it has been urged in criticism of the movement appealing to the english people for sympathy and support in our crusade against lynch law that our action was unpatriotic, vindictive and useless. it is not a part of the plan of this pamphlet to make any defense for that crusade nor to indict any apology for the motives which led to the presentation of the facts of american lynchings to the world at large. to those who are not willfully blind and unjustly critical, the record of more than a thousand lynchings in ten years is enough to justify any peaceable movement tending to ameliorate the conditions which led to this unprecedented slaughter of human beings.
if america would not hear the cry of men, women and children whose dying groans ascended to heaven praying for relief, not only for them but for others who might soon be treated as they, then certainly no fair-minded person can charge disloyalty to those who make an appeal to the civilization of the world for such sympathy and help as it is possible to extend. if stating the facts of these lynchings, as they appeared from time to time in the white newspapers of america—the news gathered by white correspondents, compiled by white press bureaus and disseminated among white people—shows any vindictiveness, then the mind which so charges is not amenable to argument.
but it is the desire of this pamphlet to urge that the crusade started and thus far continued has not been useless, but has been blessed with the most salutary results. the many evidences of the good results can not here be mentioned, but the thoughtful student of the situation can himself find ample proof. there need not here be mentioned the fact that for the first time since lynching began, has there been any occasion for the governors of the several states to speak out in reference to these crimes against law and order.
no matter how heinous the act of the lynchers may have been, it was discussed only for a day or so and then dismissed from the attention of the public. in one or two instances the governor has called attention to the crime, but the civil processes entirely failed to bring the murderers to justice. since the crusade against lynching was started, however, governors of states, newspapers, senators and representatives and bishops of churches have all been compelled to take cognizance of the prevalence of this crime and to speak in one way or another in the defense of the charge against this barbarism in the united states. this has not been because there was any latent spirit of justice voluntarily asserting itself, especially in those who do the lynching, but because the entire american people now feel, both north and south, that they are objects in the gaze of the civilized world and that for every lynching humanity asks that america render its account to civilization and itself.
awful barbarism ignored
much has been said during the months of september and october of 1894 about the lynching of six colered men who on suspicion of incendiarism were made the victims of a most barbarous massacre.
they were arrested, one by one, by officers of the law; they were handcuffed and chained together and by the officers of the law loaded in a wagon and deliberately driven into an ambush where a mob of lynchers awaited them. at the time and upon the chosen spot, in the darkness of the night and far removed from the habitation of any human soul, the wagon was halted and the mob fired upon the six manacled men, shooting them to death as no humane person would have shot dogs. chained together as they were, in their awful struggles after the first volley, the victims tumbled out of the wagon upon the ground and there in the mud, struggling in their death throes, the victims were made the target of the murderous shotguns, which fired into the writhing, struggling, dying mass of humanity, until every spark of life was gone. then the officers of the law who had them in charge, drove away to give the alarm and to tell the world that they had been waylaid and their prisoners forcibly taken from them and killed.
it has been claimed that the prompt, vigorous and highly commendable steps of the governor of the state of tennessee and the judge having jurisdiction over the crime, and of the citizens of memphis generally, was the natural revolt of the humane conscience in that section of the country, and the determination of honest and honorable men to rid the community of such men as those who were guilty of this terrible massacre. it has further been claimed that this vigorous uprising of the people and this most commendably prompt action of the civil authorities, is ample proof that the american people will not tolerate the lynching of innocent men, and that in cases where brutal lynchings have not been promptly dealt with, the crimes on the part of the victims were such as to put them outside the pale of humanity and that the world considered their death a necessary sacrifice for the good of all.
but this line of argument can in no possible way be truthfully sustained. the lynching of the six men in 1894, barbarous as it was, was in no way more barbarous than took nothing more than a passing notice. it was only the other lynchings which preceded it, and of which the public fact that the attention of the civilized world has been called to lynching in america which made the people of tennessee feel the absolute necessity for a prompt, vigorous and just arraignment of all the murderers connected with that crime. lynching is no longer "our problem," it is the problem of the civilized world, and tennessee could not afford to refuse the legal measures which christianity demands shall be used for the punishment of crime.
