The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-05-24
THE CRIME
OF LYNCHlNG.
Our Duty to the Negroes Set
Forth by the President Of
Roanoke College.
"soUTHERER's" WEAK De
FENCE OF THE MOB.

ssSoUTHERER'a" WEAK DE-
FENCE OF THE MOB.
Ia the Sun of the 9th instant GA
southernern attempts to defend the
Georgia mob for burning Hose and
for hanging Strickland on the unsup-
ported testimony OF Hose After
saying that ..sc long as negroes out
rage white women in the south, just
so long viii they be lynched for it. !"
your correspondent shows state OF
amazing ignorance by the assertion
that they do not lynch negroes in the
south for any other crime He writes
from Charleston. aud I take it for
granted that he resides in Charleston,
S. G.. Does be NOT know that the
men who lynched Baker, the colored
postmaster at Lake City, have just
been tried in Charleston for that
awful crime !? Has he already forgot
ten Phoenix !? Does he not remem
Der that few years ago at Bsoxton's
Bridge, South Caroline, two negroes,
who were suspected Of stealing a
Bible from church, met with a
cruel death at the hands of white men !!
And acw could he so soon forget the
killing of Eve negro prisoners at
Palmetto, Ga, and the recent lynch
ing Of a dozen or more in Little
River county, Ark, none of these
being even accused Of rape.
But let Us take the record of
lynchings for last year, as kept by
the Chicago Tribune, and published
IN detail early in January, with date.
name of person, place, and crime.
go that, if errors are made, there ls
every opportunity to correct them.
According to the Tribune, which is
generally recognized as good author
ity on this subject, l27 persons were
Iynched ia the United States last
year, 1I8 of these in the south and 9
in the north. Of the total number,
l02 were negroes, % whites and 2
Indians OF the 127 only Is were
for rape. I for attempted rape. and l
for completely in rape that is. only
d of l27, less than one fifth. were
for rape or for connection in any way
With ti,at crime For murder there
we're 81, suspected of: murder 13,
theft 6, and so on mistaken iden
tiiy" cost two unfortunate creatures
their lives These are facts, and yet
"a southerner" asserts that negroes
are lynched 10 the south only for
rape. If that is the extent OF his
knowledge of plaiu facts, his defence
OF the mob is scarcely worthy of the
name.
am native of South Carolina
was old enough to serve in the
Confederate army toward the end of
The war, and my home lay in the line
of Sherman's invasion, near Coium
bia. / was educated in the south
and have always resided there. having
devoted % years of my life to educa-
tional work In Virginia l know q
good deal, therefore, about the pecu
liar conditions in our section of the
country. / sm fully aware Of the
evils Of the reconstruction period and
the trlals and provocations of the
southern people. And if mobs in
the south had confined themselves
strictly to the punishment of persons
certainly guilty of rape. there would
be less occasion today to condemn
the lawIessness Of mob rule Since
only 9 of the l27 lyncbings occurred
in The moth and west, aud only "a
had any connection with tine awful
crime of rape. it is evident that the
people of the south. especially, must
give this matter the most serious
consideration
The only position to be taken by
law abiding and lsw-respec.ing peo
pie ia this: That iynching for any
crime whatever is itself a crime
against civilized society. Wherein
doescivilization especially differ from
barbarism ? In civilized society we
have Laws for the protection of person
and property, for the administration
of justice and the punishment of
crime Under barbarous and savage
conditions brute force rules and re-
verge dictates punishment. To say.
then, that in the south or anywhere
else in our country 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 uocertain and our boasted
Christian civilization to that extent a
failure The remedy for this condi-
ton of affairs ia certainly not in
iynching, for every mob srauples the
law under foot
There is no such thing as com-