The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-09-03
PEOPLES FORUM
YeIle~ JeurnsIIsr1


To Tie ArdmOreits.
D. 3. both foolish and criminal. iu
mes Of great excitement such OF
The ye0p.e o. DIraut and Purcell. have
aad recently. for -le press 70 add fuel
10 The flames. ~ publishing e1a2Ser-
4'@d repOr-s. and incendIarg editorials.
lu these race troubles. the people need
DO urging. 10 protect themselves. The
great danger is. that they Tlll get TOO
much excited JeIe.e Tlld rlmOr-.
OF false -'orie-, and act too hastily.
OGeu mO15lug the wrong negro, and
then OF course letting the gIll'F one
e-ca., on such occasions. the Hlld
-ensarionalIst reyels 70 the widest
and most unrea -OuaDle stOr.e-. and
The more excitement he can rtir up
the better be is pleased The truth
is bad enough, but the sensau uOualist
does not deal much IN such tame
things as facts. Ant thing with him
Tor row. He would about a. soon
see an innocent nero burned as any
other kind just 80 be- has the excite
meuf. and something 10 make people
read bis paper. The ArdmOre.te has
never dealt iu such sensational rot,
and il ID. 10 be hoped IL never viii
The fact is the press has almost a.
great resp possibility N the judiciary,
and The honest newspaper man Will do
an boo his power 10 allay excitement,
and keep the public from being mis-
led To read the head lines in some
OF the apers, one would think moth
.ug was going on IN this country eN-
ceut the outraging OF white women,
and the lynching OF negro Tapists.
What kind OF an advertisement is thI- |
for our section Of the country The .
truth Is bad enough. without filling f.
the columns OF the press with hOrri- /
ole details, and wild rumors that any
sane man ought 70 know were not
true The truth is, that a negro near
Purcell committed horrible outrage.
and the good people Of that place,
publicly lynched him, as he richly de-
served Near Durant another OUTRAGE
was committed. the negro was killed
in arresting him and wild frenzied
mob burned his body afterWard. An
other nero near Colbert seems 10
have attempted 10 commit the same
Kind Of crime, but was frightened of.
From these things. Wild and unbeliev.
in every direction. and people are
wrought mp until they are ready for
almost ANYTHING Now. II We will only
think 20 moment and read the great
metropolitan dalie-. We will find thaf
ontragcs Of that kind are commi ted
more frequently in the great centers
OF po ulat.on, and not eyeytime by
negroes Now This damnable crime
is Just az heinOus when committed, or
by q white man as me-.
gro. yet We do not have the excite
mcnt over ' that We have over our
troubles in this country. SO far as
the Culprit s concerned, no injustice
g., done him, when he Is lynched. bu'
30 is not so certain that II does not
harm seriously those who torture him.
The greatest danger is. that in the
mad excitement. We demand a victim.
pounce upon the first suspect fand
make way with him. with Wild hui
rah. without knowing II he is the right
one This often happens. especially
when the worst elements. as is often
tte case. control the mob Then the
guilty one escapes. for every member
OF The mob is personally interested i'm
the search going no further, for the
finding OF another who is guilty. would
etam1 every one OF them as a mur
dcrer.
II is to he hoped that our county
and city viii escape. but it would De
easy TO start wild stampede even
here. for unfortunately the race feel
ing is none too quiet At such times,
an irresponsible new spaper. publish
ing every Wild rumor with great
scare heads. is about as dangerous
as a monkey with a red hot poker
dancing in a powder house. Let US
hope that the press of Ardmore will /,
feel it's possibility. and give only
what 20 knows TO be facts in these
cases
II is also a psychological truth, that
too much publicity. or undue 1arading
Of these horrible crimes. calls atten-
on TO them. and has the effect OF in.
creasing their frequency. Al any rate