The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-05-15
BANIsHMENT OF NEGROES.
A Negro Bishop Advocates the
BaniSh1nent of All Criminals

|
- Banishrnent of All Criminals
e. Bishop Henry NJ. Turner, M thc
: African Methodist church, advocates
inc hahishmcnt of all negro criminals.
in sermon recently preached il the
Guy OF Macon, he declared that the
'hlted States government should de
, p't all the black outlaws TO Africa,
ana expressed the opinion tha, if Il
lew steamship lines were established
between the southern ports and the
DARK Continent Il profitable commerce
might thereby lie but up. It..ay be
the bishop did not intend that he
should be taken seriously bv his fellow
citizens, generally; that / i, Ubicc was
merely TO impress uDpn his own race,
as lorclbiy as possible, his cDadcmni
lioh ol negro outlawrv in the hone of
bringing about better conditions. He
must know that the Federal govern
mchl has no jurisdiction over the ma
Jorl'V OF the criminal acts committed
oV the blacks, that the punishment of
lhcm dcNoINcs upon the courts of thr
"ll!ercnt States, and that their judicial
tribunals are dcbarrcd from Ihr i'm
lllctlon of that form OF punishment |
l5ut this is not the only obstacle in lhr
way of the bishops yuni,i,c propram
Criminals could not be tran~nur,rJ lu
Africa without the consent of the uuw.
cfS which exercise sovereignty oyrru #
ana IL Is very certain that no one of
lhcm would be willing To extend =
"eicome TO ml>crcantS, either white or
black.
1t may be, however, that Bishop
iurncr had III view the fact ,h;,I Tbos
Jefferson, when he was prcsid, mt, and
James Monroe, when he was governor
OF Virginia, had Il lengthy aud inter.
eStlng correspondence on The question
ol inc establishment of Il b ack penal
coIohy. The initial move in the mat
ltr was made by the Legislature Of
Virginia, which directed Monroe TO So
llclt the good Offices of the Federal GOV
erhmcnt IN cndcavOring To obtain per ;
mission from the Sierra Leone com
pahy to send to that colony some ne I
grocs that had ihstigatcd an lnsur. \
recllon against the State governments [
Jefferson wrote to the American min i
lStcr IN London on the subjcc,, but ;
no'hlng came Of the application. In 5
discussing the question, .J,ifyrson did !
not lhIhk that either Spain or Grra,
pEilalli would be willing to sell To the II
h'tc" states any part of THEN pos v
sessions Tor such purpose, and doubt &
'd whether even the Indians could be
nduccd to do so. Bishop Turner, b
dca, 1t will be seen, is not new II
vas IN discussion by State, the Fed
;ral and AT least one forelnn GOV rn- !.
ncnt in the early part of the last cen \,
uty, ana mad as its advocates, the 9
greatest aud one OF the greatest of :
'emocfatlc statesmen. 1t is, SO TO say, +,
sort oil Jefferson Monroe Psychological II
octrine. ~
IL Is not improbable that If Tie ter :,
ltorlal conditions of the present day =
we're IN existence when jefferson :,
lohroc and the Virginia Icyislaturc =,
'erc III correspondence with rcspcct ~
D Il penal colony, one would have been il
stabilshGd. Had the United States j.
bcn owned Alaska, the Philippines. !,
iawali, or any of the other islands we 4
ave acquired III The last eighty or nj
lhcly Yeas, some one of them might H.
ave Dech selected for such purpose. m
lrSinla and the other southern States .,
'erc then fully alive to the dangers of J.,
eSro uprlsnss, and would not have
esltatcd to adopt energetic measures
repression. rhe old Republican or
'"c'soh'ah party was so strong in !"
'onSrcss that il could have carried ONT ~
ny policy II deemed essential and U'
nth Virginia leading The way there ~
an be iitl!c doubt that she would have III
ldilced all her Southern sisters to fol-
wv her. Slavery having been abol- "
'hcd, the social aud political condi- "'
ons which, during its existence, in ~
pired the project, arc no longer op- ~
ralivc, but III the opinion of the Arri -
al Methodist bishop IA criminal State "'
affairs has arisen which makes the "'
ohsidcratlon Of the old proposition al
cry nearly Imperative. S'
1he question naturally suggests IT. ct
ell II the more hcmOus crimes com.
llltCd by black men should ne ,un.
she'd by hanishmcnt, why not deal ri
ut the same measure of Justice lo q
Whites that stand in the same crlmina! III
ategory? Why make fish of one ana h
csh OF the other? The cost Of crime, \
hat IS the annual taxation, Federal, Il
tate, county, city and town, ON ac- L
ounl OF the cIlminal classes, is csta. d
'llSHed by competent authority to be 81
lpwaids OF $500, 900, 600 per anmum. a
he great army o. criminals at large IN "
ne country is estimated at 300 900. Il
hcSe ilGulcs are OF startling signili- r.
ahcc. Night not the certainty of life
have the effect oI turning
large percentage Of these outlaws
rom their evil ways2 i