The Dallas express. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1893-1970, 1919-04-12
April 10. 1919.

Aprlil lV. l5l5-
Hon. Sidney J. Cats. Governor.
Tallahassee, Florida.
Sir
/ have yours of the 18th. in-acknow-
ledgment reply and criticism Of my
telegram Of the 18th
First, wish to commend the at
tempts made by you to safeguard the
prisoner at Milton. May make it
clear in the telegram addressed to
you we are not directing criticism
against you as an individual but are
speaking to you in your representa-
tive character as Governor OF The
State Of Florida. Do you net thsflk
that when you ordered the aliSsiii
of Pensacola tc take his pris,na to-
Montgomery In order to have MIN
sent down to Jacksonville for safe
keeping, Sheriff Havel should have
known, as an experienced and re-
sp0nsible officer OF the State, the
mind OF the citizenship OF whom you
speak in your letter and would have
been prepared with sufficient offers
to protect any prisoner and OF the
few other brave officers of the law,
/ warrants the belief that mobs which
form in violation of the law will not
attempt to carry out their purpose
II they are me with strong resistance
on the part of officers of the law who
realize the meaning Of their Oaths
and are determined that prisoners
shall be tried in the courts and not
by mobs on the highways.
Rour assertion that the citizenship
of Florida will not stand for seeing
men who ravish white women tried
in the courts is serious commen-
/ tary on our laws. Burning to death
is so horrible that we can hardly be-
4 lieve. II we did not read your own
4 words. that you as Governor 6f q
great state find 1t possible to apol-
igize for burning at the stake. This
Association does not apologize for
crime or condone it in any way.
Your gratit0us assumption that per-
sonally "tacitly commend the crime"
committed Is absolutely unwarrauted.
In order to protest against the burn
ing of human being at the stake,
we did not feel that any one would
expect that we must begin such pro-
test by disayowal Of sympathy with
the crime.
You speak a good deal about the
horror OF the crime. We think tha
crime Is horrible, but we insist, as
WE believe all right-minded citizens
of the United States are coming more
and more to insist that it is a greater
crime for the governor Of a state or
the sheriff Of county to stand by
and see the laws made by people
| ignored and flouted. We do not be-
lieve that it is justification for this
lynching of the law to asead the
{ wiclkedness of the crimin,l. Laws
are made. to deal with such and the
question Is whether this crucial time
of the worlds history American states
shall flaunt their disregard of law
in the face of President Wilson at
Paris while he Is endeavoring 70 pro-
mote the peace OF the world.
All the arguments yoh make about
the horror of the crime do not isNuch
the cther-the man was only accused
OF shooting a watchman, crime
which. certainly, is easy to punish
In the courts,
Speaking Of educating, you sug-
gest that our Association spend time
teaching wanton, reckless Negroes.
May remark that rs Governor Of
the State, you yourself take up the
task of pis viding proportirnate
school facilit' > for the education
of Negroes in your state. According
t. the report OF the United States
Bureau Of Education On Negro Edu-
cation the relative per capita exren-
diture in Florida are; teaching white
chilCgen, $11.50 and for Colored child
rem, 1854.
incidentally. though II is not a
roint Of importance. may ! remar@
that l do not happen to be a Negro
myself. as you seem 20 assume
through out your letter.
Sincerely yours,
(Signedl John R. ShilIady,
Secretary