The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-21
BOSTON @ PROTEST.
DENUNCIATION or THE LTNCHINGS
or SOUTHERN NEGROES.

JULIE "a AhONo III OtUsTb tti
One-Fifth of Those Put to Death Ac-
oused of Crimes Against W~omen-Strong
Pleas for Justice ut the Hands of Whites.
BOSTON. May 20.-There was a large attend
ance to-day in Chicksring Hall at a meeting
called by colored women to protest against
lynchings In the South. The speakers includ-
ed Mrs. Julia Ward Howe. Mrs. Ednah d. Che
nsy. Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer. Mrs. Edwin
D. Mead, Mrs. Mary Clement Leavitt. Miss
Maria l.. Baldwin. Mrs. Florida RuiIln Ridley
and Mrs. Butler II. Wilson. the last three being
colored. Mrs. Wilson presided. IL having been
through her efforts and those OF Mrs. Ridley
that the meeting was called.
Mrs. Wilson began the speaking with a care
fully prepared address. in which she gave iG-
ures showing how lynchinRs have increased
from 10S In 1888 to III in S0S OF the num-
bers OF negroes lynched. less than one nth OF
them. che alleged. we're accused OF crimes
against women. There was no reason why
lynching should be resorted to in the South.
for all the officers of the law. the Judges and
the juries. are white men. ANY negro rightly
accused can be punished properly by the NIL
chinery' Of the law and cannot escape. pro-
vided the white woman gets up in court and
tells her story and is cross-examined.
THE; doctrinaires. the apologists and tho
tsmporizers have had their day." sald Mrs.
Wilson. I'VE now demand that the law shall
have a chance. We stund on the Constitution
OF the United States and demand that the ne
gro. Ike any other man. when accused of
crime. be brought before a jury Of twelve. men.
be confronted by his accusers and punished
according to justice by the properly consti-
tuted authorities"
Mrs. Cheney. the next speaker. said:
The same craft and cunning. the spirit. Is
| being brought to bear on the negro ques-
tinn fhnf lrnttnht ~, t1A piuil M ThA
! Southern men are trying to destroy the basis
OF tho colored man as an American citizen.
That Is the cause Of all this trouble-the South
does not regard them as citizens. Can we
trust ourselves to the Federal Government II
we cast to.the wind all the guards that have
been put around the colored people? Tho
negro has got a good deal Of Saxon blood in
him that does not stand Oppression long. We
cannot do an injustice without reapipg the re-
suits"
Mrs. Ridley said that this trouble resulted
from the teaching Of contempt for the negro
which the white man gives his children.
Mrs. Julia Ward How reviewed the early
conditions Of the negro and said the inlu-
ences OF slavery had outlasted the system and
were still working. She said the negro had
little to expect from n body OF men who
smeared his body with oil and burned him at
the stake. IF this Government had upheld
the colored mans right to the ballot said
Mrs. Howe. this state OF things would never
have como to pass"
Mrs. Howe went on to say that the way to
meet the situation was for the Governmensto
send to the States where lynchinas occur some
military representation of Its authority.
Mrs. Howe deplored the weakness Of the
Government in meeting the issue.
II cry shame on this!' said she. Il de-
mand that our Government see to it that every
man accused shall have a fair trial. II we can
not do that let us take down our fair flag and
run up the black flag Of the pirate.
Miss Bald win followed Mrs. Howe. She
quoted Jefferson on the negro: Il tremble for
the future OF my country when I look upon the
negro and remember that God is Just" She
believed that AN earnest movement made by
the women OF the South would mark the be-
ginning OF The end OF mob violence"
Mira. Alice freeman Palmer co~mplimented
the colored women who had spoken and said
they were an absolute and splendid demon
s~tration OF what the women as well as the men
OF the colored race can do" She said she pit
led this white race as much as the black. FOR
the disgraceful and heart breaking acts OF
brutality toward the negroes are more serious
inltheir effect on us rs a race than on them. and
we are going to feel the effec. Of them more as
time goes on The speaker urged an appeal
10 Southern women.
Mrs. Edwin u. Mead was sorry the meeting
should have been left to colored women to call.
It should have been called b. the white women
Of Boston. Referring to the women Of the
South. she said 1t would be we'll for them to
remember in approaching the question OF the
negro that it was their own fathers who were
responsible for the mulattoes. She wanted
the newspaper men present to see that n line
was put in the headlines OF their reports Of the
meeting. bringing out the allegation that only
one-ftth OF the crimes Of which negroes
lynched were accused were crimes against wo-
men. The sneaker referred in scathing terms
to the President and the badge incident. and
went on to say that recent Investigators
for the press had found that what the South
wanted. in its OVID language. was a spirit OF
inquiry and not Of rebuke" from the North.
She said she thought that expressed their de-
sires very we'll. Inquiry would certainly suit
them better than rehuke.
What we need in the South" said the
speaker. rs justice. Crime never was les
sened In history by brutality"