The Mena weekly star., 1906-12-06

even worse than murder. He quotes the od,nonitions to the white people spoken hv Gov Candler of Georgia, some yeas ago, and by Gov. Jelks, of Aiapah'a,
 gently, and then says .hou,d realize
 s'Fveyy colored man snouio \, .he that the worst enemy Of his race is .ile negro criminal. and above ail thr hraad- gro criminal who commits tns sSi. f,,i crirne of rape, and it should pc lelt as in the highest degree an onense against the whole country, ana agalhs. the colored race In parucuiar a~s aut colored man to fail 10 help tne ePth aiI of the law in hunting down with aii nossjhle earnestness and zeal eNely such infamous offender. MoreoNeI, in my Judgment the crime or rape snouiu , always be punishea Wl,n W.,,Yt uttb tn the case with murder. assault Wllh ih tent 10 commit rape should pc '.g, nla.g capital crime. at least in the ulscIt'tvv, v of the court; and provision shot'iu ov made by which the punishment ma follow inmedjately upon the heels or the offense; while the trial shouiu pe so conducted that the victm heeu . noe be wantonly shamed while gNins nIsssts1e timony. and that the least posslnle publicity shall be given to the oetails
 The members of the white race on the other hand should understand that every iynchin9 represents by Just SD much a loosening of the bands of CIV ilfzation. that the spirit or lyhchns inevitably throws Into prominehce LIT in the community all the foul ana eyil
  can take part in tine torture Of hu- man being without having ms own moral nature permanently lowered. Every lynehing means 3ust so ,,,,dren Iaren who have any knowledge or lt an9 therefore just so much additlonat trouble for the next generation or
 Let Justice be both sure and swift hut let it be justice under the law, and not the wild and crooked savagery of mob.
 Need for Negro Education.
 "There is another matter which has a direct bearing upon this matter oi lynching and of the brutal crime wnlch sometimes calls 1t forth and at other times merely furnishes the excuse Tor ifs existence. It is out of the question for our people as whole permanently to rise by treading down any oi tnelr own number. Even those who them selves for the moment pront by such rnaltreatment of their fellows will Tn the long run also suffer. No more shortsighted policy can nrest pe imasinne af nne class to prevent the education of an other class. The free public school the chance for each boy or girl to set good elementary education. lies al the foundation of our whole political situ- ation In every community the poor est citizens, those who need the schools most would be deprived of them If
 
 proportionately to the taxes they paid This is as true of one portion Of our country as of another. It IS as true for the negro as for the white man. The white man. If he is wise, will de- cline to allow the negroes In mass to grow to manhood and womanhood without education. Unquestionably ed- ucation such as is obtained In our pub lie schools does not do everything to- wards making a man a good citizeni but it does much. The lowest and most brutal criminals, those for instance who commit the crime of rape, are in the great majority men who have had either no education or very litle; just as they are almost invariably men who own no property: for the man who puts money by out of his earnings. like the man who acquires education. Is usually lifted above mere brutal crimiHality. Of course the best type of educa alton for the colored man. ta- ken as a whole, Is such education as is conferred in schools like Hampton and Tuskegee; where the boys and girls the yousg. men and young wo., men are trained industrially as well as in the ordinary public school branches. The graduates of these schools turn out well in the great ma jority of cases, and hardly any or them become criminals, while what little criminality there is never takes the form of that brutal violence which in- vites lynch law. Every graduate Of these schools-and for the matter of that every goher colored man or wo- man-who leads a life so useful and honorable as to win the good will and respect of those whites whose neigh bor he or she is. thereby helps the whole colored race as it can be helped in no other way for next to the negro himself. the man who can do most to help the negro Is his white neighbor who lives near him; and our steady effort should be to better the relations between the two. Great tho the bene- At of these schools has been to their fle nd fT ha Nnfn aA pie, 1t may we'll be questioned whether the benefit has not been at least as great to the white people among whom these colored pupils live after they s'"' Capital ana Labor.
 On the subject of capital and labor the president takes the agitators of class hatred to task and says Ito preach hatred 10 the rich man, IS such. to seek to mislead and infiame to mad ness honest men whose lives are hard and who have not the kind Of mental training which will permit them to ap- preached Is 10 commit crime against the body polite and to be false to every worthy principle and tradition of Amer can national life. Continuing on this subject he says:
 'sThe plain people who thnk-the mechanics, farmers. merchants work CTS with head or hand the men to whom American traditions are dear. who love their country and try to act decentiy by their neiRhbors. owe it to themselves to remember that the most damaging blow that can be given pop uiar government is to elect an un- worthy and sinister agitator on a platform of violence and hypocrisy. Whenever such an issue Is raised In this country nothing can be gained by hinching from it. for in such case dem oeracy is itself on trial. popular self government under republican forms is Itself on trial. The triumph of the .h. fs NstrN .Krt4 eL Lfs..~ . al umph of the plutocracy, and to have escaped one danger avails nothing whatever If we sucuumb to the other In the end the honest man. whether rich or poor. who earns his own living and tries to deal justly by his fellows, has as much to fear from the insincere and unworthy demagog. promising much and performing nothing or else would set on the mob to plunder the rich, as from the crafty corruptionist who for his own ends would permit the common people to be exploited by the very wealthy. If we ever let this government fall into the hands of men of either of these two classes we shall show ourselves false to Americas past Moreover. the demagog and corrup- tionist often work hand In hand. There are at this moment wealthy reaction aries of such obtuse morality that they regard the public servant who prose cutes them when they violate the law or who seeks to make them bear their proper share of the public burdens as being even more objectionable than the violent aRitator who hounds on the mob to plunder the rich. There is nothing to choose between such a re- actionary and such an agitator; funda- mentally they are alike In their selfish disregard of the rights of others and 1t is natural that they should join in opposition to any movement of which the aim Is fearlessly to do exact and even Justice to all v