The colored American., 1902-09-20


man wanted, and that they must get
me TO accept the position, and secure
my cooperation in the reorganization
OF the party in this State.
After hearing of the Presidents de-
sire, and feenng that by acceptance,
| would have place in the Council
of the Presidents friends in this
state, and thereby be in a position TO
be Of some service to my poor strug-
Cling race, which ii is my fondeSt
hope to serve as far as my ability will
admit, in every helpful way possible,
l reluctantly agreed to accept the
place, in the face Of ne great sacri-
flee | was making in so doing.
When l accepted | knew nothing
of MIR. Koester's lyncning reeoEd, and
from the kind and respectful treat
ment received from him during my
connection, | can join his other sub
ordinates in declaring him one of
the most respectful and kindly dis
posed officers under whom colored
men ever served, anywhere in this
country; and while have never seen
any way in which l could do him
any good, have never attempted to do
him any harm, for l knew the spirit
among southern white men, and to
deprive him of the Office would not
only result in filling it with another
lyncher at heart. and most likely, in
deed, but more than probably a Negro
hater, under whom the dead Negro
would be better off than the living.
Besides, at the time when the
lynching took place in which he parti-
clpated, he was a minor, and being
lead by influential adults Of his race,
a " III
[ cannot believe that one so kindly
disposed could be induced in maturer
years, to join in such a diabolicaI
crime
But l want it distinctly understood
here, and now, that | am neither at
tempting to defend, nor apologize for.
lynchlng, for in my judgment, with
such ample facilities at hand for pun
1shing criminals, there is neither de-
tense, nor excuse, for lynching, AMI
all persons either participating, or be-
1eVlng, in such bloody orgies are
saVages and cannibals, and justly be |
long TO the bloody age in the semi
barbarOus periods when the Caesars,I
were holding high carnival in the
amph1theatre, by displaying the
blood bedraggled neads of the behead-
ed and vanquished barbarians OF |
northern Europe.
Immediately after my acceptance. 7 /
called upon Mr.. E. H. Deas, whom |
| mad assisted in making State chair
man, and who had so recently resign |
I'd the place, not because of his yerv
lellcate horror at serving the Gov
ernment under a lynching chief |
which he may succeed in having fools
1elleVe, as tor the reason that he felt
sure of being kicked out" under
ne new dispensatiOn; and after ex-
PRESSING my regret at circumstances |
% shaplng themselves as to force him
o give up the place. l gave him nv
easons for accepting, when he said |
hat he was gratified at the fact that |
colored man had been appointed |
Notwithstanding at least twenty white |
len In Darlington county alone. to
ay nothing of the rest of the State
ad applied for the place, and that
e knew of no man in the State that
e would prefer seeing in the position
myself, in the face of the treacherv
nd n1ggardly conduct displayed nv 7
I'm now, in inspiring the slanderous
nd Hbelous articles and editorials I
ppear1ng here and there in dirty t
leetS owned and controlled by his |
ersonal friends, and blind partizan o
lpes, who not only neglect to seek c
lie truth, but even refuse to accent 5
even when blinded by its glaring C
ys. -S &
The truth is, no living man in South Y
arolina had as much to do with mak- "
g Geo. b. koeSter Internal Revenue r.
OlIHRrOr a u Il