The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-03-20
" SLAVERY BY CONTRACT. !"
Senator John l.. McLaurin Inter
viewed on the Anderson Matter
Washington Post.

1lilman, Congressman Latimer an
olhcrs have given their views, au
i tHerc mas been no defense of the COZ,
u .illlon OF affairs, although being fami
y lar with the local situation, these Ger
tlemcn have been able to show that n
Such condition exists as system an,
thaI ltS operation was confined to An
dcrson County.
n representative of The Post had ,
LAX with Senator John l.. McLaurin
OF South Carolina, yesterday norninu
ana while the Senator in nowisc de
iends the Anderson County outraces
ne offered some new SUGGESTIONS
which are most interesting IN that con
nection:
| "ln the first place." said the Sena-
Tor, the Philadelphia Norlh Ameri-
can mas unwitlingly done the colored
race great Injustice in its representa-
liohS That as race its members in
south Carolina are willing TO .con-
racl' themselves INTO practical slavery
pr 10 submit to such Il thing under the
| ourcsS OF Il few men IN one of the
'orly-ilVe counties in South Carolina.
AS matter of fact, the trilIipm. va
grant, criminal class of negroes who
tease themselves out are very poor
representatives of the sclf-rcspeciino
industrious and thrifty negroes in South
carolina and throughout the South.
Just think what kind of men they are
VINO would, either voluntarily or under
ohc-inan durcss, deliberately sign n
contract agreeing to be worked with
convicts, or without convicts, under
guard, and stipulate that their en-
Pl"yGrs are to lock them up pat night.
NO Western or Northern man knows,
even remotely, what this class of ne.
grocs are.
=" The negroes North and West. are.
as rule, hotel walters, BARRIERS.
drivers this is absolutely true of the
great majority of negroes in the South.
roth IN the towns aud in the country,
we III the cotton State have, however.
IA class Of utterly worthless, degrade
thlcVlng negro boys who run awny
from their deserving parents and re-
lallVes on the farms and 90 into The
towns and cities, where thew hano
around and soon become not onlv va.
grants, but criminals. The policc soon
hnd them out, and after a trial before
a justice OF the peace or mayor, they
are sentenced to a term IN iail. AS
s'range us 1t may seem, they frequent
" greet such sentence with intense
Srallllcatlon, as it relieves them, for a
Tune, from their usual uncomfortable
midnight sleeping places on cotton
in dry goods boxes, Office
railways, etc., and gives them shelter,
Il cot and two or three meals u dav,
none OF which they would work for. 1t
is from their condition and from this
class OF the colored race In the cotton
S'atc that the abuses in Anderson
county have arisen. Men with large
farms TO manage, in some instances,
VIII go on bond for one of these Luys,
get him out of Jail, and work him on
his farm under contract. Even that
plan, by no means defcnsiblc, if the
labor contract is like those in Ander-
son county, is not SO hard in vie~ of
the class of the race (not the racel it
involves, if kind treatment and Justice
were mctcd out to the heretofore va
grant criminal.
Is it any wonder, however, that
the class OF negro ! have described
would agree TO work with convicts,
un"er guard, and consent to be locked
up at night?
GLOW manifestly unjust to the
colorcd race III the South and IN the
nation it is to class this low element of
the race with negroes of the Judson
Lyons and Booker Washington type.
This low element does not represent
The characteristics, the hopes, or the
possibilities of the race as it is known :
and appreciated in the South. 1t Is
not race question. 1t may as well
be said that because thousands Of
Cinnamon are dirty, low, offensive, anil
ignorant, Munster WI cannot be
gentleman. Or that the dago anar-
chists OF Patterson, n. j. are as prop
er representatives OF the Italian race
as Ambassador Fava. Or that the
pennsylvania soldiers, who. on IN
auguralon day, committed so many
outrageous and disgraccful acts IN
Washington, are the proper repre-
sentativcs Of the white people of
Pennsylvania. No, indeed. Only
Southern people, including respectable
colorcd men and women, appreciate
that there are classes among the
colorcd race, as well as among the
white race, be they Americans, Ger
mans, French, Italians, Japanese, or
Chinese.
Z" One other thing which occurs to
me-" continued the Senator, is The
fact that it Is not appreciated outside
OF the South how absolutely dcpcn-
dent the cotton planter is upon the
ignorant, unorgani2cd colorcd laborer.
Where labor is organized the rules,
requirements, character, and esprit du
corps of the membership itself pro-
| lccts those who hire labor and such q
| thing as guarding laDorcrs or locking
them up to keep them from running
away or from setting your gin, stable,
or house on fire is unhcard of and un-
necessary. But the irresponsible,
ignorant. and unorganizcn negro help
requires, at least in a measure, a strong
and restraining hand.
" AS the better element Of negroes
increase in their influence over the
lower class of their race, and great
responsibility rests upon them, and as
the Northern and Western people be-
come more genuinely familiar with the
conditions which actually exist in the
South, the situation will become better
and better, and the cOlured race m ,rC
responsible and useful i'm exercising its