it is a well-established principle of law that every wrong has a remedy. herein rests our respect for law. the negro does not claim that all of the one thousand black men, women and children, who have been hanged, shot and burned alive during the past ten years, were innocent of the charges made against them. we have associated too long with the white man not to have copied his vices as well as his virtues. but we do insist that the punishment is not the same for both classes of criminals. in lynching, opportunity is not given the negro to defend himself against the unsupported accusations of white men and women. the word of the accuser is held to be true and the excited bloodthirsty mob demands that the rule of law be reversed and instead of proving the accused to be guilty, the victim of their hate and revenge must prove himself innocent. no evidence he can offer will satisfy the mob; he is bound hand and foot and swung into eternity. then to excuse its infamy, the mob almost invariably reports the monstrous falsehood that its victim made a full confession before he was hanged.
with all military, legal and political power in their hands, only two of the lynching states have attempted a check by exercising the power which is theirs. mayor trout, of roanoke, virginia, called out the militia in 1893, to protect a negro prisoner, and in so doing nine men were killed and a number wounded. then the mayor and militia withdrew, left the negro to his fate and he was promptly lynched. the business men realized the blow to the town's were given light sentences, the highest being one of twelve financial interests, called the mayor home, the grand jury indicted and prosecuted the ringleaders of the mob. they months in state prison. the day he arrived at the penitentiary, he was pardoned by the governor of the state.
the only other real attempt made by the authorities to protect a prisoner of the law, and which was more successful, was that of gov. mckinley, of ohio, who sent the militia to washington courthouse, o., in october, 1894, and five men were killed and twenty wounded in maintaining the principle that the law must be upheld.
in south carolina, in april, 1893, gov. tillman aided the mob by yielding up to be killed, a prisoner of the law, who had voluntarily placed himself under the governor's protection. public sentiment by its representatives has encouraged lynch law, and upon the revolution of this sentiment we must depend for its abolition.
therefore, we demand a fair trial by law for those accused of crime, and punishment by law after honest conviction. no maudlin sympathy for criminals is solicited, but we do ask that the law shall punish all alike. we earnestly desire those that control the forces which make public sentiment to join with us in the demand. surely the humanitarian spirit of this country which reaches out to denounce the treatment of the russian jews, the armenian christians, the laboring poor of europe, the siberian exiles and the native women of india—will not longer refuse to lift its voice on this subject. if it were known that the cannibals or the savage indians had burned three human beings alive in the past two years, the whole of christendom would be roused, to devise ways and means to put a stop to it. can you remain silent and inactive when such things are done in our own community and country? is your duty to humanity in the united states less binding?
what can you do, reader, to prevent lynching, to thwart anarchy and promote law and order throughout our land?
1st. you can help disseminate the facts contained in this book by bringing them to the knowledge of every one with whom you come in contact, to the end that public sentiment may be revolutionized. let the facts speak for themselves, with you as a medium.
2d. you can be instrumental in having churches, missionary societies, y.m.c.a.'s, w.c.t.u.'s and all christian and moral forces in connection with your religious and social life, pass resolutions of condemnation and protest every time a lynching takes place; and see that they axe sent to the place where these outrages occur.
3d. bring to the intelligent consideration of southern people the refusal of capital to invest where lawlessness and mob violence hold sway. many labor organizations have declared by resolution that they would avoid lynch infested localities as they would the pestilence when seeking new homes. if the south wishes to build up its waste places quickly, there is no better way than to uphold the majesty of the law by enforcing obedience to the same, and meting out the same punishment to all classes of criminals, white as well as black. "equality before the law," must become a fact as well as a theory before america is truly the "land of the free and the home of the brave."
4th. think and act on independent lines in this behalf, remembering that after all, it is the white man's civilization and the white man's government which are on trial. this crusade will determine whether that civilization can maintain itself by itself, or whether anarchy shall prevail; whether this nation shall write itself down a success at self government, or in deepest humiliation admit its failure complete; whether the precepts and theories of christianity are professed and practiced by american white people as golden rules of thought and action, or adopted as a system of morals to be preached to, heathen until they attain to the intelligence which needs the system of lynch law.
5th. congressman blair offered a resolution in the house of representatives, august, 1894. the organized life of the country can speedily make this a law by sending resolutions to congress indorsing mr. blair's bill and asking congress to create the commission. in no better way can the question be settled, and the negro does not fear the issue. the following is the resolution:
resolved, by the house of representatives and senate in congress assembled, that the committee on labor be instructed to investigate and report the number, location and date of all alleged assaults by males upon females throughout the country during the ten years last preceding the passing of this joint resolution, for or on account of which organized but unlawful violence has been inflicted or attempted to be inflicted. also to ascertain and report all facts of organized but unlawful violence to the person, with the attendant facts and circumstances, which have been inflicted upon accused persons alleged to have been guilty of crimes punishable by due process of law which have taken place in any part of the country within the ten years last preceding the passage of this resolution. such investigation shall be made by the usual methods and agencies of the department of labor, and report made to congress as soon as the work can be satisfactorily done, and the sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to pay the expenses out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
the belief has been constantly expressed in england that in the united states, which has produced wm. lloyd garrison, henry ward beecher, james russell lowell, john g. whittier and abraham lincoln there must be those of their descendants who would take hold of the work of inaugurating an era of law and order. the colored people of this country who have been loyal to the flag believe the same, and strong in that belief have begun this crusade. to those who still feel they have no obligation in the matter, we commend the following lines of lowell on "freedom."
men! whose boast it is that ye come of fathers brave and free, if there breathe on earth a slave are ye truly free and brave? if ye do not feel the chain, when it works a brother's pain, are ye not base slaves indeed, slaves unworthy to be freed?
women! who shall one day bear sons to breathe new england air, if ye hear without a blush, deeds to make the roused blood rush like red lava through your veins, for your sisters now in chains,— answer! are ye fit to be mothers of the brave and free?
is true freedom but to break fetters for our own dear sake, and, with leathern hearts, forget that we owe mankind a debt? no! true freedom is to share all the chains our brothers wear, and, with heart and hand, to be earnest to make others free!
there are slaves who fear to speak for the fallen and the weak; they are slaves who will not choose hatred, scoffing, and abuse, rather than in silence shrink from the truth they needs must think; they are slaves who dare not be in the right with two or three.
a field for practical work
the very frequent inquiry made after my lectures by interested friends is "what can i do to help the cause?" the answer always is: "tell the world the facts." when the christian world knows the alarming growth and extent of outlawry in our land, some means will be found to stop it.
the object of this publication is to tell the facts, and friends of the cause can lend a helping hand by aiding in the distribution of these books. when i present our cause to a minister, editor, lecturer, or representative of any moral agency, the first demand is for facts and figures. plainly, i can not then hand out a book with a twenty-five-cent tariff on the information contained. this would be only a new method in the book agents' art. in all such cases it is a pleasure to submit this book for investigation, with the certain assurance of gaining a friend to the cause.
there are many agencies which may be enlisted in our cause by the general circulation of the facts herein contained. the preachers, teachers, editors and humanitarians of the white race, at home and abroad, must have facts laid before them, and it is our duty to supply these facts. the central anti-lynching league, room 9, 128 clark st., chicago, has established a free distribution fund, the work of which can be promoted by all who are interested in this work.
antilynching leagues, societies and individuals can order books from this fund at agents' rates. the books will be sent to their order, or, if desired, will be distributed by the league among those whose cooperative aid we so greatly need. the writer hereof assures prompt distribution of books according to order, and public acknowledgment of all orders through the public press.
the end
