The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-12-19
AN INCREASE OF SUICIDES.
RARE EVENT AMONG NEGROES.
Bill Arp says They Have no Rcmorse
S"lt.Destruc ion was Once an Evi-
uenCc OF insanity.

Self DeStruc ion was Once an Eyi
dence OF Insanity.
The rapid increase Of suicides In the
south is a trming and prOvOkes the
serlOus study OF our thinking people
fhty years ago suicide was Is rar.
event among the white race, aud never
heard OF nmorg the negroes. When /,
dld occur, 1T was considered an evI
dcnce OF insanity. | d. not recall but
one Instance IN my youth and that was
a woman who jumped into IL deep well
"ben no help was within reach. But
nowadays almost every daily pape r
contains an account Of one Or more sylf.
| murders, al d even negroes ave taaen
he In cctiCn, for they will initiate every
wee ana frailty Of the whites. Ola
Lt"ls, VINO Is my wood chopper, ask d
me the other day how it was that the
white folks kill derselves so much,
and the niggers dident."
Because" said |, white folks are
more easily over come with grief or,
remorSe, or distress, than negroes
u Legroes don't borrow trouble, nor
take 1T hard when it does come. You
don't give yourselves much anXtet,
ABOUT tomorrow, or next week, or next
year. You don't grieve long over u
death In the family; your emotional
'"'p " 10 w a ~" ou' your marriage
relation Is lOOsr ; in fact, it on the
decline since fre, dom came The mar.
rage records show that your legal
marriages are 80 per cent. less, accord.
ing to population, than in the white
race, ana the deer, ase gets less anu
less every year. Your young men and
women don't marry ; they Just take up
and quit when they please, and so the
men cont care very much about the
welfare OF their children, il they have
any. Besides all this, UNcle Lewis,
your race has d trait Of stealing little
things, and this accounts in great
measure for their Indifference to The
laying up Of something for the futur.
something for the winter or the rainy
days, or for old age. 1.-THE worst comes
To the worst, they know they can steal
or beg. II your young folks, men and
women, haven't got but "a dollar In the
world, they will spend it for water-
melon, or an excursion, ard take the
chances. Now, Uncle Lewis, YOU re.
member when there wasn't chain
gang IN the South, nor heinous crime
nor brutal outrage. committed by
your people, from the Potomac river to
the Rlo Grande. Now there are In
Georgia alone over 900 Of your people
In the Chaingangs, ana there would be
were punished"
Uncle Lewis had stopped cutting and
was Leaning on his AK helve. "DaL's
ali SO, SAID he, land boss knows it,
and boss what | wants TO know is dis
What must we poor niggers do about
1t ~ There Is the rub. | couldn't lie
him, but did say, Uncle Lewis, your
race has got some mighty good traits.
and i like to have you about us: 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 trade, and that is
worse. III you trust negro with any
thing he will not abuse your confidence,
but u white man will cmb, zzle and de.
fraud and even the cashiers Of banks
will appropriate the BANKS money, anu
f"lsify 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 does not stop it. 1t
makes 1T worse There is nothing will
stop 1T but work, constant work, every
day, under some good employer. Work
on The iarm Is your best safeguard, or
work rs mechanics under good contrac
tors. GOur people make good mech
apics, and the white people employ
them and patronize them Just as will
lngiy as they do white mechanics.
Fbc negro biacksmiths and masOns get
good employment here and cverywhe c,
and rs for cooking and washing ana
nurslng your women have 1t all. The
two rae would tit together nicely If
it wasn't for politics aud idleness " An
idle negro is a dangerous creature and
should be TAX N up and put to work
Ii Is mucn more dangerous than an
idle white man, for he has no shame,
and fears not God nor regards man.
If | were u law-maker, | would max Z
continued idleness a crIDe, for, as Is yn
Franklin says, 1T is the parent OF
vice."
started to write about suicides, but
| got to preaching Uncle LsWis sermon
| and got OF the track. NIneteen hun.
ured years ago Piutarch, TIE Greek
historian said chat S3lf.murder was
coward Ce for Il brave man wou d suffar
| rather than take the life that God gave
| nim. Self murder was d heinOus crime
under the OLD English law. The estate
| OF the felO de se was cOntiscated, and
raken away from his family. His body
was buried on the highway without a
| Ci I'M ana u Snarp stake thrust thrOugh
1t ~ mark the accursed spot. Suicide
was unuer the ban OF the church, and
no prayers were said for his soul. In
no civillz5d country has suicide been
| ju-tlti I'd, except in such cases as tnat
Of Saul, who fell on his sword because,
AZ he said, " l. !st these uncircumclsed
| Pnilistincs thrust me through aud
abuse me-" Or perhaps that other
notable case the Scriptures record
that OF Judas, whose remorse was &C
dreadful be preferred hell or anything
that would be u change. But generally
1t Is better to endure the ills we have
than fly to those we know not Of"
Almost every day we read OF young
men and young women killing them
selves because Of disappointment OF
d ssi patton, or about love or money
They must believe there is no hereaf
ter, or AL punishment ends with thi.
life. Surely no Christian man or wO
man would think OF self.murder. Wait
wait, young man, young woman ; wait
say-suifer and be strong only COW
ards kill themselves. The soul Is lock
ed up In this casket and God only hat
the key. Walt aud trust Him. Re
morse for q great crime may atone
somewhat for sef.murder. Miss Nor
rison might have killed herself ate
she killed her rival, and 1t would hav,
, seemed heroic. Wnen Othellu dscoy
cred his great mistake in killing Des