The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-01-25
Anti-Lynching Call To College
Men OF Southern States

The following is copy of an open
letter from the University Commits
sion on Southern Race Questions to
the college men of the South on
Lynching:
This letter is not written to con-
vince you that lynching is crime
for you know it already. Its object
Is to urge you to show others when
ever opportunity presents itself that
lynching does more than rob it's VIC
Tins of their constitutional rights
and Of their lives. 1t simultaneously
lynches law and justice and civiliza-
tion, and outrages all the finer hu-
man sentiments and feelings.
The wrong that it does to the
wretched victims is almost as moth
mi compared to the injury it does to
the lynchers themselves, to the com
munity. and to society at large.
"Lynching is a contagious social
disease, and as such is of deep con-
Germ to every American citizen and
to every lover of civilization. 1t is
especially of concern to you, and
you can do much to abolish it. Vice
and crime know that their best,
though unconscious and unwilling
allies. are lukewarmness and timid-
ity on the part of educated good
citizens. Wrong is weaker than
right, and must yield whenever
right is persistent and determined.
ut is, Of course. no argument in
favor of lynching, nor can we derive
any legitimate satisfaction from the
facts that it is not confined to any
one section of our country and that
the victims are not always black One
of the bad features of lynching is
that is quickly becomes a habit, and,
like all bad habits, deepens and
widens rapidly. Formerly lynchings
were mainly melted by rape and
murder. but the habit has spread
until now such outrages are COM
mitted for much less serious crimes.
''The records of lynching for 1914,
compiled by three different agencies,
give the total number for the year as
So. 81 and "a, the authority of these
figures being Tuskegee Institute, the
Chicago Tribune and The Crisis, re-
spectively.
"The conflicting reports cannot be
harmonized. but to avoid any posi-
bility of exaggeration, we may en-
ploy the most conservative of these
for analysis.
ut reveals the facts: Number
lynched, colored male 46, female 3,
white male 3, female o. Total, 81.
Grimes charged against victims:
Murder 10, robbery and murder 6,
robbery and attempted murder l.,
suspected of murder l, rape 6, at
tempted rape /. murderous assault 3,
- alleged murderous assault /, killing
an officer 5. wounding officer /, bit
ing of a mans chin /, accused Of
wounding a person /, killed person
in quarrel 4, beating child to death
!. trying to force way into woman's
room l, stealing shoes l, stealing
mules l. setting fire to barn 2, as
sisting a man to escape who had
wounded another 1 being found I'M
der house /.
THE three women were lynched
for the following reasons: One, IT
years old, for killing man, who, it
was reported had raped her; another
was accused of beating a child to
death. The third was accused of
helying her husband set fire to a
barn. In the last, both husband and
wife were lynched in the presence of
their four-year old child
1T should be especially noted that
of the fifty-two persons lynched,
only seven, two white and five col
ored, or 10 per cent, were charged
Will tHS against
This shows clearly how far and how
quickly the habit as spread beyond
the bounds set by those who first re-
sorted to lynching as a remedy.
According to States the lynch
ings were distributed as follows:
Alabama 2, Arkansas /, Florida 4
Georgia 2, Louisiana IL, Mississippi
IL, Missouri /, New Mexico /. North
Dakota l, North Carolina 1, Okla.
homa 8, Oregon /, South Carolina 4
Tennessee /, Texas 6.
"The same agency which reported
forty-two lynchings for 1914
makes the following report for 1915
Number lynched, colored male 81
female 3, white male IA, female 0
Total IS. This is an increase of II
or 80 per cent over the total mum
Der for 1914.
According to States the lynch
ings for 1915 were as follows: Ala
bama 8, Arkansas 5, Florida 5, Geor
gia Is, Illinois /, Kentucky 3, Louis
lana 2, Mississippi 8, Missouri
Enn nnnunulTle