The San Francisco call., 1901-11-05
SENATOR TILLMAN'S DEFENSE.


as the outspoken advocate of lynch law that
- Boston man recently wrote to him and nclosed
sermon against lynching, preached by the Rev.
Quincy Ewing OF Mississippi and published in the
Boston Herald. In his letter the writer said: "In
1t you will find the strongest message about lynching
in the State OF Mississippi ever read and the COM
ment OF the Herald was so strong thought you, as
public servant, ought to it for the good Of the
negro ii not for your own
In reply Senator Tillman sets forth his defense in
these words: II have read the sermon of Mr.. Ewing
and the editorial OF the Herald. am not responsible
because the Associated Press sent out garbled and
distorted reports Of my lecture at Marnette Wis.
creating the impression that | was an advocate of
lynch law. l have said more than once and expect
to stand by it, that lynchng for rape justifable
SO far as other lynchings are concerned no public
man in the South has such record as have Dur
ing my term as Governor made the most strenuous
efforts to prevent lynchng in this State and appealed
to the race pride and sense Of justice of my fellow
citizens to give the negroes fair trial and punish
men according to law In the constitutional conven
ton of o5 introduced and had incorporated pro-
vision giving the relatives lcgatees OF any person
lynched exemplary damages against the county in
which it occurred in the sum OF $4,000; also a pro-
vision removing from Office any Sheriff who allowed
see the rising storm in increase Of crime among ne
groes, especially the crime against white women and
it appears inevitable that drastic measures will have
to be resortcd to in the future or there will be
race conflict causing rivers OF blood to flow"
Since Senator Tillman has been so extensively crit-
cized is but right that his defense should be given
a fair hearing The record which he made for him
self in trying to prevent lynchng does him credit
but 1t will be noted that the policy he advocates is an
impossible one. He would sanction lynching for one
crime but forbid it in all other instances That to
say, he is willing to permit violation OF the law at
some times but not at Others r. however violations
OF law to be permitted ALL it is not easy to draw
the line and say where they shall STOP Tlman
would draw the line in one place. other men would
draw it somewhere else and they have as much right
to fix the line as has the Senator. When man ad-
vocates lynch law at oil he opens the door to repeated
violences. There is but one way to uphold the law,
and that is by refusing to sanction violation of it
upon any ground or for any reason
The closing sentence of the Senator's letter shows
the aarmis nature OF his mind His cry that drastic
measures will be necessary in dealing with the rising
storm OF crime among negroes has no justification in
the situation Of the South. Statistics compiled by
people who had no thought of politics or of social
supremacy, but who were concerned solely in gath
ering figures for official reports show that the negro
in the South is improving in his capacity worker
as a saver OF money and farmer. The whole
South is prospering There is, in fact every reason
10 believe that were it not for the agitators and pro-
fessiona aarmists, who for personal advantage keep
the minds OF blacks and whites alike alarmed the race
question would settle itself in the advancing prosper
ity and industrial and educational uplifting Of both
races.