Hattiesburg daily progress. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 18??-1909, 1903-06-29
MR.. BRYANS' VIEW.
(The Commoner. j

The burning of the negro school
teacher at Bellville, ILL.,, recently,
is the latest if not the most forciblt
evidence that has been given in this
country Of race prejudice. The vic.
i'm was not low or brutal repre-
sentative of his race, but, on Tho
contrary, one Of the more intellec-
tual of his people He had suffi-
GENTLY advanced to enable him to be-
come school teacher.
The burning did not occur in &
southern state where the race cues
ton is constatntly present in the
minds Of all, but in one of the lerg-
est northern states, and under the
administration of republican govern
or.
The crime which led to the lynch
ing and burning was not an assault
upon woman-the revolving crime
that has usually led to burnings in
the south but an assault upon re-
publican official. 1t seems that
County Superintendent Hertel had,
for reasons which to him seemed
sufficient, refused to renew Wyat's
certificate. There is nothing to in
dictate that the refusal to issue the
certificate was due to race prejudice,
and certainly republicans will not
claim that the superintendent in the
discharge of his official duty gave
any just cause for offense. AngereG
by the refusal, Wyatt drew revol-
Yer and fired upon the superintendent.
He VS. arrest ed and taken to jail, but
as soon as the news of the attempted
murder became known a mob gathered
at the Jail, took the negro out, and
HING him to telegraph pole That
lot being sufficient, a fire was kim
died and the man cut down and burn
ed. Even the burning did not satisfy
the vengeance of his executors. Ac-
cOrding TO the account published in
the New York World and reproduced
on another page, they fell upon him
with knives, and cut and beat the
burning body almost to pieces, and
not until every sign of life had de-
parted did they allow the flames to de-
YOUR the body
1t is needless to say that a white
man would have been differently dealt
with. Shocking as is the teacher s
assault upon the superintendent, it did
not differ materially from the TRACE
dies that occur only too frequently in
all parts of the country. Sometimes
the perpetrator of such an act is hang
ed by mob, but there was nothing
in this case to justify the belief that a
frenzied mob would have acted as they
did had Wyatt been white instead of
black. We may say wha we please
in condemnation of race prejudice,
but it is a thing that must be con-
sidered-it cannot be ignored-and
there is no doubt that the prejudice
has been growing during the past few
years. Can its growth be traced to any
source? Is it unreasonable to suppose
that the effort on the part of some of
the republican leaders to force the APP
pointment of colored men upon protest
ing white people has had something
to do with it? These appointments
have embittered the whites and the
protests made by the whites have
embittered the negroes, and the two
races are more and more hostile than
at any time since the war. Is it not
time to discuss this subject soberly and
seriously, with a view to arriving at
some honest understanding Is it
not time to lay aside the political
phases of the subject and seek solu-
ton that will render it possible for
the two races to develop and make
progress constant and decreasing fric-
tion?
1t is suggested that Jim Tillman be