The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-10

NN D victim Of the night riders In Ul Kentucky has written a more eloquent communication-its elo- quence consisting of simplicity of state ment and common sense of view-than that from Harlow B. James, published in the Courier-Journal yesterday It is bristling with truths, logic and sentiment. It is as clear a presentation of the sub ject as can be devised in it's space. The author in his paper utters his yaledictory his farewell to Kentucky, whence he removes because of the hostile move ments of the night riders. He has bought a farm in Iowa, where he hopes to dwell in peace He is an exile, and yet he has committed no crime. As he himself phrases it, "I shall soon leave Kentucky, where l have lived many years; I have violated no law, I have tried to be hon. orable in all my dealings with my fellow man, and I have attempted to be a good citizen" There is more than a little pathos and a modicum of irony in his added statement that he was Con- federate soldier "and I learned to re- spect brave men who fought in the open; l in uniform, but I cannot spend my de- clining years lodging the midnight as- sassin and barn burner"
 But the lines quoted are personal There are presented in MT. James paper some plain, sober truths of an impersonal kind. Here is paragraph which the emigrant writes of himself and family, but which might apply to others in the mob-ridden sections:
 And I know who is the night rider in my county, and my children, now all grown, also know, and I am quite sure that there can never exist the neighborly feeling in my community that should ex- ist in a rural neighborhood. 1 do not care to meet in church, or school meet ing, the men who destroyed my property without warrant of law. Kentucky has and midnight assassin Is kindling flames that will burn for many years to come. I love peace, and I don't want to be 'scorched.' ''
 MT. James sees moral of far-reach- ing import in the situation-a moral which Kentuckians may well ponder:
 Another reason for my leaving the state is that the men who are boosting the price of tobacco with the torch and the rifle are setting an example for the negro that must rebound to the great injury of the white man. There are, I believe, nearly 5o0,000 negroes in the state-and there can be no great CT menace to life and property in Ken lucky and the south than the demon- stration to the black man that the white man can by secret societies stamp the law under foot and go un- punished. That the white man or negro can band together for the averaging of real or ina ginary wrongs and success fully defy the law is menace to Ken lucky and the south. l recently men, tioned this phase of the case-the effect of white lawlessenss on the negro-to a neighbor whom I suspected of being in sympathy with the night rider, and he replied that all negro organizations would be broken up, including the Masons, Odd Fellows, etc., if there was the least suspicion that the negro was conspiring in any manner. That the white man should be permitted to con- spire to burn and murder and that the negro should not be permitted even to rest under suspicion of following the example seemed to my neighbor per- fectly just"
 In his allusions to the senseless brag ging of Kentuckians-a boastfulness of superiority of breed which patriotism does not call for and which, because of the actual conditions of illiteracy igno- rance and criminal tendencies in vari- ous directions, has no Jurisdiction the former Kentuckian hits another nail on the head. MT. James puts 1t rather aptly:
 "On the accession of my recent visit through the nprth I took occasion to observe the people in our sister states for I am not unmindful of the claim of Kentuckians that they are superior to others. As a matter of fact, l believe the brag and buster of the Kentuckian Is entirely uncalled for. It is certain ly not taken seriously abroad, and the only thing characteristic of the Ken tuckian, that is, professional Ken tuckian, is that he has tings or par barism that excites more or less in- terest."
 And again:
 Not a great while ago MT. Robin son, of Louisville, in discussing the tax laws of the state, remarked on the great number of men who left Ken lucky. And in this connection permit me to say that other states are con- tinually skimming the cream Of man hood from the state, leaving at home the "blue jeans," as we farmers say. hone the Courier Journal will not take offense if I may say that the conceit of the unlearned Kentuckian is largely responsible for our woes And the male white voter is, according to the census reports, the most unlearned or +illiterate of any state, with one excep- ton"
 Tbaro Ia much room for deyelopment