Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1907-04-27

He was preparing to give up his
home and lose himself where people
did not know his story. I asked
him If he favored lynching. and his
answer surprised me.
I've thought about that" he said.
you see, I'm a Christian man. or I
/ try TO be My wife is a Christian
woman. We've talked about 81.
What good would it do? We should
make criminals of ourselves,
shouldn't we2 No, let the law take
/ its course. When I came here,
tried TO help the Negroes as much as
/ I could. But many Of them won't
work even when the wages are high:
I they won't come when they agree to
and when they get a few dollars a.
head they go down TO the saloons IN
/ Atlanta. Every one is troubled n
. bout getting labor and every one is
afraid of prowling idle Negroes.
/ Now, the thing has come TO me, and
I it's just about ruined my life"
When I came away the poor lone
some fellow followed me halfway
up the hill, asking: NOW, what
would you do?"
4 That white man is a hero There
are loadng Negroes in this land OF
ours able and willing to commit any
crime. They have been trained in
the school of crimiuology and are the
/ logical product OF the methods pur-
sued in this section Of the country.
They have been treated as wild beasts
aud Left 90 their own evil tendencies
and incluations The new Negro
/ pleads FOR their incarceration in the
laiis and the penitentiaries and when
the opportunities present themselves,
they send them there.
But 70 is erroneous TO presume
that they suffer from loneliness and
lack companionship among the
white people OF the Southland. They
are the products of this section of
the country and when YOU ind a
/ low, depravod Negro here, you viii
soon be able to find his double among
The lower strata of whites in this
section of our sunny land.
AS result colored people are tae
victims of the same grade and class
of crimes at the hands OF the hood
/ lum white elements as are the white
people az the hands of the hoodIum
/ Negroes. Ia citing other cases. Mr..
Baker says:
In both OF these cases arrests
were made on the information of
/ Negroes.
VIII President Roosevelt hearg
VIII he think of mis- message in which
he intimated and said that Negroes
/ conceal the guilty members of their
race, in crimes committed against
white people and called upon them
10 hunt down the criminals? The
better class of Negroes nave been
I doing this for, 10, these many years
and the treachery of the Negro to-
wards the Negro mas become TO be
something of q proverb I'm this por-
ton of the country. But Mr.. Ray
Stannard Baker mas done much for
the whole South and he Is being
, listened to and needed by every fair
minded person in this country. Here
is what he says:
The better-class Negroes have two
sources of fear: one or the criminals
of their own race-such attacks are
rarely given much space in the news
/ papers-and the other the fear OF
the white people. Ny very first i'm
preston of what this fear OF the Ne
/ groes might be came, curiously e
nough, not from Negroes but from
a fine white woman on whom call
ed shortly after going South. Sn,
told this story:
81 had a really terrible experienc,
one evening a few days ago. / wa
walking along when
saw a rather good-looking younl
Negro come out OF a hallway 10 tn,
sidewalk. He was in a great hurry
and, in turning suddenly, as a per
son sometimes will do, he accident
ally brushed my shoulder with ri
arm. He had not seen mo before
When he turned and found il was
white woman ne had touched, such
look OF abject terror and fear cam
into his face as / hope never agail
] 10 see on a human eountenance.
u
frightened. called for help and &C
cused him of insulting or attackin
me. He stood still a moment, the
= turned and ran down the street
lodging into the first alley he cam
TO. 1t shows, doesn't it, how uttl
1t might take to bring punishment
This is indeed as it is, for the in
e nocent Negro is too often made tn
S scape-goat of the guilty one. Their
E is another point here too that ma
! be overlooked namely. there ar
4 many white people. who believe 4
retaliation, the execution Of any Ne
gro for the alleged crime OF any on
|, OF them. This is the barbarous wa
! OF punishment. This takes a forr
e in general way of holding all Ne
e groes responsible for the crimes cor
mitted by any of them.
, IL is but fair to state that Their