New-York tribune., 1899-07-29
GAMBLER ON LYNCHlNG.
FRANK DISCUSSION OF THE SITUATION
IN THE SOUTHERN STATES.
RESTRICTION OF SUFFRAGE AND MORAL
EprJcATIoN THE REMEDIES FOR THE
EvILs-CARPET BAGGERs AND
FANATICS BLAMED.

EDUCATION THE REMEDIES 1OiS
EvILs-cARPET BAGGERs AND
FANATICS BLAMED. 80.
49,. y,,,, os Governor Gambler. since the
po,nhr,dge series of lynchings. has been asNeU
tN newsnaners in various parts or the co"".
70 give his opinions on the race quesuo" =" Wv
south and in reply to one OF them the "o'ei"
has fully and freely expressed ms views a'
the cause of the conflicts and the re"ieu'
for The Governor believes the present u",
cause of the uprisings is the interheuu'i"e Wv"
the relations of the whites ana pia'N' -
60, -, "foo,s and fanatics" who know noth-
ing about the situation. but think the ""o'e
,roub,e dates from the day of emancipa'ion'
covernor Gambler believes restricted sunraee
will remedy the evil. and that the Ddho' s'ou
he given only to the intelligent negro AS " ''''
disnosition to be made OF the large PelOe'"e
of illiterate negroes. the Governor rilaAes ~
suggestion The Governor begins MS papei ~
referring to the emancipation coh'i "s'e
treatment of negroes by the white people OF 'he
South before the war with that OF 'he '"ipe'
baegers' Immediately after lie says
No. .,,o ballot was thrust into the hands
~ the negro unprepared for 1t ana utterly ~ ie
norant of its sanctty and of the Responsiveness
Of citizenship notwithstanding he was d ~ sIatS,
he was happy and well contenteu 10 ~, ~
that subordinate place in society 10 WhiCh HIS
nature and his condition assured MN. so,-
But after his emancipation came MS EN-, a,s "r,
easement and with his enfranchseInelll @ oalic
n hor5e Of Garnet baggers penniless adventureTs
without principles or patrlousIh, w nv nod NO
charge of him when his former master % anu .trs P
rector with whom he had lived Tor geheratlNoi N
~, The mos, friendly and often even on affec-
tionate terms. was decitzenized by the par
tisan reconstruction laws
WHAT THE CARPET BAGGERs DID
These carpet baggers, calling themselves Re
nublicans but really only a band OF MAJ auuSi
held together by the cohesive Pc er oi PuV,iC
nirnder swarmed all over the South like the
iocusts in Egypt of old and falsely taught tne
negroes that the Southern white -heh WY So 80
ly responsible for their enslaVement ana Mele
tbeir worst and only enemy. and that therefore
n was their duty and their interest 10 Note
against them and their party. ana Oppose 49,
thing they were in favor or ana laNoI go ha, tn
they were opposed to-in word TO rate then
They taught them that freedom meant I'M,
munity from toll, that liberty meant license anu
that they were the wards OF the Ndulom o,art ant
would be protected by the General Government
whose bayOnets glistened in every hamle'
whether they were right or wrong.
These evil teachings had little permanent
Greet on the grown up negroes. but upon the
children the generation which has grown 10
manhood since that time, the effect has been
most baneful. These were the prime causes OIL
the alienation Of the negroes. -
more immediate cause is the perpetual IN
termeddling with the relations Of the races IN
the South by fanatics ana fooIs VINO hho" Ho'h-
ing about the situation.
They call town meetings and discuss mag
mary wrongs Of the Southern negro whlch
do not exist and denounce the Southern white
people for crimes they have not committed; tney
publish in the newspapers grossly exaggerated
accounts of such crimes as are comnnitteu conn, nrI,
against the negro in the South and omit any
notice of the crime against the Whlte woman
which provoked the retaliation; they write IN
cendiary letters to turbulent negroes all over
the South, advising them to arm themselves
with winchester rifles, and for every guilty
rapist who pays the penalty OF his crime 10
shoot down the first two white men they meet
Thousands OF such letters have been written
to Georgia in the last three months. by such
methods they call into existence the very state
of things they pretend TO deplore, condltlon
of affairs that did not exist and never would
have existed but for them and their senseless.
unjust and incendary conduct ..
FEW RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIMES AND
LYNCHINGS.
Governor Gambler says the Intermediates of
the North do not represent a respectable minor
ity. and that the lawless and criminal negroes
in the South constitute less. He continues;
few abandoned, reckless. criminal negroes
are responsible for all the rapes and lynchings
that have occurred. and their influence on those
around them is deplorably bad and far reaching
Still 1t is true that rape, the crime which nine
! times out of ten is the cause. immediate or re-
! mote, of lynching is as much deplored by the
better class of negroes by the better class OIL
white men. But as because Some negroes COM
NIT rape the whole race suffers, so because some
of the South are abused.
1 1t is a singular fact. too. that the pharasaica
fanatics who have most to say about 'Apaches,
Southern barbarians' always lay stress on
the atrocity of the lynching. and l have never
yet heard Of one of them saying or doing any
thing to discourage the crime which provoked It,
Indeed in some cases. instead of denouncing
his crime, they have assailed the character OF
the victim Of the brute's lust, which not only
encourages bad negroes. but eXasperates the
friends OF Southern womanhood.
Another and q
contributes to race friction is corrupt politics
AS is admitted by all candid men, the ballot was
nut in the hand of the Southern negro when he
was utterly unprepared for IT. He regarded II
as only an article of merchandise 10 be bartered
away to the man who would pay him the most
for it, whether a drink Of whskey a dollar or
two
In many places his vote, while not majority
is balante of power. Hence. unscrupuous
men OF all parties contend for this vote and hue
the negro around the polls and drink whskey
like a spoiled child, becomes resentful and win.
dictive This brings clashes with the whites
THE REMEDIES SUGGESTED
In speaking Of the remedy Governor Gambler
says
In Georgia for a generation there has beer
scarcely negro between SIX and eighteen years
OF age who has not had access to a free school
As a consequence. illiteraCy has decreased
among them from 50 per cent in 1870 10 40 pei
cent IN 1899 and yet it is a startling fact thai
crime among them has increased in about the
same proportion that illiteracy has decreased
There is, however, another sort of education
which can in time greatly relieve the situation
This is moral education, which must be acquired
at the family hearthstone and in the churches
- A