The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-05-21
LYNCHING IN THE SOUTH.
First of the Letters by DIR. Hepworth of the New
York Herald.


\ was woman OF refinement a college
! graduate, woman with personal beauty,
and al one fell swoop she lost all that
makes life dear.
Then when the villain departed she sum
moned all the strength that was left, and
| With her two children, ran screaming to
her fathc~'s house, a mile away. When
safe within his protection, she dropped as
one dead The story was told with all its
details. The neighborhood was aroused.
There was vengeance in the air. Religion,
law, even civilization, was lost sight Of.
I The populace was frantic, for no one could
tell whose family might next be devastat-
1 ed The hell OF popular passion broke
! loose. The man was chased by whites,
/ by blacks, by a bloodhound, at last caught.
Was any torture too great? They lost sight
of the fact that some methods OF punish
ment degrade those who inilict It, aud
bring them TO the level OF the savage. They
were beside themselves with an uncon
I trolled thirst for revenge They thought
of their own wives and daughters and
/ their blood beat in their veins like pent
/ up tide in tempest God pity them God
/ forgive them. They were not men. they
We're manacs Their fury knew no
/ bounds. They tied him TO a tree with an
! iron chain. They built a FIRE. He writhod.
| but uttered no groan His stolcism was
wonderful. Thirty minutes such as we
/ hope Will never come to this earth again,
such as never came until then! And they
I looked on until he was burned to a crisp.
/ The tragedy was over The people had
punished a criminal and made themselves
! criminals while doing It. One holds his
! breath when thinking of II. One turns
| pale at the remembrance of It. Angels
must have groaued at the spectacle.
~
/ That is the story. II is beyond the reach
/ of the Imagination. Such great horrors
| can not be fancied; they must be realities.
! The calm second thought has come /
! can assure you that everybody concerned
regrets tho part ne took in that tragedy
| There were perhaps 5000 people ON the
scene and excuses are easily resorted to
by a crowd. What a dozen men can't do
n thousand can. Numbers fan flame into
a con1agration. / have talked with all
classes OF the people here in Atlanta
! learned and illiterate poor and rich, and
not man has expressed any opinion save
/ ono OF regret That It is a blot on the
| fair name OF one Of the most enterprising
/ States In tho Union is A fact which can
not he denied.
/ And yet in spite of that fact, no sc.
1 rious attempt will be made to arrest the
.
/ commenting on this statement. I hope the
! lines of Canning will not represent the
/ feelings Of those who assisted me in my
! investigation.
But Of all plaques, good heaven thy wrath
can send.
| Save. save, OH save me from the candid
friend.
We shall he greatly puzzled unless we
can fully grasp the situation to be found n
the North. And we shall not only mlsun-
derstand jhe Georgians but give thtr dis
credit for motives which they 10 not en-
terrain. | am not at all sure. 1weyer,
that We should ourselves pursue any other
course under tlAs circumstances. The cry
which made the welkin ring was. we
must protect our wives and daughters, "
and that Is the key TO the problem. IL my
wife or mother or sister had been out .
RACED by a doublc-dyed villain. can't tell
YOU what | would or would not do When
the matter is brough, home to yourse
you recognize its horror, There are no
lengths TO which you would not go In the
way of punishment, II IS easy to condemn
n thousand miles away, but hard to con-
denim when on the spot with like fate
staring you in the face. I neither plead
nor excuse simply say that | also am
human
The region around Newman and Palmetto
Is sparsely settled, Tho country Is cut up
into farms, the houses Of which are widely
separated, thus alfordlnG a large oppottu-
nifty for such crimes and annie means OF
escape. If there are dangerous characters
in the vicinity. tho isolation OF the farm
ers is almost an Incentive TO blo9dthlrty
deeds. There are times whom tae project
ing man OF the household must be absent
and the wife and children left to the mercy
OF circumstances. He must go TO the mar
lIet, or 10 the city. and while absent there
Is a lack OF security. Such an incident has
been possible at any time during resent
years and has been generally recognized as
a possibility. Indeed, this possibility has
created u feeling of uneasiness to such an
extent that mild reign OF terror has pre-
vailed.
Ninety-hve per cent OF the negroes have
the entire confidence OF their employers
They are respected because they are law
abiding citizens. They have property in
tcrests OF their own TO guard, and man
who has a few hundred dollars at stake
ls conservative, hut the per cent of
fellows who are not only ignorant hut VII
cious,whO know no restraint ana will COM
NIT any crime without compunction, have
ample opportunity to perpetrale deeds of
daring deyiltry and as at present con-
stilutel the people of the region are pow
erless TO protect themselves and live In the
continual consciousness OF insecurity, They
are nervous irritable and tinid wo-
man dares not trust herself at any distance
from her home after dark With nine men
out Ct ten whom she may meet she Will
be as safe as at her own tireside IL is the
unknown tenth whom she evades We can
hardly conceive OF this stare OF affairs
but IL is the actual condition IN many
counties In this State and In the other
States OF the South.
Then again, the machinery of Justice
down here works IA slowly as ii does with
us II is well known fact that when you
Increase the chances Of escape you thereby
Increase the number Of crimes The pos
slbility of evading punishment is an in
oen've to criminal deeds. This state of
things affect not the wrongdoer alone.
but the community also. II the criminal Is
made reckless by the delays OF the law.
the ineensed people among whom an Of
Tense Is committed are made equally reck-
less; take the matter Into their own hands
ard infict q swift punishment In
awhile punishment Of character die
taied by tho passion OF the moment and
which, regardless OF legal evidence is in
hioted on an innocent man.
Instances of this are to be found every
day; sometimes In the North, very ire
quently In the South The lelsurely pro-
ceduro OF the law and the uncertainties Of
In 10