither read nor
write. It would be profitable, Press
dent Winston maintains, for he United
States TO refuse to receive this class OF
immigrants and it would be economi-
Cal TO "donare S25 900, oco annually
for their support In their own coun
tries.
A curious circumstance brought ont
by President Winston IS the TACT that
"the colored population that can read
dii'l "fItC dlC iIOiC NiIuitHdi tidb t'C
llliterate. While 81 per cent. Of the
coIored population are 1lltera'e, only
"a per cent. Of Colurtd criminals are
lIlnera,e. 1t appears also 'ha, the
col red population was one-ihIrd III 1re
criminal III 1890 than 1880. 1t has
been sad by some Northern writers
that the excessive number or COnvlC-
tons Of colored people IS due TO ihe PIE
ndCe q the judges ana magistrates OF
the SDuth-that The whites in the 5 surh
are equally Criminal. hut ESCAPE trlal
and conviction, whIi. the negro, hr-
ing without friends, gers he full rgor
Of the law. Bu, President Winston
shows that TN, IS not the case. Inc
statistics show, he says, that the railo
of negro prisoners aud Of negro pau
pers to negro population IS very much
higher III the Northern than in The
| Sou bern Stale The negro l. nearly
! three times as criminal ID the North
| Ctn'rai as in the S,uth Central, and
| three and half tunes as criminal IN
| the Western States As IN The South At
| IauuC. In short, he negro is fully
two and a halt times as criminal in the
| States where he was free as IN those
where he was held in slavery. And
| the negro Is more criminal as a free
man than he was as a slave. The
negro'5 offtnses are not SO much against
government and society as against per
son and property. The alleged con-
nectlon between lntemperance and
crime does not exist in The negro's
case if the statistics Of negro crime
are to be accepted as decisive.
"A larger percentage OF negro Grim
mails are total abstalners from liquor
and smaller percentage are drunk
ards, says President Winston, 'rhan
in any other element of the population
excepting the Chinese and japanese,
but larger percentage are enrolled as
moderate or occasional drinkers than
In any other element excepting the
Japanese. Il thus appears that the
negro is less restrained by soberness
than the white, is less influenced by
habirual drunkenness and is more in
fluenced by habl,ual drunkenness and
IS more Influenced by occasional
drinking."
The practical lnierences drawn from
the foregoing facts are as follows: The
negro being more criminal than the
white, either by nature or from envl-
ronment and lack of education, he re-
Quires closer attention from the gov
eminent and possibly different treat
ment from that given the whites; his
crime is due chiefly to temporary i'm
pulse and not to idleness, want or lack
of education; he is less criminal "when
controlled according to the theory OF
negro inferiorlty to the white race
than when minglng freely with the
whites ''under the theory of perfect
equality of the races;' the hope OF
progress on the part of the negro lies
in the training OF negro girls, and this
depends upon the restoration of the
interest felt by the white women III
colored girls, such as existed during
the period of slavery. The political
anlmosities cultivated during the re
construction era destroyed the close
relation Of former times. eff re-es-
tabiished," says President Winston, ait
would accomplish more for the i'm
provement of the negro Than the edu-
cation now offered him in the public
schools. The Southern woman would
cheeriully undertake this task if the
negro would allow it, but it cannot be
done SO long as the two races are IL
solid political antagonism. A second
step to secure the training Of the ne
gro girl is through industrial schools
One we'll equipped, we'll managed IN
dustrial school in each county in the
Southern States would be worth more
than half dozen public schools of the
present Baltimore Sun.
In Olden Times
People overlooked the importance of per