memphis then and now
only two years prior to the massacre of the six men near memphis, that same city took part in a massacre in every way as bloody and brutal as that of september last. it was the murder of three young colored men and who were known to be among the most honorable, reliable, worthy and peaceable colored citizens of the community. all of them were engaged in the mercantile business, being members of a corporation which conducted a large grocery store, and one of the three being a letter carrier in the employ of the government. these three men were arrested for resisting an attack of a mob upon their store, in which melee none of the assailants, who had armed themselves for their devilish deeds by securing court processes, were killed or even seriously injured. but these three men were put in jail, and on three or four nights after their incarceration a mob of less than a dozen men, by collusion with the civil authorities, entered the jail, took the three men from the custody of the law and shot them to death. memphis knew of this awful crime, knew then and knows today who the men were who committed it, and yet not the first step was ever taken to apprehend the guilty wretches who walk the streets today with the brand of murder upon their foreheads, but as safe from harm as the most upright citizen of that community. memphis would have been just as calm and complacent and self-satisfied over the murder of the six colored men in 1894 as it was over these three colored men in 1892, had it not recognized the fact that to escape the brand of barbarism it had not only to speak its denunciation but to act vigorously in vindication of its name.
an alabama horror ignored
a further instance of this absolute disregard of every principle of justice and the indifference to the barbarism of lynch law may be cited here, and is furnished by white residents in the city of carrolton, alabama. several cases of arson had been discovered, and in their search for the guilty parties, suspicion was found to rest upon three men and a woman. the four suspects were paul hill, paul archer, william archer, his brother, and a woman named emma fair. the prisoners were apprehended, earnestly asserted their innocence, but went to jail without making any resistance. they claimed that they could easily prove their innocence upon trial.
one would suspect that the civilization which defends itself against the barbarisms of lynch law by stating that it lynches human beings only when they are guilty of awful attacks upon women and children, would have been very careful to have given these four prisoners, who were simply charged with arson, a fair trial, to which they were entitled upon every principle of law and humanity. especially would this seem to be the case when if is considered that one of the prisoners charged was a woman, and if the nineteenth century has shown any advancement upon any lines of human action, it is preeminently shown in its reverence, respect and protection of its womanhood. but the people of alabama failed to have any regard for womanhood whatever.
the three men and the woman were put in jail to await trial. a few days later it was rumored that they were to be subjects of lynch law, and, sure enough, at night a mob of lynchers went to the jail, not to avenge any awful crime against womanhood, but to kill four people who had been suspected of setting a house on fire. they were caged in their cells, helpless and defenseless; they were at the mercy of civilized white americans, who, armed with shotguns, were there to maintain the majesty of american law. and most effectively was their duty done by these splendid representatives of governor fishback's brave and honorable white southerners, who resent "outside interference." they lined themselves up in the most effective manner and poured volley after volley into the bodies of their helpless, pleading victims, who in their bolted prison cells could do nothing but suffer and die. then these lynchers went quietly away and the bodies of the woman and three men were taken out and buried with as little ceremony as men would bury hogs.
no one will say that the massacre near memphis in 1894 was any worse than this bloody crime of alabama in 1892. the details of this shocking affair were given to the public by the press, but public sentiment was not moved to action in the least; it was only a matter of a day's notice and then went to swell the list of murders which stand charged against the noble, christian people of alabama.
america awakened
but there is now an awakened conscience throughout the land, and lynch law can not flourish in the future as it has in the past. the close of the year 1894 witnessed an aroused interest, an assertative humane principle which must tend to the extirpation of that crime. the awful butchery last mentioned failed to excite more than a passing comment in 1894, but far different is it today. gov. jones, of alabama, in 1893 dared to speak out against the rule of the mob in no uncertain terms. his address indicated a most helpful result of the present agitation. in face of the many denials of the outrages on the one hand and apologies for lynchers on the other, gov. jones admits the awful lawlessness charged and refuses to join in the infamous plea made to condone the crime. no stronger nor more effective words have been said than those following from gov. jones.
while the ability of the state to deal with open revolts against the supremacy of its laws has been ably demonstrated, i regret that deplorable acts of violence have been perpetrated, in at least four instances, within the past two years by mobs, whose sudden work and quick dispersions rendered it impossible to protect their victims. within the past two years nine prisoners, who were either in jail or in the custody of the officers, have been taken from them without resistance, and put to death. there was doubt of the guilt of the defendants in most of these cases, and few of them were charged with capital offenses. none of them involved the crime of rape. the largest rewards allowed by law were offered for the apprehension of the offenders, and officers were charged to a vigilant performance of their duties, and aided in some instances by the services of skilled detectives; but not a single arrest has been made and the grand juries in these counties have returned no bills of indictment. this would indicate either that local public sentiment approved these acts of violence or was too weak to punish them, or that the officers charged with that duty were in some way lacking in their performance. the evil cannot be cured or remedied by silence as to its existence. unchecked, it will continue until it becomes a reproach to our good name, and a menace to our prosperity and peace; and it behooves you to exhaust all remedies within your power to find better preventives for such crimes.
