The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1906-12-04

/ enlnB tne integrity or this republic. -
spoken as follows. "The lynchinR of
any person for whatever crime Is in
eNeusable anywhere--it is a defiance OF
orderly government; but the killing OF
/ innocent people under any proNocation
! is infinitely more horrible; and vet in
nocent people are likely TO die when
4 a mobs terrible lust is once aroused.
The lesson Is this; No good citizen can
aHord 70 countenance defiance OF the
! statutes, no matter what the provoca-
J ton, The innocent frequently suffer.
| ana, it is my observation, more usual
~ neonIl sIiter r, taan ts the guilty The white
colored race on the ground that even
! the better elements lend no assistance
/ whatever IN ferreting out criminals OF
their own color. The respectable COLI
ored people must learn not 10 harbor
their criminals, but to assist the OFF,
| cess In bringing them TO Justice This
Is the larger crime, and il provokes
such atrocious Orenses as the one at
Atlanta. The two races can never get
on until there Is an understanding on
the part of both to make common
cause with the law-abiding criminals
Of any color"
Danger OF Race Hatred.
Moreover where any crime commit
ted by a MEMBER Of one race against
a member OF another race is avenged
m such fashion that II seems as IL not
the individual criminal. but the whole
race is attacked, the result Is to exas-
perate 10 the highest degree race feel-
ing. There Is but one safe rule in
dealing with black men as with white
men; II is the same rule that must be
applied in dealing with rich men and
poor men, that is. TO treat each man
whatever his color. his creed or his
social position. with even handed JUS
tlce on his real worth a man White
people owe II quite as much to them
selves as TO the colored race to treat
well the colored man who shows by
his life that he deserves such treat
ment: for IL is surely the highest wis
dom to encourage in the colored race
all those individuals who are honest.
industrious. law-abiding. and who
therefore make good and safe neigh
Dors ana citizens. Reward or punish
the individual on his merits as an in
dlvidual. Evil will surely come in
the end TO both races IL we substitute
for this Just rule the habit OF treating
all the members OF the race. good and
bad. alike. There is no question OF
social equality or negro domination"
involved. only the question Of reient-
lessly Furnishing bad men. and of se-
curing. TO the good man the right to
MS life. his liberty and the pursuit
Of his happiness as his own qualities
OF heart, head and hand enable him TO
achieve it,
Every colored man should realize
that the worst enemy Of his race is the
negro criminal, and above all the me-
gro criminal who commits the dread
full crime of rape; and il should be felt
as IN the highest degree an offense
against the. whole country, and against
the colored race in particular, for a
colored man to fail to help the officers
OF the law In hunting down with all
possible earnestness and zeal every
such infamous offender. Moreover, in
my Judgment the crime of rape should
always be punished with death. as is
the case with murder. assault with in
tent 70 commit rape should be made
capital crime, at least in the discretion
or the court; and provision should be
made by which the punishment may
follow Immediately upon the heels Of
the orense; while the trial should be
be wantonly shamed while giving tes
timony, and that the least possible
publicity shall be given to the details
The members OF. the white race on
the other hand should understand that
every lynching represents by just so
much loosenlng Of the bands of civ
ilization; that the spirit OF lynching
inevitably throws into prominence in
creatures who dwell therein. No man
can take part in the torture OF a hu-
man being without having his own
moral nature permanently lowered
Every lynching means just so much
moral deterioration in all the children
who have any knowledge Of IT, and
therefore just so much additional
trouble for the next generation OF
Let justice be both sure and swift:
but Jet II be justice under the law,
and not the wild and crooked savagery
OF a mob.
Need for Negro Education.
There Is another matter which has
q direct bearing upon this matter OF
lynching and OF the brutal crime which
sometimes calls ii forth and at other
times merely furnishes the excuse for
it's existence. II is out OF the question
for our people as a whole permanently
to rise by treading down any of their
own number. Even those who them.
selves for the moment profit by such
maltreatment OF their fellows will in
the long run also suffer. No more
sshortsightsd policy can be imagined
than. In the fancied interest of one
class. to prevent the education OF an
other class. The free public school the
chance for each boy or girl 10 get a
good elementary education lies al the
foundation OF our whole political sftu~
alton. In every community the poor
est citizens, those who need the schools
most would be deprived OF them IL
they only received school facilities
proportionately to the taxes they paid
This Is as true OF one portion OF our
country as OF another. 1t is as true
for the negro as for the white man |
The white man, II he is wise. will de- |
cline to allow the negroes in a mass to
grow to manhood and Womanhood /
without education. Unquestionably ed /
uCauOn sucn as IS obtained In our pub !
lie schools does not do everything to-
wards making a man a good citizen;
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 little: lust
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 /
OF course the best type
OF education 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 young men and young ,vo-
men, are trained industrially as well
as In the ordinary public school
schools turn out well in the great ma
iority OF cases, and hardly any OF them
become criminals, while what little
there is never takes the
form Of that brutal violence which in
vttes lynch law. Every graduate OF
these schools-and for the matter OF
that every oher colored man or wo-
leads a life so useful ana
honorable as 10 win the good will and
respect OF those whites whose neigh
Dor he or she Is. thereby helps the
whole colored race as IT can be helpad
n no other way; for next to the negro
help the negro is his white nefehbor
who lives near him; and our steady
short should be to better the relations
between the two. Great tho the bene-
il OF these schools has been TO their
,olOred pupils and TO the cOlOred Dao-