The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-04
ANNUAL MESSAGE.
1cenllausa from - one.l

criminal and above All the negro ctAiili =
nal who commits the dreadf'l Srll4 me o.
rape; and It should be felt as in the nlgn-
est degree an oIense against the who y,
country and against the eoi0reG race u
Tartac ular for colorcd man 10 ram Le
help the officers Of the law IN hohtlhs
down with all possible earnestneSS ana
zeal every such Infamous offender More
oyer. in my Judgment the crime OF rape
should always be punished with dean q
IS the case with murder; assault with IN
tent to commit rape should pc mace =
capital crime. at least in the discIeton 81
The court: and provision should be MADE
by which the punishment may lOlloW I'M
rnediateiy upon the heels OF the oILense +.
while the trial should be SO conducted
that the victim need not be wan tony
shamed while giving tesllIin92ny' sn3 ma M
the least possible publicity snail pc
1-s1e neH1bers Of the white race on the
other hand should understand that every
lynching represents by Just so n1ucn a
loosening of the bands Of ciyllazatl4S 81 |,
throws into prominence in the corninOh-
ity all the foul and evil creatures VINO
dwell therein No man can take part s.,.. n
the torture of a human being without
having his own moral nature permanent
50 much moral deterioration IN an tne
children who have any knoTieosses -. ol II;
trouble for the next generation OF Amer
leans -
let It be justice under the law, ana n41
the wild and crooked savagery or moD-
A short Sighted Policy.
There is another matter which has a
ing and OF the brutal crime which some
times calls it forth and at Other times
5Sfsnce It Is out Of the question for our
people as a whole permanently 10 rise Dy
treadlng down any o. me- me- w ~. 80
Even those who themselves LOT the mo mo
ment profit by such maltreatment OF the1f
fellows viii in the long run also SUI II
fer. No more shortslghted poi!cy en- DS s
imagined than, in the fancied interest OF
one class, to prevent the education OF an
other class. The Tree pubic sclooi' tnS ~
chance for each boy or girl to get a good
elementary education, lies at the Iounoa-
ton of our whole poutieal sltuatloa1- IA
every community the poorest citizens,
those who need the schools most, would
he deprived of them IL they only received
school facilities proportional to the taxes
they paid This is as true OF one potllOh
of our country as OF another. II IS as
true for the negro as for the white man
The white man, if he is wise, viii decline
TO allow the negroes IN mass 70 STOW
to manhood and womanhOod without edu-
cation PROFESSIONALLY education such as
is obtained in our public schools does not
do everything towards making q man a
good citizen; but ii does much The low
est and most brutal criminals, those for
instance who commit the crime Of rape,
are IN the great majority men Wno nave -s
had either no education or very ltttles JUST
as they are almost invariably men VINO
own no property; for the man VINO puts
money by out Of his earnings. like the
rnan who acquires educsatlon. IS ,, Us uaa ~
lifted above mere brutal cfahlind-1ey- "
course the best type of education for the
colored man, taken as a whole, IS suen
education as Is conferred IN schoois IKE
Hampton and Tuskegee; where the boys
and girls the young men and young Wo-
men. are trained induSIr1aIty as Wen as IN
the ordinary public school branches The
graduates of these schools turn out well
in the great majority Of cases, and hard
" any of them become criminals, while
what little criminaiity there is never
takes the form OF that brutal NloielsWS
which invites lynch law Every gradu-
ate Of these schOOls-and for the matter
Of that every other colored man or Wo-
lnan-who leads a life so useful and hon
orable rs TO win the good will and re-
spect of those whites whose neighbor he
ored race as II 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 VINO lives near MN,
and our steady effort should be to better
though the beneft OF these schools has
been to their cOlOred pupils and to the
colored people, 1t may Wen pc questioneQ
whether the benefit has not been at Ieast
as great to the white people among
whom these colored pupils live after they
Be II remembered. Furthermore. that
the individuals who, whether from folly,
from evil temper. from greed for office,
or in a spirit Of mere base demagogy- in
dulge in the inflammatOry and incendiary
speeches and writings which tend to
arouse rnobs and to bring about lynch
ing. not only thus excite the mob, but
also tend by what criminologists call
suggestion" greatly to increase the like
lihood of q repetition of the very crime
against which they are inyeighing. When
race and the man lynched IS Of another
race, the men who In their speeches and
.
tend, Of course. TO excite bitter feeling
and to cause the people OF the opposite
of the criminal himself; and in addition.
by the prominence they give to the hid
cite in other brutal and depraved natures
thoughts of committing it. Swift, relent-
less, and orderly punishment under the
law is the only way by which criminality
OF this type can permanently be sup
Capital end Labor.
Tn dealing with b0rn labor and cant
tai. with the question affecting both cor
porations and trades unions, there is one
matter more important to remem Der than
aught else, and that is the infinite harm
done by preachers Of mere discomfort.
violent class hatred against all men of
wealth They seek TO turn wise and
proper movements for the better control
Of corporations and tor DONG away with
the abuses connected with wealth, into q
falsehood IN which the aim is TO iniiame
TO madness the brutal passions of man
kind The sinister demagogues and fool
ssh visionaries VINO are always eager TO
undertake such a campaign of destruc-
ton sometimes seek to associate them
selves with those working tor a genuine
reform in governmental and social meth
DDS. and sometimes masquerade as such
reformers- In reality they are the worst
enemies OF the cause they profess to ad-
vocate, just as the Durveyors of sensa-
tiOnal SANDER in newspaper or magazine
are the worst enemies of all men who
are engaged in an honest effort to better
what IS bad in our social and govern
mental conditions To preach hatred of
the rich man as such to carry on a cam
pafgn Of SANDER and inyective against
him. to seek to n1isIead and inflame to
madness honest men whose lives are hard
and who have not the kind of mental
training which viii permit them to appre-
ciate the danger In the doctrines preached
all OF this IL to commit a crime against
the body polite and to be false to every
principle and tradition of American ma
tional life. Moreover while such preach
ing and such agitation may give a live
1ihO0d and a certain nOtoriety to some of
those who take part in il. and may re-
suit in the temporary political success of
others. in the long run every such move
ment will either fail or else will pro-
woke violent reaction. which viii itself
result not merely in undoing the mis-