The new age. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1902-190?, 1902-07-12

Ne capital OF the state, were /
a marshal and several deputies. Word
nao gone before that these of,cers
nao IN charge a negro, suspected of
Oeing the murderer; and at four sta
tons in less than forty miles AZ
many mobs were gathered to ,mete
out summary vengeance to the mere
ly suspected black. Fortunately. the
negro was not on the train. Had he
been his life we're not worch the ask.
ing; and he would have been most
fortunate to find a speedy end on the
nearest tree. II cannot be supposed
that these mobs were composed OF
friends and kinsmen OF the murdered
man. Probably not one quarter NJ
them had ever heard of him previous
TO the murder, and fewer knew him.
rhey were not orderly bodies of lead.
ing citizens, nor of the class in whic
one would usually find the upholders
OF the law; but they were coarse. and
beastly. and drunk. mad with the ter.
ribie blood-lust that wild beasts know.
and hunting a human prey.
Take another instance. The burn.
ing of Sam Hose took place ON a
sabbath day. One of our enterprising
railroads ran two special trains to
the scene. And two train-loads OF
men and boys. crowding from cow
catcher to the tops Of the coaches.
were found to go to see the indescrib-
able and sickening torture and with.
ing OF a fellow human being. And
souvenirs Of such scenes are sought
knee caps. and finger bones, and
bloody ears. 1t is the purest savag.
cry.
The utter shallowness and hypocrisy
of this Southern plea that this is a
righteous public sentiment. aroused
and administering a rude but terrible
justice, is patent and undeniable, and
can be shown in the clearest light
by a single simple proposition. White
men commit the same crimes, and
worse, against the black man, for
which the black man pays this ter
rible and ungodly penalty. Can any
sane man. white or black. north oil
south, suppose for a single instant
that a Southern community would
either permit a black mob to lynch
a white man, whether merely suspect
ed or known as guilty of his crime. oI
that white mob would lynch one OF
its own color for any crime against
a black? The idea is uncomfortable
The color of the victims skin is the
determining factor in most of oul
lynchings.
And yet, the home of the negro Is
as sacred as that of the white man
his right to live as truly God-given
II the negro can be kicked and cuffeC
and cursed rightly, so can the whit
man. If there is no wrong in dis
honoring a negro's home. there is nj
more wrong in dishonoring the whit
mans. If the negro criminal may b,
burned at the stake with the usua
accomplishments of fiendish cruelty, 1
white man guilty of the same crime
deserves, and should suffer, the samC
penalty. There is nothing in a Whit
skin, or a black, to nullify the essen
tial rights of man as man. And We
to the average Southern white mar
this manifestly just view seems boil
disloyal and absurd.
II is useless to speak of any solu
ton to the negro question while tn
condition of public sentiment allow
described continues to exist. Tn
negro's poverty is, In the main. tn
result of the regular operation o
economic laws; his ignorance is tn
result Of several. but, in general, yer!
natural causes: his social position IL
aside from general sentiment, the re
suit of a manifest inferiority and ar
Itipathy of race; so that any effor
satisfactorily to solve his problem o.
any of these lines. not touching tn
root of the matter, cannot hope I
meet with any large success. Tn
radical difficulty is not with the negro
hut with the white man. So long a
> the negro is popularity regarded an
dealt with as he is today. his probler
will remain unsolved. and any view
as to its solution or passing unde
present conditions are optimistic
the extreme. Indeed. it may be fairi
said that. as things now are. the ed'
3 cational. financial or social advance
2 ment OF the negro will only serve I
: render more acute the situation
. the South.
II IL not necessary, nor desired, tina
5 the negro should be the social equi
5 OF the white man. His political PRIV
:. Ieees may be curtailed. and withou
e Injustice or ofense, provided the GU
e tailment work impartially anon
blacks and whites alike. II nifty pc
: cont Of the negroes are deprived c
2 the right Of suffrage by reason OF
D Hteracy and the same legislation
T fairly permitted TO work the dlSe'
I ,r.,cbisement Of all whites lhftee
:, ,,yo,,v per cent Of our voting poi
in