The sun., 1903-10-19


presided two years ago.
should q Man he Removed From
ONCE for Telling the Truth?
Until further advised, we decline to
believe the statement that the removal
OF Mr.. HENDERSON n. SoMERvIILE from
the post of General Appraiser is con-
tempated-not because he is accused
or suspected Of malfeasance in office,
for his a1lcial reputation is spotless, and
not because he belongs TO the Demo-
cratic party, for. under the law constitut-
ing the Board of General Appraisers, his
successor in Office could not be Repub-
lican-but because President ROOSEVELT
disapproves of an article contributed by
him to the October number Of the North
American Reriep. The subject of the
article is Some Cooperating Causes
of Negro Iynching,' and. in our judg-
ment. Mr.. SoMERvILLE is better qualified
to discuss it than would be the President
himself, for the following reasons: He
is a native Of Virginia, and graduate
Of the University Of Alabama, in which
institution he occupied the chair Of pro-
fessor OF constitutional, common and
statute law from 1873 until 1880, when he
was elevated to the bench Of the Alabama
Supreme Court. Let us see what there
is in the article penned by such man
that could justify his removal from
Office by the President.
We do not imagine that Mr.. RoosE-
vELT would dispute the statements Of
fact that lie at the basis Of Judge SoMER-
vILLE's article We refer to such state
ments as the following; First, the
crime for which most of the lynohings Of
colored men occur in the South is the
forcible violation OF white women by
negroes, or an attempt TO perpetrate
this diabolical offence. Secondly, no
such crime was perpetrated during the
era of slavery, or even during the civil
war, when the white women OF the cot
ton States were left comparatively un-
protected. Thirdly, the crime has be-
come almost extinct in Mississippi and
the black belt of Alabama since the negro
vote has been eliminated in those States
as a political factor. Fourthly, the local
tiles where the heinous crime occurs
are almost always those in which the
negro holds the balance of political
power, or where his unsurpassed vote
is eagerly counted and ardently So
licited as Of value in doubtful contests
between political parties. 1t cannot be
for the formulation of these statements
of fact that Judge SOMERvILI.E's re-
movaI from Office would be contem-
plated by any fair-mInded man.
Neither is it possible that the President
can desire to punish Judge SoMERvILLE
for denouncing the motives and results
OF the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amend
ments of the Federal Constitution for
these have been publicly deprecated by
Mr.. ELIHU Roof, Secretary of War.
Judge SOMERvILLE says OF the impov-
erished whites Of the South that they
felt that the wholesale enfranchisement
of the ignorant and servile negro by the
enactment of the Fourteenth and Fiji
teenth Amendments had been accom-
plished by partisan politicians as VIM
dictive act of punishment for attempted
secession" He goes on to express the
conviction that the drastic relief sought
by certain Southern States in the recent
introduction of educational and property
qualifications for the suffrage will be
vindicated by impartial historians in the
future, as an attempt to rescue Southern
civilization from the lapse into barbarism
and ruin threatened by mistaken po-
litical policy. These are the views of
many Republicans, as well AZ Of many
Democrats, and the avowal Of them
would not justify Mr.. ROOSEVELT in re-
moving Judge SoMERvIILE from Office.
II seems to us, further, that the Presi-
dent should regard, not with disap-
proval, but with interest, Judge SoMER-
vILLE's Indication of what he believes to
be a cooperating cause of negro lynch
ing in the South n consideration, namely,
that is often overlooked, but which prob
ably acts upon the feelings Of white men
with a good deal Of power. We refer
to the ordeal through which a modest
and virtuous woman must pass in being
subjected to examination and cross
examination AZ a witness on the stand.
when detailing the Incidents attending
| the crime. IL would be better. no
doubt, in such cases, to clear the court
room Of all persons except the presiding
Judge, the jurors, the witnesses and
members of the bar; but custom has
never sanctioned such course in the
Southern States Judge SoMERvILI.y
speaks from observation and experiences
when he declares that, in scores Of cases
the desire to spare the victim this ordeal