and when color will no longer impede our obtaining what is due us, and
when the Negro will receive a fair and impartial trial before a jury
of his peers; then will justice and equity rule sublime, and the Negro
being protected in all his rights; his liberty, life and reputation
will be held sacred, and virtue and worth will be considered; and man,
the prince of God's creation will be crowned for doing justice unto
man.
THIRD PAPER.
IS THE CRIMINAL NEGRO JUSTLY DEALT WITH IN THE COURTS OF THE SOUTH?
BY GEORGE T. ROBINSON, A. M., LL. B.
[Illustration: Capt. Geo. T. Robinson]
CAPTAIN GEORGE T. ROBINSON, A. M., LL. B.
George Thomas Robinson was born in Macon, Miss., January 12,
1854, of slave parents. An orphan, in 1865, he set out to
fight life's battles with no one to guide and protect him.
He has risen to a place of distinction--a journalist of
note, a lawyer of high standing, a learned professor of law,
an orator of repute, a molder of thought, and a reformer. He
received his first inspiration from a remark which he heard
Hon. C. S. Smith, now a bishop in the A. M. E. Church, make
to a public school of which he was a pupil. It was: "A boy
can make of himself whatever he has a mind to." George said
to himself, "I will make speeches, too." Since that time
Captain Robinson and Bishop Smith have delivered many
addresses together. They spoke at the Emancipation
Celebration in Nashville, 1st of January, 1892, which took
place in the Representative Hall of the capitol. They were
the principal speakers.
An afternoon paper on the 2nd said: "The ablest address of
the occasion was delivered by Capt. George T. Robinson on
Abraham Lincoln. The speaker electrified the audience."
"Cap." Robinson graduated from Fisk University in 1885 and
from law in Central Tennessee College, now Walden
University, both of Nashville, Tenn. He is a professor of
law in the university.
In 1875 he refused a seat in the Legislature of Mississippi,
in order to complete his education. In 1886 he delivered the
commencement address at Lane College, Jackson, Tenn.; the
same year he began the publication of the "Tennessee Star"
in Nashville. In 1887 he was made a Captain in the Tennessee
National Guard by Governor R. L. Taylor, In 1888 he was on
the invitation committee to invite President Cleveland to
Nashville and served on Gen. W. H. Jackson's staff as
commander of a division in the parade. In 1893 he was a
nominee on the Citizens' ticket for the city council. In
1896 he was appointed a member of the executive committee of
the Negro department of the Tennessee Centennial and was
chairman of the Military Committee. But the entire committee
resigned before the exposition opened.
Settling in Nashville in 1886, he soon forged his way to the
front and became a champion of Negro rights. Hon. George N.
Tillman says of him: "He is one of the best and ablest men
of his race in the State." Bishop Evans Tyree says:
"Professor Robinson is a giant physically and mentally." Mr.
Robinson's fame rests on his journalistic career.
The "Star" was regarded as one of the ablest edited Negro
journals ever published. After several years of successful
work for God and humanity, it consolidated with the
"Indianapolis Freeman."
The "Star" made its advent in the midst of a big social
scandal with a pastor of the most prominent Baptist Church
in the city, the central figure. With the large following
the divine had, it was not only unpopular, but dangerous to
fight him, especially since he had been acquitted by the
courts; and a large majority of his congregation endorsed
the verdicts. The editor routed the opposition. He told the
preacher that he had to quit that pulpit and leave the city.
This was the beginning of a reformation in colored society
in the city which was far reaching, and brought editor
Robinson into prominence. "He woke up one morning and found
himself famous." His article, "A Pure Ministry," caused the
reformer to be welcomed to Nashville as a Moses.
I answer this question in the negative.
There are some exceptions, but proof is too abundant to gainsay the
assertion.
In the first place, all of the machinery of the law is in the hands of
the white man. He is judge, jury, sheriff, constable, and policeman.
Race prejudice and antipathy so over-ride reason, that the average
dispenser of justice is blinded to a sense of right, especially when a
white man appears against an accused Negro. What is sop for the white
man, is not always sop for the black man. As a matter of fact, the
black man is discriminated against in everything in the South, and it
would be unreasonable to expect the courts would do otherwise.
