The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-07-17

At NO time was there any evidence
that mob Of white men intended
TO break into the ilil and KIN the
accused urgto Tho rumOr that f.
lyuching was planned reached tho
negroes iu Little Africa" also. As.
Cordiug To the testimony of negroes.
the office Of THE star" negro
newspaper, was Wtdv their ra'lyluc
point Here they assembled their
arms aud ammunition Then they
began 60 come in crowds. armed.
some OF them with hIgh-pow,rod
rifles into the city Th,y we're in q
had mood. They refused tu so home.
somehow a shot was fired Then
the white men broke into stores and
armed themselves. The city and
county officials were Incompetent
or coWardIN or both. For a time
"a thousand armed negroes had the
city at thCir mercy Under such
circumstances there was nothing
LETT for white men to do but Co
stand tur the defense OF thcir homes
and the protection of their lives uu-
I'll help arrived
Toward morning somebody ap-
piled the torch That was not nccos-
sarN. that ought ucvor to be- done
d H
II was no longer a matter OF white
mon protecting thomsclvcs from
angry negroes II was case whcry
th" lowest element In Tuls1's popu-
'auon broke loose and burned and
robbed and killod Then ciyurltiou
broke down IN Tulsa. For the timo
being what had happened m
Belgium and Armenia took place
right here i'm our midst and our city
aud our state disgraccd. Let MS
not blink that fact. Let us confess
II and be ashamed ~ II.
We share la the Biamc.
.. And this leads to my last sur-
s"stion: Let us, who are citizcus
uf Tulsa, take each his fun measure
Of hlomc FOR this disgrace.
The disgrace cHmo In whore the
lawlcss element In Tulsa broke
loose. Long ago We should have rid
our city of these lawlcss people.
black and white.
Little Africa" was almost without
law No effort had been mndc to
enforce the law In Little Africa"
Everything that ought not Co be,
was there. l.awless colorcd men
were there, and lawloss white men
also. Here was powder magazine
u
might fan into Il. Ana there were
lawicss white men a-picnty In Tulsa.
In old Indian territory days lnwlcss-
ness was to hc expected. In the"
Wild, mad DAYS when the oil fields
near Tulsa were first opened up,
crowds OF bad mon and women
flockcd to Tulsa. That was to be
expected. Bu, those days are far be-
hind us. Tulsa il no longer wild
oil town. Tulsa is one of the finest
cities Of its size I'm America city
OF churches and schools equal TO the
host-a city Of great business cstah-
lishmcnts and handsome homes
city with ms fine "A class OF citizous
AZ can be found anywhere. But we
had permitted men and women OF
the worst sort--lcft over from the
Wild and lawlcss duys--to remain in
Tulsa. Tulsa had become a haven
of rest for crooks and criminals
And beyond doubt. this is what has
ulsgraccd US These are the people
who are responsible for the burning
and loOting and killing
Who is rcsponsiblo2 What did
say? We ourselves are responsible.
We must take our own full share OF
responsibility in this matter. For we
permitted such people TO go on with
their lawlcss practices in Tulsa, and
we have not demanded that the law
be enforced In this city.
The only foundation for prosperity
anywhere is In morality. II is the
moral character Of people that
gives value to property and makes
life safe. We have overlooked that
We have been very busy about other
things. Some Of US have been busy
making moncy-wc have made thou
sands and millions. We have been
too busy with important business in
tercsts to pay attention To the cleo
tion OF the right kind Of men Hs city
and county officials We had no
time for politics; we had roro i'm
pOrtant things TO attend to--this is
the way We were living Aul now
we have awakened 10 the fact that
our failure 20 concern ourselves
about the moral welfare Of tho city
has cost us millions Of dollars, and
will hurt us In a business way for
many years 10 come. When will our
business men wake up 10 the fact
that II r. the moral character of
people that gives value to the dollar.
and that they must interest them
selves in good morals II they would
establish business on stable basis
Religion Must Direct Life.
And We, the Christian people Of
Tulsa, must bear our part Of this
burden OF guilt. Some OF US have
not made any proper connection be
tween our religion ana the affairs of
every day llfo. Our religion has
been thing apart from life, We
have thought Of 1t as having to do
with eternity rather than with time.
And so we have read our Bibles, we
have said our prayers, we have come
to church, We have paid our part Of
the expenses ~ keeping the church
going But we have failed 10 make
any connection with lirc. our r'-
ligion has been . form Of solflshncss.
We hiy" sunk into miserable iud!-
vidualisW Let this tragedy shake M
out 0f our horosy of thought and Of
NE. "" nro bound mp I'm the ono
bundle ~ hf". We ar" members on"
Of another Religion has 10 do with
iifc II must Doe carried into husl-
moss. u must be carried into civic
NE. our patriotic duty is our Chris
tiau duty. Just so fan as We fan 10
concern ourselves about the morals
of the city In which We 1--we, Just SO
FAR do wc fail 20 be- what Christians
ought fn h'. Lcf as remember that
wu are the city governments II our