The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-08-28
WHAT IS THE REMEDY


| focus the recognition Of a torrid wave
Of lust and ~fendishness on the part
/ of the negro criminals Of the state.
1t is difficult To discuss with any
tranquility or with any reason a crime
like this The mere suggestion Of the
slightest familiarity on the part of a
black and filthy negro with a refned
and gentle woman OF the Caucasian
race is enough to stir the blood TO fe-
Yer heat, but the monstrous and un-
speakable horror of the more seri-
Gus and brutal assault, simply wakes
TO a frenzy and will always stir to
frenzy the Caucasion blood.
In the discussion Of this great ques-
ton in times past, the editor of The
Georgian has passed through all
stages of feeling from reason TO hys-
terra, and We nave thought enough
and seen enough and left enough of
this fearful shadow upon our civiliZa-
ton to have some ideas that are dis
tinctly definite and hat ought to be
essentially practiced.
The people of this great republic
who are disposed to c~riticise the south
scracely realize that its people are
living in a state of constant siege and
| AOulilI ~ w IlO3iA 4lo o5C u
has ever produced a superior and
| scarcely an equal, are prisoners to
| danger and to fear. The women in the
| north and in the east may walk after
nightfall from street to street and al
/ most from township to township with
out alarm. But it has come to pass IN
the slow process of this increasing ter
rOr that there is not a WOman wife,
mother or sister who would be permit
- .- ~ II
unattended through the quiet streets
Of suburban towns. And even in mid
| day, men who leave their homes un-
! guarded, leave with apprehension and
provide every means of protection and
self defense which acre and apprehen-
sion can devise.
This state of affairs is frightful and
appalling and it cannot and must not
endure any longer in these states
which have won the right to better
things.
Here for instance in the very center
of the sOuth's best civilization, right
in the heart Of progress and devel-
Opment, in the open suburb of Geor-
| gia's capital city, and the metropolis Of
the south, We have had five open and
| mOnStrOuS attempts at rape within the
last foul weeks. No dark region, no
| benighted portion of the state, no
swamps nor morasses to hide the Of
| fender, no turpentine camps Or sugar
! plantations to gather the lawless and
to develop the criminal instinct. but
right here under the shadow of Geor-
| gia's capitol and in the very heart of
the south's highest intelligence these
monstrous crimes have had fast and
frightful recurrence.
Every one Of the fends who has
been apprehended has been deal with
swiftly and sternly by an outraged
society that could not and did not wait
for the slow processes Of the law.
Every rapist that has been caught has
been shot or hanged without hesitation
and without remorse.
And yet with the open blaZon Of
this swift and fearful punishment the
crime has been repeated Or attempted
almost before the echo Of the last out
rage had died away!
Does lynching prevent rape? It
would seem not Within twenty days
after the burning Of Sam Hose at New
nan, Ga, there were three attempted
assaults within a radius Of an hundred
miles of his mOnstrous crime and it's
swift and awful punishment!
1t becomes evident that we must
find another remedy than lynching for
the suppression Of these outrages upon
the women Of the south.
Now mark you, the crime of rape is
confined almost exclusively, if not ex-
c~lusively, to the negro race. The lust
of the white man makes no menace
of violent expression toward the Wom-
en- of the south. The negro has a mo-
nopoly in rape. If the negro were no
longer a part Of our population, the
women Of the south would be freed
from their state of siege and would
| be at liberty to go where they pleased
and when they pleased. But under
the black shadow Of the fiendish pas
sion of these ebony devils our women
are as completely slaves as if they
We're in bondage to a conquering foe.
They do not dare to enjoy on foot or
on horseback the liberty of movement
and freedom Of action to which they
! are entitled under the great and pro-
greSsive civilization in which they live.
What can We do to halt this terri
bic and appalling crime? What reas-
enable experiment can We try to put
a stop to the mad career of these in
1ernal fendS who haunt every Seuuest-
cred nook and corner around our
cities? Killing. shooting burning has
! ceased to terrify them. But We have
never tried any other remedy. We have
never experimental with any other
mode of punishment.
Why can We not establish then
some new form of punishment whose
very spectacular method and terror
will eliminate the foulest criminal in
stincts Of our time. In the past the
editor of The Georgian has advocated
the personal multilation of the rapist
as a deterrent force, and we believe
Yet reSoluteiy and fearlessly that the
experiment is worthy of a trial. Let
1t be understood in advance that every
negro who commits this crime will be
treated to this punishment and let us
See at least for a tWelvemOnth what
eeffct the new punishment will have
upon the cid and frightful o~ffense
We have suggested in time past that
some new and mysterious mode OF
punlshment-the passing over a slen-
der bridge into a dark chamber where