The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1916-11-15
Wednesday, Nov. Is, 1916.
A WHITE MANS COUNTRY.

This IS WnlCe man coehtiy
Nobody will deny that nobody with
sense will desire to deny it. The su'
perior race will rule, and nobody
should desire it to rule more than
the inferior race, because the rule
of the white man is more likely to
give the black man justice than the
rule of his own. race, if it were pos
sible for him to have it. And no
lawless negro should conclude that
when the people of the county as
,semble to demand an enforcement OF
the law that there is chance IN
this Southland that the negro will
enjoy political rights, other than
those he now enjoys, or that his sta
ton will be changed from what 1t
now is.
On the other hand, white mans
government should deal with the
black man as an inferior race, and
as such should mete out to it that
Justice to which it is entitled. The
white man holds the Office Of COVER
nor, and every other executive Of
fee in the commonwealth. The white
man presides in the courts, from the
Office of magistrate to that OF Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court. The
white man sits upon the juries and
decides the cases, and it is but just
to say Of him he rarely does the
black man an injustice in that ca
pacity-never, we believe, knowing
". Ofttimes he is too lenient for
the good of society and Of the black
man himself. The white man makes
the laws under which the black man
must live, under which he must
work, and under which he must per-
form all the duties Of the man in his
station. It is under the white mans
law that the negro buys his home,
which he buys from the white man,
and always pays a good price. It is
under the white mans law that he
buys a farm and pays for it.
And we are prepared to believe
that there is not white man in
Abbeville county who will deny to q
negro the right to enjoy the proper
ty he has bought of the white man,
under the white mans laws and for
which he has paid the white mans
price, so long as he keeps securely
within the law. :
For that reason, it is to be de-
plored that there is any idea that
property owned by them in Able
Vile county, which has been paid for,
shall be abandoned by the owners
and taken from them simply because
they are negroes. We believe that
we will say for the white men of
Abbeville county that there is not
one, who on sober second thought,
does not wish the black man to enjoy
his property as long as he observes
the law, and looks carefully to his
own affairs, and does not meddle
with the affairs of others. There is
no reason, Therefore, why any black
man in Abbeville county should be
afraid to live on his own property
and continue to live on it.
In times of great excitement men
say and do things which do not COM
mend themselves to their own better
judgment. ANY idea that the men
of Abbeville county would thus con-
fiscate the property of innocent ne
groes in this county, which has been
purchased with the toll and labor Of
the owners when children, should not
be considered. For the law-loving
men of Abbeville-for all the men,
of Abbeville-city and county-we'
assure the black men of Abbeville
county they may live amongst US in
peace, and that they need not be
afraid, if only they obey the law,
keep the peace, and pursue their oc-
cupations in a lawful way.
The law demands as much; the
white man will cheerfully accord it.