The presumption of law is that the accused is innocent, and that
presumption stands as a witness in his favor until overcome by
credible proof. But in the average court of the South, this applies to
white men only. The Negro is presumed to be guilty, and the burden of
proof is placed upon him to establish his innocence.
Cases have come under my observation where the accused Negro was not
only tried without being represented by counsel, but on ex parte
evidence, the black defendant not being permitted to testify in his
own behalf or to introduce proof. These cases were not in courts of
record.
The organic law of the land guarantees not only trial by jury on an
indictment or presentment, but entitles the accused to be heard by
himself and counsel and to introduce witnesses. In some instances, the
accused is not even in court. The matter is prearranged and the
imprisoned wretch is informed afterward and forced into agreeing to
the "sentence," as the easiest way out of trouble. It is a rare thing
now to see a Negro on a jury In the South.
Even the Federal courts are ignoring him. A white man does not
consider a Negro his peer. Then from a white man's standpoint, a
colored man tried by a white jury is not tried by his peers.
The Constitution is violated in letter and spirit, in order that the
criminal Negro may not be justly dealt with. The greater the demand
to keep the convict ranks filled up, the more unjustly is the black
criminal dealt with in the severity of the sentence.
The very fact that Negroes are not permitted to serve on juries, even
when all the parties are black, proves that it is for the purpose of
preventing justice being done the accused Negro.
One of the most popular courts in the South is the Court of Judge
Lynch. This "court" comes pretty nearly voicing the sentiment of the
section where it thrives and does a large business. Members of this
court are summoned as jurors to try Negroes, in legal courts, and thus
the mob spirit is carried into the very temple of justice and is meted
out to the black criminal in the name of the law. In such cases, who
could expect a just verdict? Again, the professional juror, believing
his job depends on the number and severity of the convictions of
Negroes, is always ready to strain a point in order to convict.
Instead of giving the accused the benefit of the doubt, he seeks to
ease his guilty conscience by rapping criminal laws.
The Negro who outrages the person of a female, is worthy of death--a
legal death. His crime is no less heinous because his victim is
colored--the crime in either case is blacker than the hinges of
midnight.
A mob composed of white men takes the ravisher of a white female and
burns him at the stake or hangs him and riddles his body with bullets
or dismembers his body.
In such a case the criminal is not only unjustly dealt with, for both
the moral and civil laws are violated, but a great sin is committed
against society, the moral sensibilities are blunted and the crime
intended to be suppressed is given new impetus.
Mob violence is the violation of every penal law. The victim has no
show whatever.
A mob is not composed of men who have it in their hearts to respect
the rights of the victim of their fury.
This is the cause of so many innocent, inoffensive Negro men, women
and children perishing at the hands of mobs. Mob violence leads to the
utter disregard for law and order, and increases crime, making
criminals of "some of the best citizens."
There can be no such thing as dealing justly with the criminal Negro,
as long as the rule is to deal unjustly with all Negroes.
For instance, take the black laws, notably the Jim Crow car laws and
the infamous election laws, the most outrageous ever inflicted upon a
free people. The Negro has been legislated out of the legislative
halls, leaving the white man clear sailing in enacting unjust laws
which discriminate against all Negroes alike, regardless of condition,
culture, refinement, wealth, position or station.
The law places the mark of Cain upon him. His aspirations and
ambitions must be curbed in spite of his fitness by character and
training. The worthlessness of the Negro does not cause the opposition
that the prosperity of the best of the race does. The legislator and
constitution maker aims his darts at the latter class.
This state of affairs obtains in every Southern State; and the fact
that the ballot, our only safeguard, has been taken from us, shows
that the criminal Negro need not expect to be dealt with justly.
The nearest approach to fair play is to be had in the larger towns and
cities of the South, and even here the chances are against the Negro.
But it will not always be thus. A change will come sooner or later.
Let us be courageous, do our best and trust in God.
FOURTH PAPER.
IS THE CRIMINAL NEGRO JUSTLY DEALT WITH IN THE COURTS OF THE SOUTH?
