The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1904-09-30

county Legislators have adopted
the contract road System and will
Lut it in immediate operation. This
promises Unreasonable advance
u nt TO the material interests and
personal comfort of those consti.
tuting the back bone of our social.
industrial and commercial systems.
During our sessions We have on
many occasions after thoroughly
sitting what seemed plausible in
ferences of crime, been agreeably
disappointed in the failure Of our
researches to make painful discov.
cries, and We believe that the moral
condition Of our people ia steadily
improving in respect of those high
er crimes and graver misdemean.
ors that disrupt the social system
and initiate against order, peace
aud happiness. The county is Pc
culiarly free from that most de-
moralizing of agencies, illicit vend.
ing of liquor
A learned Judge in another dis
trict, in his charge to the grand
jury, AYERS that no has kept &C.
count of the deaths by violence &C.
curing in the Commonwealth dur
ing the last three months. And that
the sanguinary record exceeds that
of any other State. While not
questioning his figures we revolt
against his conclusion, and express
the belief that the number has been
equalled if not exceeded in more
than one of the large cities of the
country, and that while in Missis-
sippi these acts have generally oc-
Cured upon isolated plantations,
aud as the result of passion fos-
tered by alcohol or cocaine, those
in the cities have been com mited
despite the vigilance Of large bod
les of police and consts bulsry, aud
often 10 cover prior crimes, or in
cident to robbery. This learned
Judge, referring to the redundancy
of money incident to generous
harvests and high prices, attrib-
utes many of the killings among
the negroes To this cause. Doubt
less he is right: 1t is the old story
of the mining camp where the
rocks and gulches in yielding read
lily their auriferous treasures have
encouraged lavish expenditure, the
dive, the dance hall and the gam
ing tables, where the Hash of the
pistol or CLEAN OF the knife have
been responsive to every hasty
wood. In the one Instance the
acts have been those of a race but
recently come to the sphere of in
dependent action and the right to
purchase arms, and in the other,
of men yielding to new surround
ings and in some degree reverting
To primal conditions.
The habit of carrying concealed
weapons is rapidly passing away
among the whites, but prevails to
an alarming extent among the ne
groes, though generally depreoa-
ted and condemned by the better
class among them. Our inquiries
extending TO every witness brought
before Us, have failed to locate q
single instance of this breach of
the law, yet We have little doubt
that vigilance on the part Of the
constables in the country could
have supplied witnesses and testi-
mony TO this body that would have
resulted in many presentations
and subsequent convictions.
There is. undoubtedly, u tenden
cy upon the part of many large
employers of negro labor to keep
the happenings on their planta-
tions out of court for fear of dis
turbing or embarrassing farm op-
erations. This in our opinion is q
mistaken policy. We believe that
if the shadow of the law Was at all
times over these industrial groups,
and the fear of it's vigilance and
penalties, the plantation quar-
ters" would soon become Hs peac-
able and lawabiding as well-order-
ed villages. The fuedal system of
our ancestors should not be per-
mitted or encouraged in the twen-
tieth century.
We congratulate you that our
Inquiries have developed but two
cases of theft. and no case Of rob-
berry under circumstances of vio-
lence or from the person Of the vio-
tim. No other instance has even
been suggested by any Of the wit
nesses summoned. This is truly
wonderful record for a county
with $4,000 inhabitants.
The pension rolls bear evidence
of careful scrutiny by the Old Sol
der Board Of the county, though
we found a few cases where death
or permanent removal from the
State necessitated ensures. Ru-
mors come to US affecting certain
claims, but they were not support
ed by such evidence as would jus
tify action at hazard Of grievous