The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1907-02-12
SOUTH AND THE NEGRO.

News throws a real flood of light up
on southern sentiment regarding the
negro question. At the time Of the
race agitation in Atlanta last Sep
TENDER the News thought it would
be a popular policy to be violently
anti-negro. Inflammatory articles
were printed every day. A new Ku
Klux Khan was advocated, and the
paper even went so far as to offer a
reward for the first negro lynched.
In the days preceding the murderous
riots extras" with flaming headlines
were issued, telling of imaginary ne
gro outrages, or exaggerating inci-
dents ordinarily of no Importance,
into moves in a race war. Other At
lanta papers were more or less sin
ners in this respect, all contributing
to inhame the public mind into riot
GUS passion, but the News has sur
passed the rest. When the Atlanta
grand jury, having investigated the
murders, condemned the action of
the Atlanta papers, it was almost
emphatic regarding the News. The
other papers had some colorado ex-
cuse, for they could protest that they
were only printing the facts, but the
News could not explain away its Of
fer Of reward for a lynching
Sober public sentiment in Atlanta
had no part in the lynching and was
heartily disguised with and ashamed
of the mob cowardice and brutality.
Only the riffraff of the town had a
hand in the rioting, and only its base
sentiments were represented by the
infammatory press, a fact which
was apparent as soon as the substan-
tial citizens spoke through the grand
jury. The newspapers that had pub
lished no extras then FASTENED to ad-
vertise the fact, but the News offer
of a reward for a lynching was dis
grace not to be explained away
other things besides its part in
the shameful rioting may have con-
ltributed to the downfall of the News
but after the presentment of the
grand jury the paper steadily dwin-
Died. From sixteen pages it shrank
10 eight pages; advertising patronage
ana sales fell off, until finally publ
cation was suspended. The riffraff OF
the town, to whose base passions
alone It had made its appeal. proved
only a lean support.
Now, there is more in this than an
Example of editorial unwisdom. The
Essential good sense of the south is
demonstrated. 1t is not the organ OF
the leader who makes the most noise
and whose blatant folly or arrani
demagogy or unbridled sensational
ism is telegraphed to the north on
account of its striking character who
represents the real south. There is
only one Atlanta News among a
large body of able, moderate, sensi-
bic southern newspapers. The rest
comment upon the race question con.
servative.y and the north never hears
what they have to say They offer nc
reward for murder. They say nothing
that should inname public passion
They deplore lynchings and con-
denim them in terms differing little
from the terms used by New York
and Boston newspapers. Their view
of the race question differs from the
northern view, as inevitably it must
but it is sober, thoughtful, conserva-
tive and thoroughly worthy of re
spectful consideration. We take il
that this body of southern newspa-
pers. of which the south has every
right to feel proud, represents the
best sentiment of the section.
In the same way, we doubt IL some
of the noisiest and most advertised
public men from the south represent
that section and more fairly than the
Atlanta News with its rewards fol-
murder. represented IT, Every south
ern state has two senators to the
United States senate and we bear Of
only one southern senator making
appeals to unreason similar to those
OF the News. He boasts of a desire to
lead lynching parties, and melodra-
matically curses the law We hear
more Of this. of course, than Of any
other southern senators, but is he
typical? Does he represent truly the
sentiment Of his section? Perhaps, in
the proportion in which he is to the
rest of the southern senator's New
York Tribune.
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