Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1903-06-26
PEONAGE IN ALABAMA.

PEONAGE IN ALABAMA.
Below we publish an editorial
taken from the Register and
Leader about the servitude in
which some Of race is undergoing
in the south.
A staff correspondent Of the Chicago
Chronicle, : newspaper whose political
affiliations relieve it Of any suspieicion
Of partisan intent in its reports from
the south, writes story Of the peoDage
system as il is now in force in Alabama
that wildly recalls the days Of Uncle
Toms Cabin. Not only have the des-
cendsnts Of the old slsve drivers got
ten back 70 the custom Of buying and
selling Negroes, but they have appar-
emily revived : asystem Of brutal punish
ments that slavery days did not much
surpass.
This correspondent tells OF the testi-
mony that is now being given before
the United States grand jury. which
will ..whsn the first trisl is called, he
says, bring to the surface so many
shocking and almost incredible dis
closures Of crime,'' that the country
will be astounded. IL the specimen &
that he cites are To be accepted, his
prediction will be more thln realized.
The tortures Of Kisheney, committed
in passion, were not more horrible
than have been regularly committed
in cold blood by the scions Of the old
slave holding aristocrscy in our own
land. Negroes are exhibiting their
torn limbs and SCARED backs as in the
old days., the mute but absolutely
truthful Witnesses Of tn atrocities that
are being committed in the black belt
of the south. In the long list of crimes
that have been disclosed, one is re-
ported in detail, more pathetic than
the rest. The story is told in a plain
affidavitsigned by six witnesses, and is
|as follows:
! was at Mr.. Turner'S place. She
came on Monday and stayed until q
Tuesday. She came down to Fletcher
Turner's. We was in the new ground.
She could not pile brush like he want
ed her to and he took her down, dropp-
ed her clothes and placed her across q
log. held her feet and another Neg
70 held her by the head. Allen Turner
whipped her with : buggy whip trace,
lashes. He would hit her q lick and
than smother 10 the same place. every
time raising blisters or drawing blood.
He made us hold her.
Then he put . pair Of cuffs [hand.
cuffs on her and tied rope around
her waist and made me draw her up so
her feet would just touch the ground
and let her hang till dinner, two
hours. II was over the limb of . tree.
just about dinner we lowered her
down and she srawled over to some
bushes. Mr.. Turner told me to throw
her = pone Of bread. She said she
conld't eat Then Mr.. Turner told me
to throw the pone Of bread to the dogs.
After dinner was told to GO and
tell her she must 60 to work. She
pulled the lid Of her eye down and said
she could not see. She asked me If she
could see. Itold her could not see
through her eye far. She then crawl
cd behind the brush pile and lay down
and never got up any more. Allen
Turner best her over the head with q
pistol again and she died.
The Allen Turner who killed this
girl is young man II years of age
The local grand jury investigated the
case and this correspondent reports:
THE Turner's prepared for that for
mality by Handwriting and shacklirg
all the Negroes who were present on
the casion Of the beating Of the wo.
man and bringing them to Dadeville
thus bound together to appear before
the grand jury. Before they set out
for Dadeville and on the way they
were warned that If they related what
they had seen and heard on the planta-
.tion, il they did not assure the grand
jury that Sarah Nealy had died a pa
tnral death they would not live to ap-
pear in court. Believing that the Tur-.
ners would carry out their threat, they
testified as they weIe instructed, with
the result that the grandijury dismiss
ed the case. n ,3j n {ss vi .s
Attorney General Knox Is thoroughly
aroused BY the disclosures that have
been made and i determined 70 push