Arizona republican., 1904-02-19
The Shame of the Country.

A burned to death at the stake in Mis- sissippi. This incident appears to have escaped the attention of the northern press in the. rush or other news, and to have been quite ger orally ignored by the southern papers.
 But one of the latter, the Louisville Courier-Journal, strikes the savages guilty of that atrocity without mercy. The Republican recently quoted from tl1t paper concerning that sicken- ing outrage which was described as 'one of the most strocious outrages ever committed in any part of Chris tendon or heathendom. No more hid- eous infamy ever cursed this land when the savages held it, before the coming of the Caucasian, with his prating of his superiority and oiviliza- tion. It is disgusting, sicken:ng anG horrifying to every man worthy or wearing white skin"
 Language, however vivid and scorching, is impotent in the presence of such diabolism. A community that will burn a man and woman to death should be isolated from ether civiliSel l communities as colonies of lepers are in the East. It cannot be called Chris tian or. civilized. It Is not entitled 10 intercourse with the decent portions of mankind. It is more vile and vicious and internal in passions and conduct than the lowest and most degr2de tribes in darkest Africa. Every man active in or consenting 10 the atrocity deserves to be hanged. He is a murd- erer under the law and in the sight of men.
 And yet the attitude of many south ern communities and citizens towards these horrible abominations is apolo- getic if not commendatory. hey talk of the "unspeakable crime Of few black men as if they did not know that in a great majority of southern lynch ings there has been no woman in the case at all. They shoot and hang and burn negroes down there, not only for assaults on women, but for murder. for highway robbery. for petit larceny and even for being impolite in ad- dressing white people.
 The communities infected with this form of rabies appear to be incurable. No appeals to their pride. to their re- spect fer law and justice, to their sense of humanity, 10 their regard for the respect and sympathy and fellow ship of mankind, has any effect on them. The governmental system of the United States protects them from outside molestation, and so they keep right on indulging in crimes of say agery which, if committed in Africa by the barbarious natives, in Armenia by the Turks, or in Russia by bigoted and fanatical populace. would excite the horror of the civilized world, and possibly lead to intervention by the worlds great powers.
 It is by no means certain that the time will not sc3n come when the gov ernments. of Europe will unite in the name of humanity in a demand that l these atiocities in the United Statos shall cease. If that time comes, we can have no defense except to do lat Russia did to us when the protest against the slaughter of the Jews at kishineff was made-that is, tell them to mind their own business. But it is a question whether it is not fhe business of civilization to interfere with the course pursued by many 1 southern whites toward the black race in that section. If our government has not the power to protect it's citizens from torture and violent deaths a. the hands of wild beasts in human form and with white skins, then the situa- tion may become one for the world to | deal with by moral and diplomatic pressure upon the public sentiment in this country. This would be huniiia-- | ing to nation boasting of it's primacy in humanitarianism if not in civiliza- | ton.
 Colonel Bryan :s developing a ve.r