The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-14
BLACK RACE BLAMED
FOR NEGROES CRIME
Hugh 7. HaIber, Declares That
Whites Do the Black Men
Great Injustice.

The white women of the South to-
day are ten times safer with 80 per
cent of the colored men than the col
ored women of either the South or the
North are with the white man.
/ This declaration, made by Hugh I.
Halbert in an address made before the
Young Mems Sunday club at the Pill
grim Baptist church yesterday after
noon, was greeted with cheers of ap
prevail by the large crowd of colored
people present.
Mr.. Halbert, graduate of Yale and
an interesting young talker, had been
invited by the club to make an adj
dress on the race problem as it is at
the present time
| In speaking of the crime charged to
so many colored men of the South, Mr..
Halbert said the negro was being done
great Injustice He was of the opin-
ion that lynehings followed many of
| these crimes simply because the ac-
!4cused person was negro, and not be-
cause of the crime itself. He had
nothing to offer in extenuation of the
crime, but declared it was no more
common, and not SO much so, among
| the negroes as among white people.
| why declared Mr.. Halbert, right
| here in our midst outrages are being
committed which, if charged to ne
gro, would result in a lynching. Look
at the charges recently made against
citizens of South ST. Paul. Scores of
colored people have been hanged and
some burned at the stake for lesser
| crimes, yet we heard very little about.
| it. The papers printed the story, but
there were no hostile editorials. and the
| matter has already, in only few days,
died out of the minds of the public.
Law Allowed to Take Its Course.
TN those cases the law is being per-
| mitted to take it's course, which is
just and proper; but I dare say that
the course of the law would have been
considered too slow had the persons
accused of these outrages been black
instead of white.
1.-The negro does not get justice in
matters of this kind. You will all
agree with me that any man, whether
! black or white, should be punished,
and punished severely, for crimes of
| this kind, but an entire race should
not be held responsible for the few
criminals that disgrace it, The white
people are not held to blame for the
crimes of white people, and the black
| race should not be held to account for
| the crimes committed by the negro.
| 1.-THE white people are more to blame
for the condition of the negro today
| than is the negro himself, and it is
| the duty of the white people to assist
| his colored brother in the upbuildlng
| of the race.
| "All of this talk about the negro's
| desire for social equality is rot do
not believe the negro wants it; that is,
| not in the way that his enemies would
| have one believe. He has no desire
to enter the parlors of the white peo-
| pie, but he does want and is entitled
! to, an equal chance to secure Hv-
| ing. There are no people in America
| who are more loyal and patriotic, and
/ it cannot be denied that the American
negro is one of the best fighting SOL
diers that ever wore the uniform of
( Uncle Sam
Urges Them to Vote.
Mr.. Halbert, in closing, urged the
! colored men to exercise their civil
! rights by registering and voting for
the best men to be found, no matter
what the politics Of these men might
! be. He believed negroes were qualified
| to exercise good judgment in selecting
! a ticket, and when they did this they
would be held in higher respect by the
better element Of white people.
Following the address Mr.. Halbert
| was rendered a vote of thanks by the
| members of the club, who agreed that
| his talk was one of the most interest
| ing heard by the club in some time.
| John L. Neal, colored citizen OF
| Minneapolis, was a guest at the meet
| ing, and in a brief talk congratulated
! the Young Mems Sunday club upon
their splendid organiza ton. He said
1 he had been working for the upbulid1ng
| of the colored race ever since he came
out of Tennessee forty years ago.
| He had heard much talk about the
! present condition of the negro, but he
defied any one to cite a race that had
| made such strides in forty years.
1--WE are very young yet said Mr.
Neal, "and the development our race
| has made since slavery was abolished
should be enough to encourage
| any person. 1t is something we may
well feel proud of. It is true our race
| is handicapped, but it is well for us
| that we know that we are handicapped.
1t should prepare us to try and over
come the handicap. If we have to work
| harder to accomplish some desired end
than a more fortunate race, we should
oo vr,iIJinO RI do the work"