Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-22
malicious or criminal and do not commi
the crime that leads to lynching.
Good Order in the Black Belt.

Good Order in the Black Belt.
no negro that 1 have been acquainted
with has ever been charged with assault
on a woman; no negro ever assaulted
woman in the locality where he lived.
Every assault of that kind is committed
by Il stranger in the community. who has
drifted in from bad surroundings and has
been governed by influences that are not
local. Senator Tillman will tell you that
this is true. | was born and raised in
the black belt, and by choice | have re-
NAMED among the colored people al
though / am frequently told that | could
have maintained myself among the
whites. l made that selection deliberate
ly, and l have endeavored to serve my
people TO the best of my ability. | have
prdcticed law among them Tor twenty
years. and L have never known Of a gem
uine case of assault in Beaufort Colleton.
Charleston, Hampton, Berkeley or
Georgetown counties. which constitute
the black belt. where the coOred people
are very largely in the majority and
where the white families ale compare
lively few. Since emancipation, as be-
tore the war, many white women and
their beautiful daughters have been liv
ing in isolated places among the black
population, with no white neighbors for
miles. They travel to and fro alone be-
tween their. homes and the churches The
asking protection, and no. woman has
ever been moleSted in all these years.
They lock on their colored neighbors as
their friends and expect 10 receive their
protection ii it IS ever necessary.
Let me give you An instance. Miss
Essie Wiisor-and a mighty beautiful
woman she ISIS the night telegraph OPP
crater OF the Atlantic Coast Line rail
road at my home in Beaufort county, and
for ten years she has sat up alone all
,f,Ttef loo. st. "a -
part Of the black belt. She comes 10 her
work after dark and she goes about the
station at all times of the night attend
ing to her duties. She has never been
molested: she has never been insulted;
there has never been any reason for her
to be afraid. Last winter'I said:
" Miss Essie aren't you af! aid that
some OF the vicious negroes that the pa
pers talk about will interfere with YOU?
No. Tom Miller she replied L am
not afraid-that is, am not afraid of the
negroes who live in This country ard
they would be my reliance TO protect me
il any outsider should come to modest
me-
Thank God there has not been lynch
ing in South Carolina for more than
year. and the last which disgraced the
state was not to protect the honor of
women. but To revenge quarrels between
men of both races
What effect has the observation-disclosures
OF the negro hau:' l asked.
, The negro has accepted disenfranchisa-
ment bravery" said Mr. Miller because
he is convinced that the white men of the
north are responsible for it. He believes
that they control legislation and that II
they wanted him TO vote they would pro-
tect him in voting. He does not blame
the southern white men. because he ex-
pected them to diSenfranchise him. In
he town elections, wherever there is a
fractional tight, the prOperty-holding and
educated negroes are always voted, and
they have broken up several corrupt polit-
zeal rings in this state. The white men
are mighty CAD to have. their assistance.
Driven Out by Peonage.
The negroes have about 1900 more
voters than the whites in South Carolina.
We used to have a majority of GO,oO0, but
the labor contract laws have driven some
| of our best negroes from the state, and
| during the next ten years the negro ma
| jorty will disappearance because white
| immigrants are coming in, because the
whites are increasing more rapidly but
because the negroes are going away. They
are going to states where there is no
paonage. This exodus will continue as
| long as the laws permit justice of the
! peace to sell the labor of one fellow citi-
| zen to another fallOw-citizen. The negro
Will submit to Observation-Disclosures. but not
! 10 DeOnage. Judge BraWloy or the United
| States court at Charleston has tried to
| abolish peonage. He set aside the law
/ which made possible slavery for debt but
! the legislature promptly passed another
| law by which two witnesses can swear a
! colored man into slavery. provided they
are willing to testify that he had agreed
| to work for year and had accepted
/ money or provisions on tn" alleged con-
| tract. That law included factory hands,
who are all white. cooks and washwomen,
! lature reported an amendm Ant limiting it
! to farm labor We negroes intend to take
the matter to the United States Supreme
| Court the first chance we can get where
/ | know il will be declared unconstitu-
tional.
mo. South Carolina is not the place for
| foreigners. While | was in the legiSla-
| tura | gave the plans and racomm anda-
| tons of the immigration commission a
cordial support. bur they have not been
| successful. There are not more than
GOO foreigners in this state today, and
others are afraid to come on account OF
! thu peonage laws. unless they have money
TO buy farms and hire labor. Those who
come leave in month or SO whenever
| they hear OF man being held in slavery
| for debt. for they are frightened. AS long
| as the peonage law remains on the books
there will be no European immigration"
! NEW YORK March 21.-Ada Henkle
! twenty wears who says she lives at l3t
| Mansfield avenue. Chicago. was today
| he'd without bail by a police magistrate
| 10 await the arrival of requisition papers
from Chicago. At the request of the
I'll ,1