The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1899-07-20
(N IlnIngtOn MrS.ellnrr !

Women and Chiiaren.
CIV iin,ingtUn MESSENGER
some of the COLLEGE professors and
preaident> are very enthusiastic adj
Vocatea OF the new Republican plan
OF turning the United States into il
second England and maxim" them the
"iher great Anglo-siaXon empire.
Some OF the college men are also very
documentary of all lvnchinys for all
offences lncludiny the cruel assaults
upon pure, helpless women and chill
tr"n. III the North every dav crazy
anu ignorant editors dcnuunc- all
lEnchings III III" South while either
giving quasi assent 10 rapcs or by
siienc" allowing them TO 90 unchal-
lenged. Ii the ucssruqer were. to un-
dertake to discus, all the bitter,
sianuer""a articles that appear in
Northern rabid sheets it would have
10 pr"d'c" Il daily EDITORIAL
There may he some excuse for fools
Hnd n::'tmcn in the North makinr all
sorts Of false Impressions upon their
readers IA to lynchings in the south,
Wnllr hardly conhemlnH ut all such
mob law III the North, but no South
crn man ought to make Il mistake at
this point. 1t is probably II fact that
not more than one negro in ten, who
commits Il rape upon a white woman
o! character Is ever hanged 10y court
or mob Rev. Nr. !in>S. editor of the
Nashville ChfiSLinH .i,irncntc, organ OF
I l., N
ported III Southern newspapers as
saying that :fJo rapes were commit
ted upon whites by negroes in three
months.
President Dreher, Of Roanoke Col
lcge. Virginia, is IA scholarly and able
educator. He has written well and
wisely upon education in the South.
Recentlv he sent to the New York
Sln1 an article bearing upon Southern
lynchings. Just why he should choose
such a malignant and INSCRIPTIONS
Northern newspaper as a medium of
expression, we do not know We
learn, for we have not seen the article,
that he contends that Southern lynch
ingS are by no means limited to
rapcs, but that they apply to other
crimes. This is a true contention.
The NeSSenyer in common with other
newspapers that believe in lvnchin9
any brute that violates the sacred
person Of a pure white woman or
white child. does not Justify in the
least the mob hangings for other
crimes. Let the law deal with all
crimes but the one crime that in
vites speedy and sure punishment.
President Dreher is able to make a
good argument against all lynchings,
for the North, and South, often over
runs with pious denunciation and
very plausible argument against mob
punishment of all kinds. We copy
the following from him in the Rich
mond Times:
The only position to be taken by
law-abiding and law-respecting peo-
pie is this: That lynching for any
crime whatever is itself a crime
against civilized society. Wherein
does civilization especially differ
from barbarism? In civilized society
we have laws for the protection, for
the administration of Justice and the
punishment of crime. Under bar
barouS and savage conditions hrute
force rules and revenge dictates pun
ishment. TO say, then. that in the
South or anywhere else in our coun-
try it is necessary to lynch any class
of persons for any crime whatever is
to confess that our laws are defective,
the administration of Justice uncer-
tain and our bOasted Christian civili-
zation to that extent failure. The
remedy for this condition of affairs
is certainly not in lynching, for
every mob tramples the law under
| foot"
In Il perfect civilization with per-
feet criminal laws. and pure and
competent iuries, and Judges without
bias or fallibiitv, and lawyers above
all tricks and catches and sophisims,
this would work admirably. All men
of fifty years old have probably seen
red handed murderers escape the
hangman, and. indeed, punishment
almost of any kind. With the jury
is not only possible. but it is quite
| probable that any murderer or rapist,
if black. may escape punishment.
| Ii this is not true every where in the
South then other States are better of
than is North Carolina. We turn to
copy now from the Richmond THes
with whose views we are in sym
pathv, Commenting on President
Droher's communication to the Sun
it saws:
The best people throughout the
South. indeed the great majority OF
the Southern people. are Niolentl.!
opposed to lynching. save for the one
objectionable crime of assault upon
defenceless women. We have con
tended. and we do contend. that tn,
lynchine of this class of criminals
originated not in any spirit of law
les>ness. but in a spirit of chivalry
-Southern men hold their women il
reverential regard and when any in
dignity is shown them their indigna
ton knows no bounds. That feeling
is entertained by every man who has
the true Southern blood in his veins
and we do not claim to he diteren
in this respect from other Southern
men. We feel, as all of us feel, tina
the scoundrel, he he black or white
who commits this crime should b
swung up to the nearest limb an,
that his taking off is happy rid
dance"
The Messenger has iterated and re
iterated that the Southern white me-
were resolved to kill any man. blac
or white. who was monster enough
brute enough to commit the unsPeak
able. hellish crime, and that n
har