The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-04
ADDRESS BY THE NEGROES Politics and Js h Law
 Ihs:< THE Toy IS TEMPERATE Ask Same Protection as Given
 the Whites. As to Mob Violence, the Complaint is That the Crimes for Which It is Meted Out Are on
 the Increase.

Louisville, Ky. July 1.-The closing days session of the Afro-Amerfcan Coun- cil was marked chiefly by the presenta- tion of resolutions embodying an address to the country at large on the race prob perate in tone. After its adoption the convention adjourned sine die.
 The address Is in part as follows:
 We recognize with pleasure the friend ly relation that has all along existed be- tween the best people of the white race and our own and we sincerely desire that nothing may be permitted to intervene to mar this relation. Still we are- confident that no one who notes carefully the signs of the times can fail to discover that there are influences at work in, nearly every part of the land to accomplish this very end. We cannot fail to see that the negro is being held up to public gaze as the most objectionable and undesirable citizen that treads American soil? The ignorant, vicious, criminal class are pointed to as the types and products or the race rather than those who are the output of the negros best endeavors for race development and uplift- We declare this standard of measurement to be un- fair to any people.
 Victims Show Decrease.
 '.As to mob violence, 1t Is gratifying to note that for the past year or two the number of victims show decided de- crease; and while all these were not menn- bers of our race the vast majorty were. But notwithstanding this fact, we should not feel called upon to discuss the mat ter at all at this time were 1t not that although the number of victims Is de- creasing, the variety of provocations which lead up to thie act of violence is growing more and more insignificant and numerous. It Is not an usual thing to read these days of negroes being lynched for impotence. refusing to obey. strik- ing white man, etc, q ss..s .5 ss a -NeN,a we submit that lynchfng for any cause is destructive of law. demoraiizing, but 10 subject persons accused of or even guilty of such trivial offences as we have indicated, to unlawful punishment and death Is to make the negro the marked man of the nation, for him to suffer vio- lence for such causes will eventually in- volve many of our best people.
 Even as 1t is in some sections of the country, 1t means death for a negro to attempt to protect the females of his family. We~ask in all sincerity Is this American? Is it right? Such conditions indicate clearly @ tendency to anarchy; and anarchy for the negro will terminate in anarchy for all men.
 The number of those of our race who are now accused of the nameless crime against woman Is so small as compared with the total number that it is scarce ly necessary to discuss this as a dis tinct crime. Yet we desire to say that we make no plea for any man who may be proven to be guilty of this crime; our pIea is for law and for the protection of the innocent.
 As to Suffrage.
 Tt is now clearly evident that the pur- pose of those who first started in osten- sibly to disfranchise the ignorant negro has been broadened and strengthened. Their purpose now includes almost all negroes. In certain of the States this result has already been achieved and thousands of qualified men are denied positively and absolutely the right to vote. Tn such States taxation without representation prevails as much as ever it did when England held control over the American colonies. We make no ob- jection to the disfranchisement of the ig- norant negro. provided the same class of the other race are similarity dealt with. Our contention Is not for special but equal privileges"
 J. Madison Vance, of New Orleans, who has had charge of the legal department of the council reported that during the past year the department had looked after the interests of the negroes and in every case where his rights had been tram pied upon, the department had taken 1t up.
 J. P. Napier. of Nashville, in an ad- dress this morning said:
 What the negroes want to do in this country Is to make friends with the peo- pie. Passing laws will not bring about the desired result. I would feel better from home if I knew I had the respect of my neighbors who were willing to pro tect my family during my absence than I would with an army a thousand miles away willing to fight for my rights. These young men who come from Bos- ton with their high notions of life, with their bloodthirsty speeches would be bet ter for the visiting the South, knowing something of the condition of their peo- pie and preaching to them a gospel of peace"