The gold leaf., 1903-07-09

Baltimore Sun
Our Northern contemporaries are
unsparing in their denunciatiOn OF
the Delawareans who put to death
without form of law the negro brute
who had committed one OF the most
horrible and abominable crimes in
the category OF evil deeds. On the
whole their depreciation of mob viO-
!ence" is iustitiablp, yet there is ii
noticeable lack OF balance in the
comments OF most OF our indignant
contemporaries In their Overwhelm-
ing wrath against the mob that un-
lawfully avenged the fOulest crime OF
which IL woman may be the victim,
there Is II tendency to minimize or
ignore the hestiHl negrO's unspeaka-
ble Offense against decencv and civil
izatiOn. and the barbarOus cruelty
with which he took the life OF his vie
tim. The average black criminal.
reading the comments of many Of
our contemporaries, might well feel
that he would die the death OF IL
martyr ii he were to meet his fate at
the hands OF IL mob incensed beyond
control at his murderOus animalism
Condemnation OF lynch law which
loses sight OF the fiendishness of lust
full brutes who are done to death by
angry mObs, creates Il false impress
sion III the minds of depraved ne-
groeS. 1t inspires them with the be-
lief that public opinion in the North
attaches far more Importance to an
irregular method of inficting death
upon Il beast i'll the guise of a man
than it does to the most horrible
outrage which can befall a woman
They think OF themselves as persons
who are the victims OF persecution,
and are prone to regard themselves
as suffering wrongs compared with
which assaults upon the lives and
honor OF their defenSelesS victims as
trivial.
The life of that pure and heroic
girl who was sacrificed to the besti-
ality of the butte whom the Della
wareans burned to death was worth
the lives OF all the fiends who have
met Il similar fate in the past or may
meet Il violent death in the future.
That fact should not be overlooked
by those Ct our contemporaries who
are properly objecting to the manner
in which the crime against her was
avenged. 1t should not be iguOred
by those Delawareans, some OF whom
are ministers, who are Justly con-
demning the work of a mob com
posed OF their fellow-citizens. No
public meeting, so far as the Sun S
information goes, has been held in a
Northern city to denOunce the crime
of which the Delaware maiden was
the victim; no voice has been raised
to say that such abominable deeds
must end; no sympathy has been eX-
tended at meetings of indignant citi-
zens to the grief-stricken parents OF
! the girl who chose death rather than
give pledge to maintain silence,
and protect the beast who had
| wronged her from the Punishment
which the law DEGREES. 1t may be
that the Northern press and public
preserve reticence on this subject fOl
prudential reasons of a character en-
| tirely satisfactory to them. Let
| them take care, however, lest theil
reserve be misunderstood by those
who do these black deeds, lest Their
| discreet abstentiOn from cOndemna
! ton of lustful criminals be einterpreteC
as the lack of pronounced views or
the subject. Mrs. Russell Sage is
quoted in a New York newspaper as
saving that the violent manner il
| which the brute met his death was {;
"survival of slavarv' Mrs. Sage is
an intelligent woman and ought tC
know that the crime for which the
lustful negro died was unknown il
the South i'll the Gays of slavery, anC
| that lynch law was not directed al
| negroes until freedom was bestowed
on them and the worst element
among them gave free rein to theil
criminal instincts. A distinguished
New York prelate. in denouncing moi
law. intimates that Il large number
of white men i'll the nations metro
polls may have been guilty OF The
same crime as the Delaware negro
Even if there are guilty white brute.
in New York, that is no reason why
the act of the black brute should bt
considered less heinous or why pub
lie sympathy in the North should bt
withheld from the family of his vic
tim. But most Americans will pre-
fer to believe that civilization in New
York has not sunk to so low a stag
that the blacklist of all crimes can
not be denounced in the most vigO
rous terms because many New York
ers have been guilty of the same fOu
offense against the law and woman
honor.
| Another curious aspect OF the cas-
is the disposition of some Of the vii
mington newspapers to place the re
sponsibility for the mob's act upOl
the shoulders of men from Othe
States. Our respected contempor
ary. the Wilmington Journal, give
currency in its editorial columns to,
report that 1.-The leader of a the lynch
ing party was a Virginian. Justice.
it adds, ''calls with a loud voice TO
the apprehension OF that man. W
feel certain that the Virginia author
tiles will cooperate with our own.
1t is quite certain that Gov. Monta
que, of the Old Dominion, will be as
tonished to learn that one man from
Virginia could hypnotize 5000 Della
wareans. bend them to his will ant
compel them to engage, against thei
inclination. in riotous acts. Gu
Delaware friends should not play tn
"baby act" or plead that they wer
in the position OF the good but veal
big boy, who was led astray by /
wicked and masterfnl little boy. The,
will not by such tactics make an,
sympathy for themselves. Let then
| ,,,I 81, mo hic 10 70