The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-09-01

made to obtain employment at reason
able prices and have failed widens the
loopholeS for escape from the
of the law possible in the judicial in
Expectations of its provisions. But, in
spite Of it's defects, the law is a step
in the right direction, and succeeding
assemblies should be encouraged to
owe come the defects. Chief among
these is the absence of provision for
the prevention of vagrancy, rendering
more difficult the task Of the force of
sheriffs, c~onstables, town police and
other officials charged with the inltla-
tive for its suppression. What is need
ed above all things not alone in Geor-
ga. not alone in the south, is the or
ganization of a modified state patrol
that shall render it unsafe for the va
grant, black or white, to appear in town
or country. The imminence of such a
necessity was emphasized in the adj
dress by Judge Emory Speer before the
recent meeting of the State Agricultu-
raj Society Of Georgia., in which he ad-
vCcated legislation that shall provide
for a rural police, not unlike the Texas
myers, and for ~elevating the charac
ter of the judiciary. On this point he
vas quoted as follows:
Every farmer in Georgia that feels
that his family needs the protection of
the law should support these measures.
Ali felt that necessity. There were,
doubtless, many men present who al
made provisions for the protection of
their families while they attended this
convention. The terrible danger to I'M
protected women living in the county
vas violently affecting not only their
Own lives, making them and
Wretched, but was most seriously af-
feCtlng the character of the rising gen.
Grafton, increasing the intensity of race
hatreds among the youths of both
races, with the most alarming portents
FOR the future. No were these crimes
cEargeable to the great body Of the ne
gro They were usually committed by
tramp negroes, who lived lives Of the
most loathsome and degraded charac-
ter, almost invariably men Of one type,
the descendants of the vilest of the At
rjcar tribes. In many respects we We're
IN a more unfortunate condition than
we're our forefatherS, when on the from
tiers of civilization they were confront
ing the ferocious savages. They could
tell that the Indian was an enemy, but
among multitudeS of law respecting
and kindly negroes, the beastly and
desperate savage cOulQ not De lOenIlQeQ
in advance. < x & If the wives and
daughters Of our farming population
tan receive the protection of a rigorous
anG effective enforcement of law, the
waste places of our fertile n prolific
soil will soon be populated, the re-
sources of the state UNNECESSARILY in
c1eased, and happiness and c~ontentment
come to thousands of homes which are
nov the scenes of constant apprehen-
slor and terror.
Supplementary to the establishment
Of a rural police or a state patrol upon
ines laid down in a bill introduced in
the Georgia legislature by Mr.. r. B.
Bl2 ckburn should be measures encour-
aging a revival of the apprenticeship
system, voluntary in the case of chill
dTen having parents, enforcible by the
state in case Of children beyond paren-
tai authority, and giving the irreclaim-
able vagrant the choice between COM
p~ulsory work for the state upon the
public roads and streets or in the i'm
prCvement Of waste public lands n
Punishment from the state.
Adoption of such strenuous measures
by every southern state would soon
suppress existing vagrancy, and, what
IS of more Importance, would prevent
the formation Of habits which end in
Observation-Disclosures Record.