Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1911-03-08

Mr.. Luther G. Bell, who is young
er now than he was twenty years
ago, has been in Edgefeld for sew,
eral and says that beyond all pei
adventure Clark's Hill has the pref
tiest set of women and the ugliest
men of any section Of the state. The
Advertiser man endorses most hear
tily the first portion of the state
ment but we think our friend Luther
is too severe on the Clark's Hill
men.
Excellent Charge to The Grand
Jury.
Judge Sease's charge to the grand
jury this morning was able and
comprehensive. He first commended
them for their prompt response to
duty, and for their willingness to
serve throughout the year. Not a
grand juror was absent when the
court was called, nor did any ask to
be excused.
Judge Sease said, there is a dispo-
sition on the part of business men
to shirk jury duty, which he refer
red to as patriotic duty. He said
no one need ever apply to him to be
excused upon the ground that his
private interests would suffer, for
business men, and men of affairs
are needed upon the jury to weigh
the facts and the law as applied to
the case. Judge Sease excuses only
in case Of sickness of the juror or
members of his family.
Judge Sease said that a large
number of cases tried in our courts
are those involving personal vio-
lence, and the major portion of
those are committed by negroes up
on negroes. Gases of assault among
white people are growing less, while
they are increasing among the ne
groes. They are following our ex-
ample. Immediately after 1875, but
few negroes were tried for assault
or murder. Records do not show
that negroes committed murder at
all during slavery. The white
man is becoming more educated
along the line of resorting to the
law to punish the offender. Of the
two hundred and fifty homicides
that are annually tried in South
Carolina, only about 25 per cent
are committed by the white race.
Judge Sease said that the remedy
for this condition is to punish any
man who is guilty. Courts are es-
tablished to deter the criminal, and
to show to others that the one who
commits crime will be punished.
The certainty of punishment is a
greater deterrent than the severity
of the punishment.
For the record of crime in South
Carolina, the white people get the
credit before the outside world. In
heather Japan, a percentage of
homicides is said to be less than in
this state, yet we send missionaries
to labor among the japanese. There
is much room for missionary work
among negroes at our very door,
teaching them not to take the lives
of their fellow men.
Judge Sease called attention to
the fact that some negroes go un-
whipped of justice, because some
white men use their influence to
bring about their acquittal in order
to secure farm labor. He urged
jurors not to be Influenced by white
men in such cases. When negro
has an idea that his white boss will
stick to him in his lawnessness it
gives him a license to commit crime
against his own race and the white
race. In concluding his general
charge, Judge Sease urged the
grand jurors to keep an eye on the
public schools of the county, seeing
that efficient teachers are employed.
Trustees should not be allowed to
employ as teachers relatives who are
incompetent, as is done in some
cases.