The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-06-01

not, within little while, done just
what the Southern white is accustom-
ed to, prophesy Of practically all edu-
Gated neeroes-used has education for
tfs promotion Of fraud in his own
interest. He had gone on accumulat-
ing land till he owned or controlled
something like s, 600 acres all of which
he was. turning to account by his sys-
tenn Of business enterprise with incl
dental philanthropy, when one OF his
exemplary contracts led the way to
his ruin.
He had made sale after the usual
fashion to two grossly ignorant but
industrious negroes, when in midterm,
along came a railroad and set up sta
tion where it was bound greatly to en-
hance the value of this particular
property. The temptation; was more
thar Murray could resist, and he
forged new bond and substituted it
for the original, changing the con-
ditions so as to give him and not the
purchasers the benefit Of the aclventi-
tious profit. In the course of law
suit last year he lad occasion TO put
this forged bond:in evidence, SO that
thereafter there was no retreat for
him, The record being final proof Of
his perfdy. In due time he was in
dicted, and at the recent trial he was
convicted and will probably have to
serve a term in the Penitentiary.
What happens to Murray issof infin-
isesimal consequence as compared
with the question what backset
American negroes at large will suffer
from his offence. That is what makes
men ofeau parties denounce such an
act as his as a crime against race.
UnhappiIy, it is a fact which cannot
be blinked, that the inferior races,
throWn among Cancasians, suffer more
damage proportionately from men Of
their own blood than from the eau
casians. Whoever knows the Indian
situation intimately will cou6rm this
view SIS regards the Indians; everyone
acquainted with life in the Chinese
quarter OF the Pacific coast cities will
give like testimony as to the Chinese;
and all kind hearted Southerners will
agree that the b.unt of their trouble
IN trying to protect the ignorant and
helpless negro is caused by the col
cred brother who is smarter" just
as che savage, on receiving any gift
or acquiring any new art, thinks first
+ Of the use to which he can put it in
overcoming his enemies and promoting
his own ambitions, so the first thought
of many members of the inferior races.
ON their introduction to civilization,
is how they can turn this to their
own profit Ia their relations with the
poor creatures whom they have left,
behind in the contest. It is the know
ledge of this tendency that handicaps
SO sadly the efforts of the unselfsh
teacher, and gives the pessimist and
the scoGer their most effective ammu-
milton. The bad things Murray has
done will cling in the minds of the
critics of negro education long after
the practical good he did has passed
ont of memory; and with fine sense
of fitness it will be charged to the
discredit Of the whole negro popula
ticn, and to any and all plans for lift
ing it above the plane on which the
Lord first set it down.
Yet of course there is no more logic
in laying the blame Of an occasional
crime to the innocent instrumentality
which was employed in its commits
sion, thala there would be in abolish
ing forks from civilized tables because
at rare intervals diner has used one
to stab his neighbor. Every year
thousands of persons are drawn into
the vortex of speculation for the first
time. Here and there one thinks he
has discovered a s4system" by which
he can always win and never lose.
Does this occasional folly prove the
insanity Of all those who try short
cEt to fortune? In strictly legitimate
trade, 1T is one argument against
banking that now and then new
concern thinks that it can expand its
business far past the limits set by
the experience Of centuries, and goes
down in disaster. To Murray the NOR
al aspects Of his trick were probably
clouded over by the practical possibili-
Of gain. He had become hyno5ized
by his success, and the passing op-
portunity drew him along. Bigger
and wiser men than he have been
caught in the same way. There was
more of that sort Of thing going on
among the white race in an earlier
stage of its civilization than now. We
cannot hope to make over the whole
negro contingent in our population
/ in a night. or to, escape an occasional
case like Mnrray's; but what such an
offence really proves is not chat the
offender is oyer-educated, but that
| he has not been educated enough
New York Evening Post.
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The khyengs Of Burma are probably