The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1915-08-23
EDITORIALS WORTH
READING
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AS complete exhibit of meanness
in type, we print in another column
the full editorial of the Chicago Tri-
bune on the lynching of Leo Frank.
The brain out of whose threads this
editorial was woven is as anarchistic
and as ignorant as was that of any
man composing the mob that lynched
Frank.
| The lynching of Frank was an in
famous, cowardly act. 1t has been de-
nounced by every reputable southern
paper, and by every man whose opin-
ion is worth anything in the south
If the Iynching of Frank was a dis
grace to the whole south, it equally
disgraced the United States. But to
seize upon the incident as a means of
indicting the entire south, of indict-
! ing the entire State of Georgia, is il
| logical, unfair and absurd.
To put all the citizenship of the
south in one class and then to de-
nounce them as utterly lawless, ig-
norant and worthless shows a degree
of ignorance and bigotry which few
of the most illiterate of the southern
people are capable of reaching.
The Chicago Tribune says "the
south is backward. 1t shames the
United States by illiteracy and incom-
potency"
Wherein is the citizenship of the
territory over which the Tribune cir
culates more advanced than the citi-
zenship of the territory throughout
which this paper circulates?
There is not an equality of oppor-
tunity in the Chicago territory which
does not also exist in the Memphis or
Atlanta territory. Labor is not ex-
sploited in the south around Memphis
as it is around Chicago.
In proportion to property, the taxa
ton for education is greater in the
Memphis territory than it is in the
Chicago territory.
The scale of living among the poor
in the southern territory is higher than
it is among the poor in and around
Chicago.
There is crime in our territory,
much of it, but it is for the most part
the crime of hot blood-the breaking
of the law by the forces of sudden
anger
There are not the crimes here that
mark the degeneracy of people that
there are in and around Chicago.
Those unlawful vices which mark
the bestiality of man are rare here as
compared to their number in Chicago.
We are not attempting to answer
the Chicago Tribune's attack by the
easy tn quoque method. This method
proves nothing, except the folly OF
throwing stones from one glass house
into another.
There is illiteracy in the south in
proportion to the number of people
greater than in some of the other
parts of the United States. But illit-
eracy does not presuppose viciousness
or meanness. An illiterate man may
not be a stupid man. An illiterate
community may be an intelligent COM
munity. Literacy is a tremendously
fine instrument to be used in the de-
velopment of humankind, but literacy
alone will not save.
The south appreciates the value of
education and is making tremendous
sacrifices to have all of its people
benefited by that knowledge which
comes from education. But all illit-
crate people are not bad people Some
of the strongest men who went out
from Kentucky and Virginia and from
North Carolina, and were pioneers in
Illinois, were unlettered A great
number of those who fought i'll the
War of the Revolution could read only
horn book, and then only by spelling
out the words
The Chicago Tribune excuses out
breaks in the north. charging them to
the gutter rats of society, and alleges
that there always follows shame in
the community at which has been
done. We wish this were always true,
but it is not
The crimes in the north which
should bring shame to the communi-
ty are sometimes regarded by the COM
munity with extreme Indifference. H.
linois has had it's .lynchings almost as
infamous as was the lynching of
Frank. If Lake Shore Drive ladv at
the same time gave a party to some
Wasserman tester count the Tribune
forgot the lynching for the function"
Organized privilege, until the quick
ening influences of the last 10 years