Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-01-24
FACTS ABOUT LfNCHINGS
Stevenson. Lays Bare Empty Hypocrl:
Sy Of ihe Republicans.
FEDERAL INTERFERENCE UNNECESSARY
Savage Barbarity Of Mob Violence Had
it's Origin in the North, and the South
is Doing More Than Any Other Sec
a.. A. uk.-.. 70 A,tS

siS One OF the DeSt SnOrS SpSSStSS iit"o'S
{ In the house against passage OF the
fantil -Iynching bill according to some
sof those who have closely followed the
discussion from day to day was that OF
ERepresentatiye w. F. Stevenson, Of the
Fifth South Carolina district: MT
q stevenson said TO begin with that the
fcruelty of burning persons aiive did
,SI,ot originate with the .lynchers bpt
was first authorized and carried out by
1.-The states ofathe North, which had sold
lkhe negro slaves to the South. AS
( proof Of this fact. he cited the record
sof the case Of a negro who was burned
&aliye by the order Of a court OF. the
state of New York in F12. 1t was In
the North and not in the South that
the burning of negroes alive by law be-
gan. 'a W. 10.
~ When the South purchased the negro
slaves from the North IL modified the
law SO that when the ciyil War came me
there was only, one crime ip any
Southern state for which a negro could
be burned alive and that was for the
murder of his master and in most OF
the Southern states that form of pun
ishment rad been abolished altogether.
Mr.. Stevenson in answer to a ques-
ton from Representative Bird of Kan
sas, did he wisffto perpetuate lynchinag,
declared that South Carolina is doing
more to stamp out this crime than
Kansas, is doing.
How did Iynching originate? The
first lynching on record in South Caro-
lima, he said, was the shooting to death
ora enc armed : Confederate soldier,
Matt Stevens, by company OF 40
negro militiamen belonging to the
Carpet Bag government OF the state in
1S71 Stevens driving a wagon loaded
with whisky was met on the highway
,,by, these armed negroes who demanded
y the. whisky. He resisted and was
AIynched but the anti-lynching bill in
the. house would not touch that case
for Stevens was not accused Of a.
crime nor was he taken from the GUS
3tody of officers. F.- =
!, i7Ta uiep anu tiiete 'mo' e''AAou to 'H
1sne e aeepest curse WE'lcn. We are ssrus
ghns 10 overcome. 7 Tne whi'e peopie
1of the> community rose up, disarmed
.othose negroes and put them in jail. The
Carpet Bag government at once under
took to Feiease them. Tne wnite peo-
i. a.
pie then looked into tne matter ana
hung those they deemed guilty ana
liberated athei Others. p1shEh2@ anS'"-
Ever since that day the people of
South Carolina. declared mr.. Steven-
son, have been fighting the crime OF
lynching. What has been the out
conner" Let me" said he, give you
25,years Of history, so that you will seel
whether you are any better under the
Federal statute" From 1894 to 1898,
five years, there We're SO lynchinss IN
the state. From 1893 to 1903 mere
there were Is lynchings. From 1903 to
. 1918 there were ii lynchings From
! 1914 to 1913 there were Slyncfdnss and
in the year 1918 there were only two
ynchings.
Judging by this steady decrease in
the number of lynchings, Mr.. Steven
|. son asked the, ,houseif it could say that
, South Carolina is not trying to main
tain the dignity Of the law and protect
. the man accused of crime. -. "
x, On the other hand he pointed to the
y race riots that have occurred in, the
last five years In, New York; Spring
field, Ill, East St. Louis, Chicago and
= Washington. He said more people had
been killed in these riots than had been
3fynched In South Carolina in the last
sl5 years, vet none OF these riots came
Switbin the terms of this bill and what
SSis' more such bloody riots do not occur
In the South. 80 .'...'
a He ssid IL tho hin became a law At
rcou,d ,npriscn the governor of ~ state
for his failure to protect a prisaner.
sTbe police officers of eyerv CITY. town
ana hamlet in the country would he
s1iable To arrest and congress could