The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-03-16

Neither slavery nor involuntary serv-
itude, except as punishment for crime,
whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist within the Unit
ed States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction" The noble Southron be-
gan his work of invalidating this
amendment, some years ago, by great
ly extending the Specification of the
word "crime' as applied to the acts
Of Negroes. Pretty nearly everything
that Negro could do, offensive to
the tastes and sensibilities or against
the interests of his white neighbor,
was quickly construed as a "crime,"
and by this process thousands of able
bodied colored men were deprived of
their liberty. The next step was to
lease" these "convicts" to work for
contractors on roads, in mines and on
private plantations. Being convicts,
the chain and ball, and the lash, so
dear to the Simon Legree type of
Southron, could be freely used in en-
forcing the performance of involun-
tary labor. A stockade guarded by
sentinels at night served to secure the
"lessees" of this Convict labor
against loss by runaways-and the
sentinels never hesitated to inf1ict the
death penalty on any Negro attempt
ing to get away. Of course the sys-
tenn was found immensely profitable
But the supply of state convicts could
not, it seems, be kept up, even with all
the facilities afforded by complaisant
judges and juries for multiplying con-
viction. So the custom was intro
duced of getting Negroes who couldn't
read to ignorantly sign contracts bind
ing themselves to certain amounts
and kinds of service. The violation
of one of these contracts was made an
other "crime'' and stockades full of
fresh black laborers were thus pro-
cured. Citizens would also take it on
themselves to arrest bands of Negroes
found PLAYING "craps," or otherwise
engaged; would march them to jail,
give a bond, and then compel the Ne
groes to work for them till the next
term Of court, perhaps six months
away, when by Sentence the term
could be Indefinitely extended.
This system of compulsory servitude
has grown to such an extent as to
threaten the gradual practical re-es-
Enlistment of slavery over large areas
Add to the 'leased convict system and
to the other processes of depriving the
Negro of his liberty outright, the prac-
tical prohibition of removals by the
blacks, and the exclusion of labor
agents seeking to secure men to work
on railroads or on plantations in dis
tant regions where better wages may
be offered, and the extent to which
the freedom of the Negro is impaired
is seen to be vastly greater than mag
med. He has, where the revival of
the cid s1ave-master spirit has oc-
CURED, little or no liberty of contract;
is forbidden to seek other fields of op-
portunity; and the man who offers him
employment elsewhere is threatened
with "tar and feathers if he isn't shot
or hanged outright.
Verify, there is work to be done yet
before the Spirit OF. Slavery, scotched
in "the Sixties" shall be actually
killed.
But there is happily evidence of an
awakening public sentiment in the
South which will not tolerate the cruel
ties practiced on the Negro under the
laWless contract system. At Ander-
son, S. c., the grand jury a few days
ago made startling report upon the
outrageous pFdcClceS OF which some
twenty farmers in the vicinity are
charged, and for which they are to be
indicted and tried. Judge Barnett,
who ordered the Investigation, said of
the report: ct contains pitiful de-
tails, stories of long Imprisonment
without even the mockery of a trial,
whippings, kidnapings from other
counties, even from Georgia. The
grand .jury's report fully bears out in
its local details the general Indictment
which is above presented. It fearless
ly denounces the shocking outrages
which it discloses. including the leas-
ing out of convicts to work on private
farms. Judge Barnett thanked the
jury in the name of South Carolina
''for wiping out the stain upon her
by a few misguided citizens.", It will |
be interesting to note what the court I
and petit jury will do with the mis-
creants who are held for prosecution,
and whether the judge and the grand |
jury in this case represent a public |
sentiment in South Carolina earnest