BY ATTORNEY J. THOMAS HEWIN.
[Illustration: J. Thomas Hewin.]
J. THOMAS HEWIN.
J. Thomas Hewin was born in Dinwiddie County, Va., December
24, 1871. His parents were slaves. He was left an orphan at
the age of thirteen, with no knowledge even of the alphabet.
At the age of seventeen he was seized with a desire for an
education. Finding no opportunity for mental improvement, he
went to Richmond, Va., in 1889, where he found employment in
a stone quarry. He took his books with him and studied at
meal-time. In the fall he became janitor of a business
college. Finding that he could do his janitor work mornings
and evenings, he entered the public school of Richmond and
afterward graduated from the Richmond Normal School as
valedictorian of his class.
So thrifty was Mr. Hewin, that when he graduated from
school, he had a bank account of $1,375 to his credit.
He also graduated from the Boston University Law School, and
after returning to his native state was admitted to the bar.
He was especially helpful to the unfortunate of his race.
He organized in Richmond the Anti-Deadly Weapon League among
the young colored men of the place, for which he received
the commendation of the press and people. He is a member of
the Baptist Church, an ardent worker among his people, a
power as an organizer and an orator of the Frederick
Douglass type.
For a man of color to approach a subject of this kind, first of all,
he must crucify "self." He must not imagine that he is writing to suit
the whims, fancies and caprices of a single individual, but must
confine himself to the pure and unadulterated truth. To discuss this
question from a lawyer's point of view, that is to say, by detailed
cases, would be unintelligible to an ordinary layman's mind.
Therefore, we must confine ourselves to the subject from a layman's
way of understanding legal matters. The Negro occupies to-day a
peculiar position in the body politic. He is not wanted in politics,
because his presence in official positions renders him obnoxious to
his former masters and their descendants. He is not wanted in the
industrial world as a trained handicraftsman, because he would be
brought into competition with his white brother. He is not wanted in
city positions, because positions of that kind are always saved for
the white wardheeling politicians. He is not wanted in State and
Federal offices, because there is an unwritten law that a Negro shall
not hold an office. He is not wanted on the Bench as a judge, because
he would have to pass upon the white man's case also. Nor is he wanted
on public conveyances, because here his presence is obnoxious to white
people.
But let us not lose sight of our subject which is: Is the criminal
Negro justly dealt with in the courts of the South? Permit the author
of this article to say that there is no section in this country where
there is not some prejudice against the Negro.
Whether the Negro be tried for a crime he commits in the North or
South, he will get as fair a verdict upon the law and evidence as
presented in a Southern court as in the courts of any State in this
Union. When we see such awful examples of brutality and inhumanity as
occur in some sections of our common country against the Negro, we do
not wonder that people who live in distant lands say that there can be
no justice for a Negro in the Southern States. This assertion has been
repeated so often, that now it is a common thing for men to say that a
Negro can get no justice in the South. Yet it is important for us to
note that not one of these miscarriages of justice is traceable to the
partiality of the courts. They are the result of men's prejudices, who
are not willing for the Negro's case to be tested upon its merits,
because they know that in nine cases in ten he would be acquitted in a
court of justice; and for this reason they take the law into their own
hands, rather than submit it to an intelligent, cool and unprejudiced
judicial body as every court is. Is there a man under heaven who would
charge this state of affairs up against the courts of the South?
Certainly, no one can be found who would do it. It has been my
experience in my State in the trial of criminal cases that in nine
cases out of ten, the white juries are in sympathy with the poor,
ignorant Negro. I think the game rule will hold good in other Southern
States. When we approach the subject of criminal law, we must
constantly bear in mind that the object of every criminal prosecution
is twofold: (1) to reform the criminal; (2) to make an example of him,
so that the public will be deterred from the commission of the same
offense. It is not the severity of a criminal prosecution that deters
crime, but it is the certainty of punishment, when crime is committed.
