Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-07-30
pENouNcEs MOB LAW.

make two or three papers like this"
DENoUNcEs MOB LAW.
Davenport CoIored Divine Gives Views
on Lynching.
Rev. S. M. Smothers. d. D., of Dav-
export, one of the most prominent col
| ored ministers of the state, in an inter-
view given to Courier reporter to-
| day, denounced the wholesale lynching
of negroes and stated that the United
States should first clean its own house
before correcting the faults Of other
countries abroad. Rev. Smothers is
pastor of the Second Baptist church of
Davenport, and is in the city to meet
with Rev. ]. H. Jones, the pastor of
the Second Baptist church in this city
for the purpose of revising the minis
tiers and deacons' union constitution
of the Iowa Baptistry.
Rev. Smothers will be one of the
| principal speakers at the tri-county
| outing to be held at Moline under the
auspices of the colored churches of
that city, Rock Island and Davenport
| He will speak upon that occasion upon
the race problem of which he has made
quite a study. Rev. Smothers, when
asked his views regarding the recent
lynchings of negroes said:
'Iynching negroes or white men will
never solve the so-called negro prob
| lem in this country Judge Brewer has
widely decided that all participants in
lynchings of men before they are tried
| by law are murderers and can be dealt
with as such.
! The typical American citizens who
| represent an ideal civilization and
Characterization of the present age
| wear the blush of shame upon theil
| faces for our country which still allows
| such heathenish practices to go on in
| this boosted, enlightened land of ours
A Heinous Crime.
! Lynching and burning a man is as
| heinous a crime as was ever record.
ed against the darkest ages of the
world. Little, if ever, was it thought
that the proud state of Illinois, which
furnished to the world one of the great
est known abolitionists in the person
of Abraham Lincoln, would be DETAINED
by lynching and burning of a ne
gro, but such has been put on record
at Danville.
| ttoS oCllhlliOn VI d uSSIO IL
the Chicago papers, chargin him with
Observation-Disclosures, lasciviousness and
barbaric habits reads more like the
production from the pen of non
compus mentus' than of a philosopher
of the twentieth century. II that ar
tlcle is Raymond's best production, he
is yet school boy beside the giant
intellectual minds of thousands of ed
ucated negroes in this country, who
suffer only on account of skin-deeI
prejudice against them by many of the
ignorant whites, who have hardly the
sense to discriminate between the is
sues of political parties.
Opposes Slang.
Il am to speak at Prospect park
Moline, H., on July 30, and my subject
will be The Plane of Human Equal
lty From An Historical and Philosoph
ical Point of View believe in the use
OF pure English language and dictior
and stand opposed to slang words anG
phrases in the pulpit, the press or or
the stump. Instead of so much cam
paigning in this country against the
| tariff trusts and expansion. capita
and labor, we should turn our atten
ton in every state to campaign OF ed
ucation and teach our ignorant citi
zens all over the country, white anc
black, how to become good law-abid
ing honest, and upright Christian peo
pie.
The "Glass House" Theory.
when we do this and plant in theil
minds and hearts the truth that %
one blood God made all flesh and thai
each man by the rules of society Has
rights that the other is bound to re
| spect then and not until then will We
have peace in our country and cease
| to be laughing stock for the worlt
to point her finger at us for trying tt
| correct others of their faults, leaving
our own houses unswept. First clear
up your own house and then see afte,
| our neighbors abroad.
| The negro and white men are botf
here, and here to stay, and there are
wisdom, diplomacy and patriotism
enough living this day. should it once
arise and asert itself in the halls o
congress, to make laws to regulate this
government, and exterminate foreve,
the crime of killing men before the,
are tried before the laws.
when all the pulpits of our church
es return to preaching the pure gospe
of the Son of God, the negro or race
! problem will solve itself"