The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-02-16
STARTLING WORDS
"N OH Ought to have XIII q
the Niggers'"
AMAZING INCIDENT
JUDGE HICKS ASTONlSHED THE
COURT ATTENDANTS.
He Commended and Dismissed VIC
ator of Law Who Was Ready
and Willing to Plead Guilty.

he question the people OF SnreFepol
must answer is Are we willing t
longer trust our liberty and our propcrt,
in the hands of a man who holds sucf
sntilnents and who expresses them bold
ly from the judges bench?"
The words quoted are clipped from
the Shreveport Journals editorial o
February a, and refer to the unwar'
ranted, inexcusablc and iniefensible ut
terance of Judge Cal D, Hicks of ths
City Court,
The query addresses itself directly te
every self-respecting citizen Of Shrcve'
port It is not in any spirit or SENSE
political nor can such a plea avail, es-
pecially in this instance, in justification
of the use OF Judge Hicks words from
the bench while occupied by him Off
cially, in dispensing even-handed jus
tice.
Any attempt at justification Of an act
which should be condemned---on the
plea of politics or the racial issues, is
the mouthing. the last resort Of the
dcn,agogre
No sane man can hold any political
party or political faction, or any indi-
vilual, responsible for the words OF
Judge Hicks which startled tie Court
attendants; words uttered deliberately.
from the bench by the judge, sitting of.
fieially, in his judicial capacity.
Fortunately I saw the oc :urrentc.
You ought to have killed the bigger
Such were the words of Judge Hicks.
Were ever such words uttered by any
judge, of any court, N any part Of the
civilized world2
How shocking
But what was the negro's offending
The facts briefly narrated are:
Joe Leggio, to whom this advice was
given was the leader Of gang of men
and boys who had INDUCED, in snow
balling every negro, on foot, in vehicles
or horseback, passing up and down Tex
as avenue, at and from the intersection
of Jodan to Gary street. " ~
He carried concealed weapon, pis-
tol, which was visible to number Of
people who witnessed the snewballing,
so-called. By carrying the pistol Leggio
was amenable to law. About an hour
preceding the Leggio shooting, some Of
the mob of snowballers had jumped on
a negro, who defended himself as best
he could, and in the resistance he offered
he knocked down one of the party and
fed When the negro who melted the
ire Of Judge Hicks to the startling and
indefensible words he uttered in his of
fetal capacity, was going down Texas
avenue, he was snowballed by many i'll
this crowd OF men and boys. He was
from the country. He could offer no
resistance, as he jumped from his
wagon he was pelted nercilessly. As he
alighted he had jug in his hand which
he uplifted and held in that attitude a
few seconds; as the mob crowded on
him he ran down Texas avenue at his
swiftest speed, and as he ran the pistol
shot was fired by Leggio.
Il is not true that this negro assumed
al, assault on Leggio; nor did he come
in close quarters with Leggio. This ne
gro was not intent on fighting, but on
running. and after he had escaped from
the mob he recovered his wagon, the
team having kept the way until the cor
ner of Bernstein's store was reached.
Did the negro have the right Of self
defense when assaulted, with snowballs2 ?
Why not7
The racial issue will never lead the
Caucasian to the pleading OF the denaa-
gognc. The Caucasian, while maintain
ing the strictest teachings consistent
with the principles OF white supremacy
and the preservation of the Caucasian
race from contamination with any in
ferior race. will always be fair to the
negro. and ii declares now. as it has il
the past. that no white man who levels
himself to the negro can pretend To be
better than the negro, nor is such man
entitled to sympathy or consideration il
he be i1sulted or assaulted by a negro.
In legal sense the mob engaged II
|snowballing the niggers or white people
were as guilty Of assault as if they had
hurled stones or brick, and these as,
saults became aggravated when the per
sons assaulted would not be party te
the srlowballing, begged to be let alone
and were pursued when attempting 4
'iIec from their assaulters