The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-12-20
AN INCREASE OF SUICIDES.
"A RARE EVENT AMONG NEGROEs.

Bill Arp Says They Have no Rcmorse
Selt.Destruc,ionw WAS Onco all Evi-
| dence OF Insanity.
The rapid increase Of suicides In the
South ls al trmtng and provokes the
serious study OF our thinking people.
Fifty years ago suicide WAS rare
event among tho white race, and never
heard of among the negroes. When it
did occur, 1T was considered an evi.
donce OF insanity. | do not recall but
one instance In my youth and that was
| woman who jumped into deep we'll
whom no help was within reach. But
nowadays almost every daily paper
contains an account OF one or moro self-
murders, ard even negroes have taken
| the infection, for they will initiate every
vice and trailty Of tho whites. Old
Lewis, who is my wood chopper, ask, d
me the other day how 1t waG that the
white folks kill dcrselyes 80 much,
and the niggers didcnt"
Because" said |, "white folks are
moro easily over como with grief or,
remOrsc, or distress, than negroes
4eu Legroes don't borrow trouble, nor
take 1t hard when it docs como. You
don't give yourselves much anxiety
| about tomorrow, or next week, or next
year. You don't grieve long over u
death in the family; your emotional
nature ID or low grad, your marriage
| relation Ia loose ; in fact, it u on the
decline since free dom came The mar
| rlage records show that your legal
marriages are 10 per cent. less, accord
| ing to population, than In the white
race, and the deer, ase gets less and
| less every year. Your young men and
women don't marry they just take up
and quit when they please, and so the
men don't care very much about the
| welfare Of their children, if they have
| any. Besides all this, Uncle Lewis,
your race has trait OF stealing little
| things, and this accounts In u great
measure for their indifference to the
laying up OF something for the future
something for the winter or the rainy
| days, or for old age. II the worst comes
| to the worst, they know they can steal
or beg. II your young folks, mon and
women, haven't got but q dollar in the
world, they will spend 1t for u water
| melon, or an excursion, and take the
chances. Now, Uncle Lewis, you re.
member when there wasn't chain
gang IN the South, nor a heinous crime
nor a brutal outrage, committed by
your people, from the Potomac river TO
the RIO Grande. Now there are In
Georgia alone over 1000 of your people
ln the chaingangs, and there would be
1000 more II oil the little stealings
| were punished"
Uncle LOWS had stopped cutting and
was leaning Gu his Ak helvc. "DaL's
oil 80, said he, and boss | knows it,
| and boss what wants to know Ia dis {:
| What must we poor niggers do about
| it?" There is the rub. | couldn't @
him, but did say, Uncle Lewis, your
race has got some mighty good traits,
| and l like ~ have you about US A: you
| are kind-hearted, good natured, easy
to please, and don't carry malice or
revenge IN your hearts you steal, but
you don't cheat anybody. The white
race won't steal, but they will cheat or
take advantage In Il trade, and that Is
worse. II you trust negro with any
thing he will not abuse your confidence,
but white man Will embe 2Zle and de.
fraud and even the cashiers Of banks
will appropriate the banks money, anu
falsify the books for months and years.
Every race has its race traits, both bad
and good. Some Of your bad ones were
almost run out by slavery, but they
have como back again, and all your
college education docs not stop it. 1t
| makes 1t worse. There is nothing will
stop 1T but work, constant work, every
on the farm is your best safeguard, or
work as mechanics under good contrac
tors. Your people make good mech.
aDics, and the white people employ
them and patronize them just as will
lngly as they do white mechanics.
The negro blacksmiths aud masons get
good employment here and everywhere,
and as for cooking and washing ana
nursing your women have 1t all. The
two races would fit together nicely If
1t wasn't for politics and idleness" An
idle negro Is d dangerous creature and
should be tak5n up and put to work
He is much more dangerous than au
idle white man, for he has no shame,
and fears not God nor regards man.
If | were a law-maker, I would make
continued ldleness q crime, for, as B .n
Franklin says, :" 1t is the parent OF
vice."
started to write about suicides, but
got to preaching Uncle Lewis sermon
and got off the track. Nineteen hun.
dred years ago Plutarch, the Greek
historian said that self.mnrder was
cOwardice for brave man would suffer
rather than take the life that God gave
him. Self.murder WAS q heinOus crime
under the old English law. The estate
OF the felo do 30 was connscated, and
taken away from hls family. His body
was buried on the highway without O
coffin and sharp stake thrust through
1t " mark the accursed spot. Suicide
WAS under the ban OF the church, and
no prayers were said for his soul. In
, 20 civilized country has suicide been
justified, except in such cases as that
! Of Saul, who fell on his sword because,
as he said, " Lest these uncircumcised
Philistines thrust me through and
abuse me-" Or perhaps that other
notable case the Scriptures record,
that OF Judas, whose remOrse was so.
dreadful he preferred hell or anything
that would be q change. But generally
1t Is better to endure the ills we have,
than fly to those wo know not Of"
Almost every day We read OF young
men and young women killing them-
selves because Of disappointment or
dissipation, or about love or money.
They must believe there ia no hereaf-
ter, or oil punishment ende with this
life. Surely no Christian man or wO-
man would think OF sel f.murt1er Wat