a friendly warning
from england comes a friendly voice which must give to every patriotic citizen food for earnese thought. writing from london, to the chicago inter ocean, nov. 25, 1894, the distinguished compiler of our last census, hon. robert p. porter, gives the american people a most interesting review of the antilynching crusade in england, submitting editorial opinions from all sections of england and scotland, showing the consensus of british opinion on this subject. it hardly need be said, that without exception, the current of english thought deprecates the rule of mob law, and the conscience of england is shocked by the revelation made during the present crusade. in his letter mr. porter says:
while some english journals have joined certain american journals in ridiculing the well-meaning people who have formed the antilynching committee, there is a deep under current on this subject which is injuring the southern states far more than those who have not been drawn into the question of english investment for the south as i have can surmise. this feeling is by no means all sentiment. an englishman whose word and active cooperation could send a million sterling to any legitimate southern enterprise said the other day: "i will not invest a farthing in states where these horrors occur. i have no particular sympathy with the antilynching committee, but such outrages indicate to my mind that where life is held to be of such little value there is even less assurance that the laws will protect property. as i understand it the states, not the national government, control in such matters, and where those laws are strongest there is the best field for british capital."
probably the most bitter attack on the antilynching committee has come from the london times. those southern governors who had their bombastic letters published in the times, with favorable editorial comment, may have had their laugh at the antilynchers here too soon. a few days ago, in commenting on an interesting communication from richard h. edmonds, editor of the manufacturer's record, setting forth the industrial advantages of the southern states, which was published in its columns, the times says:
without in any way countenancing the impertinence of "antilynching" committee, we may say that a state of things in which the killing of negroes by bloodthirsty mobs is an incident of not unfrequent occurrence is not conducive to success in industry. its existence, however, is a serious obstacle to the success of the south in industry; for even now negro labor, which means at best inefficient labor, must be largely relied on there, and its efficiency must be still further diminished by spasmodic terrorism.
those interested in the development of the resources of the southern states, and no one in proportion to his means has shown more faith in the progress of the south than the writer of this article, must take hold of this matter earnestly and intelligently. sneering at the antilynching committee will do no good. back of them, in fact, if not in form, is the public opinion of great britain. even the times cannot deny this. it may not be generally known in the united states, but while the southern and some of the northern newspapers are making a target of miss wells, the young colored woman who started this english movement, and cracking their jokes at the expense of miss florence balgarnie, who, as honorable secretary, conducts the committee's correspondence, the strongest sort of sentiment is really at the back of the movement. here we have crystallized every phase of political opinion. extreme unionists like the duke of argyll and advanced home rulers such as justin mccarthy; thomas burt, the labor leader; herbert burrows, the socialist, and tom mann, representing all phases of the labor party, are cooperating with conservatives like sir t. eldon gorst. but the real strength of this committee is not visible to the casual observer. as a matter of fact it represents many of the leading and most powerful british journals. a.e. fletcher is editor of the london daily chronicle; p.w. clayden is prominent in the counsels of the london daily news; professor james stuart is gladstone's great friend and editor of the london star, william byles is editor and proprietor of the bradford observer, sir hugh gilzen reid is a leading birmingham editor; in short, this committee has secured if not the leading editors, certainly important and warm friends, representing the manchester guardian, the leeds mercury, the plymouth western news, newcastle leader, the london daily graphic, the westminster gazette, the london echo, a host of minor papers all over the kingdom, and practically the entire religious press of the kingdom.
the greatest victory for the antilynchers comes this morning in the publication in the london times of william lloyd garrison's letter. this letter will have immense effect here. it may have been printed in full in the united states, but nevertheless i will quote a paragraph which will strengthen the antilynchers greatly in their crusade here:
a year ago the south derided and resented northern protests; today it listens, explains and apologizes for its uncovered cruelties. surely a great triumph for a little woman to accomplish! it is the power of truth simply and unreservedly spoken, for her language was inadequate to describe the horrors exposed.
if the southern states are wise, and i say this with the earnestness of a friend and one who has built a home in the mountain regions of the south and thrown his lot in with them, they will not only listen, but stop lawlessness of all kinds. if they do, and thus secure the confidence of englishmen, we may in the next decade realize some of the hopes for the new south we have so fondly cherished.