While it is true that the courts of the South as constituted, at
present, give the Negro equal justice upon the law and facts of his
case, yet we must bear in mind that a criminal prosecution is not
ended with judgment in the courts. There are other humane principles
to be put into operation, in order that the criminal may receive the
benefits of his punishment. The relation of the Southern courts
towards the Negro in this respect is particularly weak. Splendid
examples of this may be seen in the "Convict Lease System," prevailing
in the States of South Carolina, Arkansas and other Southern States.
Under this system a Negro may be convicted of a felony calling for a
minimum term of imprisonment, and yet serve out a life-time in prison.
It is a system which, instead of reforming the Negro, gradually
re-enslaves him. It has become such an outrage upon justice and common
decency that the eyes of the civilized world are upon the United
States to see how long a democratic government will tolerate such an
outrage upon common justice and a defenseless people. Yet, when we, at
home, begin to trace the causes of this evil, we invariably ascribe
them to the courts of the South. Wrong! Wrong! The courts of the South
are not legislative bodies, but judicial bodies whose function it is
to interpret the laws made, and not to make laws. That right in a
republic, like ours, belongs exclusively to the legislative
department, and not to the judiciary. The failure on the part of the
public to distinguish between the legislative and judicial branches of
the government accounts in a large measure for the criticism that has
been made upon the courts of the South in their dealings with the
criminal Negro. It is well for us to bear in mind that a court cannot
make a law, but can only confine its opinion to the law as it is. It
is a well-known fact that the United States and the several States
composing the same are governed by written constitutions; also, that
in a constitutional government all laws must be uniform in their
operation. Hence, no law can be made that will operate more harshly
upon a Negro than upon a white man who is guilty of the same offense.
The criminal Negro naturally thinks that he is dealt with unjustly in
the court. I have never seen in my practice a Negro who did not think
that a white judge and a white jury were not his enemies, and that
they were looking for false evidence upon which to convict him, and
were not desirous of passing upon his case on the law and evidence as
presented. This, in a large measure, accounts for the enormous fees
paid by Negroes to white attorneys for the simplest trouble they may
get into. They believe that a white man has more influence in a court
than a Negro lawyer, as though the laws were based upon favors to
individuals rather than upon fixed rules of judicial construction. As
for the judiciary of other States, I cannot speak, but for Virginia,
I can and will say, that for the integrity of her judiciary--a fairer
and more impartial set of men cannot be found in this country. Never,
in my life, has anyone of them treated me amiss in their courts, nor
can I point to a single case where snap judgment was meted out to a
man of color, for the simple reason that he was colored. The
experience of my brother members of the Bar in other States seems to
tally with mine in this respect. Though I did once read of a
Mississippi judge who told some colored men who had assembled in his
court to listen to the trial of one of their race that this was a
white man's country, and that Negroes had no business in a court room,
unless there on business. Lest we forget it, we will say it now that
the greatest of all virtues is charity. The numerous complaints we
hear about the maltreatment of the Negro, do not come from within, but
from without. They come from people who know nothing of the position
we occupy in the South. They tell us that the Southern people are our
enemies, that they are doing us all the harm that can be done to any
people. Worst of all, our people in many instances, are silly enough
to believe them--ignorant of the fact that their success depends upon
making their next door neighbors their friends. The same people take
this charge and lay it to the courts of justice. Shame that in a
democratic government like ours a free people should be slaves to such
tricksters whose only object is to create discord among a poor and
defenseless people! When we hear people charging the Southern courts
with treating the Negro unjustly, it reminds us of an old colored lady
who was once warning a young colored man about dying in his sins. The
young man wanted to know if the fire in hell was hot. The old lady
said, "Hunney de olde sinners fetch their fire wid dem." If the Negro
gets a harsh verdict at the Bar in a Southern court, it is because he
brings his fire with him. Just why it is that the Negro cannot see
things in the same light, I do not know. It is a rule of physics that
action is equal to reaction and in the contrary direction. By the side
of that we can put this statement, that a man is worked upon by that
which he works. The Negro, as a rule, labors under the belief that he
is an object of persecution and proscription, and in turn that insane
belief so works upon him that it is useless for anybody to endeavor to
make him believe otherwise. There is one thing I must say before I
close and that is this, that if the Negro wants to break down the
great undercurrent against him in the courts of the South, he must do
all in his power to establish among his own people the element of
caste--a line between the good and bad. He must frown upon those who
do wrong, and uphold those who do right. He must lay aside the old
adage that you must never do anything against your own color. If a man
is my color, and he is wrong, I am against him. If a man is my color
and he is right, I am for him. Let the Negro adopt this as a maxim,
and justice in the courts of the South is his, now and forever.
