New-York tribune., 1903-06-22
TIE NEGRO ~ TIE NORTH.
uently

II - Southern friends take quick
- ,,o confessed. legitimate advantage
of +be recent outbreaks against hesIoeS AZ
- thor Northern States to warn thelr
.-o.nthors AGAINST following bad Northern eA-
p1o ..-Ibe Montgomery Advertiser soleHh-
;, os ,,,,on its readers the lesson tnat the
.1.n,bin, of negroes in Illinois and other North-
.er-n States is no justification OF IKE acCS hei
sat home" 1t notes that imitation Is 'he siA
cerest f1attery but says I'VE shouid resuai o"'
desire TO please so far as to refrain IRON hAsio
'Ivnching just because our Dre'nlen uP ''
Indulge in that pastime
The sarcasm is not undeserved' ana 'he eeif
ous reflection that while the North ioVes 'le
nerro-at a distance-the Soutn' hot"iths'shu
;, i+S noItical discrimination against him, real
lv understands him and offers hllh HIS pe''
rrnortunities is not without truth. Lynching
wherever IT occurs is a mark OF parparishi' anu y.
+to communities which gre dsgraced by 1t
sbon,d no made TO feel the weight of the ma
+ion,s censlre. Our civilization is one civiliSa-
+ion No State lives to itself alone. In no
State can the forces of lawlessness be allowed
~ hold sway without the demoralizing int1u-
o,oo .nfactinr the entire nation. The long
toIeration nv the South Of the lynching habits
of IFS r1,aianly elements has famiiarned the
whole country with the idea of maltreatlng
neoroes. and now the rough elements In the
North think If smart TO abuse negroes. Even
in this thoroughly policed city the cry Lynch
bimm is heard when q motorman by ACCIDENT
iniures somebody. as it never was ten years
ago The only safety Of civilization is to De
found in putting down this evil whenever IL
shows itself. and we hope the Southern press
will denounce it in the North and the South ana
shame both sections into a rivalry Tor su-
premacy as the home of law and order
Booker 7. Washington once in this city, before
a club largely composed Of labor unionists ana
their friends of socalistic tendencies, bravery
called upon them to put their theories or human
rights into practice and give the negro OF the
North q fair chance TO earn his living as
skilled Iaborer The difficulty encountered by
the Industrious and intelligent negro In the
North is disgraceful, and there is for it no such
excuse as the Southerners offer for their dis
examinations against him. His enemies here are
not Americans who think they see precious in
stitutions in danger. but are mostly clannish for
eigners, whose spirit is solely one of meanness
and unreasoning prejudice. The South has
treated the negro frequently with great MUS
tice. 1t often brings wholesale indictments
against the race for the evil deeds Of few, and
foreets how faithfully the race served it and
protected its women and children when they
had no other protectors The rowdy citizens of
the South have sometimes been allowed to hold
sway through the fear of the better citizens that
they might be charged with treason to their sec
ton If they undertook to defend the negro
Nevertheless, in the South to-day is the negro's
best industrial opportunity. There are the
friends who can be most helpful to him and
whose respect he should most cultivate. He
cannot be expected to, and should not, lie supine
under the abuse Of the Southern white bar
barians, but he should seek the advice and CO.
operation of the civilized white people in the
South In raising himself, and by doing SO pro-
mote the interests of both races.