The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-01
THE ROPE FOR THE
HORSE THIEF
But not for Him Who De-
flowers Innocence.
A President who Holds Such Views
as These will Indeed IDjure
Us in the Eyes of Other
Nations.

TO the Editor: A Washington spe-
cial in your issue of April 23rd, gives
an admirable report of how our in
imitable Claude Kitchin skinned
| Roosevelt, the previous day, though
he stated but bare facts taken
largely from Roosevelt's own publish
ed writings.
An Associated Press dispatch in
your PAPER of the gath tells of a re-
ply by Representative Hepburn Gre
publican), of Iowa, which is an at
| tempted defence of Roosevelt, espe-
cially of his teachings on lynching.
In his reply Mr.. Hepburn distorts Mr..
kitchin's words into such shape that
he practically claims Mr.. Kitchin said
Mr.. Roosevelt advocated and justified
! lynchings In the South, whereas, the
frontier, Mr.. Hepburn declared, was
/ the section of country Mr.. Roosevelt's
statement had reference to.
The locality which Mr.. Hepburn
said the President referred to is ex-
actly the one which Mr.. Kitchin said
| he referred to. AS far as the pub
| lished account of MI. kitchin's speech
goes, it was in the West and the West
only that Mr.. Kitchin charged Mr.
Roosevelt with justfying lynching.
1t is not likely that anybody will
ever have the opportunity of truthful
| ly saying that Roosevelt justifies
| lynching in the South for any crime,
or that he justifies lynching a negro
| anywhere for any crime. On. MOI
1t is lyfChing white men in the West
that he approves of-and stealing
| horses is the crime for which, ac-
cording to Mr.. Roosevelt, it is all right
to lynch. Lynchine in tie So1Lh is
all wrong! So is lynching a negro
| i'm, to
Roosevelt and his friend, Hepburn.
Mr.. Editor, will you give right here
a quotation from the Associated Press
report of Mr.. Hepburn's remarks?
Mr. Hepburn referred to the criti-
cism of the President by Mr.. Kitchin
yesterday. The gentleman, he said
was a member of coordinate
listened to the bitter, yea, the criminal
denunciation of the President. This
was a degradation of the nation in
the eyes of the world, he declared.
Referring to the alleged quotation
from the President that there is a
strain of barbariSm running through
the people of the South Mr. Hepburn
said the gentleman had sought to
place the responsibility for his bar
barrie spirit upon the President of the
United States, placing him as one
who was the advocate of lynchIng.
and the justider of he hCrrid out
RACES which take place in the section
of the country from which the gentle
man comes. That these things did
take place, Mr.. Hepburn said there
was no denial, but the Presidents
statement had reference to the from
tier
Ard now, Mr.. Editor, will you fol-
low the above quotation by short
extract from the report of Mr.. Kitch-
ms remarks on the previous day so
that your readers may see at once
what Mr.. Hepburn says Mr.. Kitchin
said, and be able to directly contrast
it right before the eyes at the same
time with what Mr.. Kitchin really did
say? The report of Mr.. Kitchin's re-
marks speaks thus:
"The speaker Mr.. Kitchin] charg
cd that Mr. Roosevelt in at least
three of his books deliberately teach
es and advocates lynch law for steal
ing He read from Winning The
West"
will not quote further from either
Mr. Hepburn's or Mr.. Kitchin's re-
marks, but will simply cali attention
to th4 fact that what Mr. iHitchin read
from Winning The West" as given
in the report, proved from Mr.. Roose-
velt's own words that te did teach
and advocate the rightculness Of
Lynching in the West for Stealing.
But Mr. Kitcnin stoppc1 100 soon.
instead of proving only that I3r.
EC osevelt approve % lynchn3 white
men for stealing lie could have gone
ON and showed from I1r. Roosevelt S
writings that he denoun3e Ike lynch
ing of negroes for the most detestab'a
and atrocious crimes known 20 hu-
manity.
Instead of giving my own words |
will let an extract from an editorial
which appeared in the New York
American not very long ago briefly
tell of this portion of ROoseveIts
shameful position. The American
says:
Roosevelt sympathizes with the
negroes, and he says in a letter writ
ten to Governor Durbin, of Indiana,
on August 8, 1903:
All thoughtful men must feel
the gravest alarm over the growth of
lynching in this country, and espe-
cially over the peculiarly hideous
forms so often taken by mob violence
when colored men are the victims.
Here you see that Mr.. Roosevelt
denoUnces the men guilty of lynch
ing a negro, who in turn absolutely
ruined, if he did not actually destroy,
the life of a helpless woman"
And now, what does Mr. Roosevelt
say about the lynching of man who
SlSdIS IL HOISG LII. hIHSSDufY
admirably answers this question in
your issue of November /, 1903 II
do not think I can do better than to
clip a few lines from his communca-
ton as follows:
"But Roosevelt on Lynching is
thumper. This man of much fuss
and feathers wrote a book as is q
book He called it Ranch Life and
the Hunting Trail'-and it was pub
lished in 1S99-but four years ago. He
tells of abounding -thieying in