New-York tribune., 1900-08-09
"HHOLESoME DISCIPLINE"

A w-Orleans correspondent who, we regret
to note, fails TO mention his name, sends us
newspaper clipping with the remark: wish
"you were down here for few days SO we
could deal with you as a 'nigger sympathizer.'" 4"
The clipping is an article from The New
Orleans Times-Democrat" replying to some OBJ
servations of The Tribune on the recent riots
AS for our anonymous correspondent he needs
no comment His spirit speaks for itself As
for the article. we desire to file as a matter of
record one of it's promises and then speak
calmly and not at all controversially about its
evident anger at our daring to have any opin-
ions about disorder in the South First as to its
promise, 1t says:
We have removed the cause OF the trouble and
we shall now proceed to mete out stern justice
to white hoodlums who violated the law during
the excitement and to those negro criminals who
harbored the murderer OF our law officers.
That is worth remembering, and some time,
when the present irritation is past, perhaps our
New-Orleans contemporary will be kind enough
to tell us how the promise has been fulfilled
The white mob chased and shot innocent negro
women and children in the open streets by day.
and there ought not to be any difficulty in iden-
tfyng them and Furnishing them If the work is
earnestly undertaken, and we hope we shall not
be thought extensively "negrophile" II we say
that melting out justice to the hoodlums means
the punishment of the outrages upon these
people
Now, as to the anger over our comment, the
point Of which was the danger to civilization
as a whole from the liberation of lawlessness
among hoodlums We said nothing unkind
about the great body of Southern people. who
believe are thoroughly opposed to lynch
law, but merely urged that liberation of dis
order, no matter how great the provocation and
however necessary IL seemed as a temporary
expedient, could only result in more disorder
without real provocation and the lowering of the
tone Of n community. This is true, North as
well as South, wherever lawlessness prevails
It is true here, where the liberation of police
blackmail and official corruption tends to train
up generation with no moral sense on that
subject, just as Southern lynchings tend to ac-
custom the youth to barbarous lawlessness. We
do not see that this appeal to respect for law
gives occasion for any bitterness, or that its
propriety and good sense are impeached by such
lectures on our tennerity as this:
If there were such thing as self-respect in the
Radical journals of the North, they would be
discreety silent when the question Of admins
tering a little wholesome discipline to the
negroes by the white people OF the South comes
up. For ii was Northern Radicalsm that in
ficted the curse of enfranchised negroism unon
the South; and. instead OF vilifyng the South
when IL has to resort to drastic measures 10
keep that curse within bounds. Northern Rad
icalism ought rather to sympethize with the
South IL wrestles with the problem and II n
cannot sympathize, of sheer decency II should
as we said, keep silent.
Passing over the curse" of acknowledgements.
which Louisiana with its new Constitution
seems TO have escaped too effectuaIly to give
excuse Tor lynching on that score. we are led 20
inquire the meaning of the ''littie wholesome
discipine which we ought to sympathize with