TOPIC VII.
TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE NEGRO PULPIT UPLIFTING THE RACE?
BY BISHOP GEORGE WYLIE CLINTON, M. A., D. D.
[Illustration: Bishop Geo. W. Clinton.]
BISHOP GEORGE WYLIE CLINTON, A. M., D. D.
The career of Bishop George Wylie Clinton, A. M., D. D.,
furnishes indisputable evidence that merit wins success, and
that industry, joined with native and acquired ability,
cannot be denied pre-eminence. His is a story of a man, who,
starting life with a definite goal in view, has allowed
neither the blandishments of flattery nor the frosts of
discouragement to hinder his progress; but, impressing his
great personality upon all with whom he came in contact, he
moved steadily forward, and is now one of the best examples
of erudition, eloquence and practicability in the Negro
pulpit.
This remarkable man was born March 28, 1859, in Lancaster
County, South Carolina. As a child he was religiously
inclined and thoughtful beyond his years, and none who knew
him was surprised, when at the age of ten years, he became a
member of the A. M. E. Zion Church. When quite young he was
sent to the public school, and afterwards to a private
school where he remained until 1874, when he entered the
South Carolina University. In 1876 when the Democrats
succeeded in electing Wade Hampton governor, all the colored
students were forced to withdraw from said university and
thus, after finishing the Junior Classical year he went to
Brainard Institute, Chester, S. C., from which he graduated
with very high honors.
Young Clinton finished his education by taking Theology,
Greek and Hebrew at Livingstone College. Realizing that the
urgent need of his people was education, he became a
successful and conspicuous educator. For ten years, with all
his energy, he was engaged in the public education of his
people, being at one time Principal of Lancaster (S. C.)
High School and Industrial Institute; and he held a similar
position in the Howard Graded School of Union, S. C. Both of
the above schools made marvelous advancement while under his
management. He founded a private school at Rock Hill, S. C.,
out of which has come the widely known Clinton Institute. As
a writer, Bishop Clinton is easily among the best which the
race has produced. In his style there is wonderful richness,
energy and variety. His chaste, pleasing and conservative
writings made the leading papers of his State seek his
contributions.
He founded the A. M. E. Zion Quarterly Review, which he
issued for two years with increasing success; and in 1892 he
transferred it, free of debt, to the General Conference. His
eminence as an editor was so pronounced that said General
Conference elected him editor of the Star of Zion. During
his incumbency in this office he added to his fame as a
thoughtful, versatile writer, and inaugurated the plan by
which the A. M. E. Zion publication was established.
Naturally, his greatest fame was made in the pulpit, for he
is a most eloquent man, and possesses much magnetism. Added
to a most pre-possessing personality, and a sonorous but
well modulated voice, the Bishop has all the graces of a
finished orator, and all the charms of a deep, earnest
scholar. Like Martin Luther, he intended to study law; but
the Bible overshadowed Blackstone. He began to preach at
twenty years of age and in 1896 was elected Bishop in the A.
M. E. Zion Church.
In spite of a multiplicity of duties, the Bishop finds time
to serve as President of Atkinson College; and so well has
he supervised and managed its affairs, that it is enjoying
great popularity and is maintaining a high intellectual
standing.
He was married, February 6, 1901, to Miss Marie Louise Clay
of Huntsville, Ala. His wife is a highly accomplished lady,
and a soloist of national repute. He has one son, George
William, being the issue of his former marriage to the late
Mrs. Annie K. Clinton. The Bishop lives in becoming style at
Charlotte, N. C., where he owns some valuable, and
well-located property. His mother, for whom he has always
manifested the deepest affection, makes her home with her
distinguished son. Bishop Clinton is yet young; and the
church and the race have every reason to hope for many more
years of the distinguished services of this brilliant
leader.