-H, THE OITICiAL ORGAN OFTtlE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL ZION CHURCH
NUMBER THIRTY-SIX
CHARLOTTE NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1923.
VOLUME FORTY-SEVEN
Dyer Says He Will Introduce Anti-Lynch Bill on
First Day of New Congress Session.
Calls “States’ Rights” Opposition Silly. Reads Lynching Figures
For First Half of 1923 Showing Absence of “Usual Crime.”
Kansas City, Kafis.—
Speaking before^Jt^e National As
sociation for the Advancement of
Colored People, now holding a race
relations conference here, Represen
tative Leonidas C. Dyer, of the 8th
.Missouri district, said he would in
troduce his federa,' anti-lynching bill
on the first day of the new session
of Congress. The Dyer Anti-Lynch
ing Bill was passed by a vote of 230
to 119 in the last House of Represen
tatives, but was he’d up in the Sen
ate by a filibuster conducted by
Southern Democrats. Mr. Dyer prais
ed the work of the Advancement As
sociation in creating a sentiment
against mob violence in this coun
try, and then said:
“Without re axation and with con
fidence we will continue the fight for
legislation by the 68th Congress that
will make ynchings ^ national crime
in the United States. It is now a
national disgrace. We are in a bet
ter position now for cooperation and
assistance by all law-abiding peop e
to accomplish our purpose than yre
have been before. This is due to the
/knowledge gained by the people gen
era ly with respect to this crime, its
causes, and the fact that it is purely,
with little exception, simply a matter
of race persecution and paistreat
ment.
“Those who hav? in ?he past couT1
tepanced this,
made, as an
were the rest
committed by Negroes. We have
been ab e, very; generally, to show
that this is not a fact. The ynchings
that have occurred in the United
States during the first si:: months of
this year compare favorably, as to the
causes, with lynchings that have oc
curred during the past thirty-five
years. I include a statement touching
those of this year. They are as fol
lows :
January.
2— Rosewood, Florida. Samuel Car
ter, colored; charge, assisting a Ne
gro to escape. Shot to death.
3— Lawrepce County, Miss.—Benja
min Webster, colored; charge, killing
a road contractor. Taken from a de
puty sheriff who was bringing the
prisoner from Jackson where he had
been be:d for safekeeping. Hangei
4— Shreveport, Caddo Parish. La.
Leslie Legget, Spaniard; charge, that
he was a Negro trying to associate
with white women. His employer, a
white grocer, with whom he roomed,
said he was a Spaniard. He was shot
to death.
5— Rosewood, F orida.—Lesty Gor
don. a colored woman. No charge. In
the general burning of dwellings of
Negroes in connection with the at
tack dn the colored settlement by
whites, she was shot to death as she
was eaving her burning dwelling.
5— .Florida, Mingo Williams,
colored. No charge reported. KiTed
in a genera’ hunt for Jesse Hunter,
charger with rape. Shot to death.
6— Rosewood, Florida.—James Car
rier. colored; charge, resisting posse
searching for Hunter. Shot to death.
16— Harrison, Boone County, Ark.
_E. C. Gregor, white, charge'being
a railroad striker and resisting a
committee investigating the burning
of railroad bridges.
17— Newberry, A’achua Co., Fla.—
Abraham AVilson, colored, charge.
cxtVe stealing. Had been convicted
and sentenced to a fine of J&300 or a
jail sentence of sjx months. Taken
from jail during the absence of the
deputy sheriff on guard and hanged.
February
—‘Bishop, Nueces Co., Texas.—J.
G. Smith, co’ored physician; charge,
‘ Trying to act like.a white mankind
not knowing his place.” Was taken
crime of lynchR
excuse, Chat lyi
ilb of .Certain crmes
from jail arid killed and body partly
burned.
3—Hancock Co., Ga.,—George
Butts, coored; charge, wounding an
officer of the-law. Shot to death.
3—Hancock Co., Ga.—Unnamed
man, colored; charge, wounding an
officer of the law. Shot to death.
April.
29—Columbia, Boone Co., Mo.—
James £catt, colored; charge, at
tempted rape. Mob burned iron door
of jai with acetylene torch, took
nrisoner and hanged Jiim /from a
bridge. ,
June.
7—Paln\ Beach, Palm Beach Co.
Fla.—Henry Simmons, co’ored:
charge, suspected cf having shot an
killed po iceman. Appears that no at
tempt was made to arrest him. Hang
ed and body riddled with burets. «,
11—Ashland, Benton Co., Miss.—
Unnamed man, coored; charge, tha
in February^1923, he had stabbed a
white man named Byrd to death wh"
had charged the colored man witv
having stolen some property from
Byrd. The two men worked for the
Tame construction gang- The white
man is reported to have attempted to
search the Negro and wfs stabbed so
severe’y that he later died. The col
red man was later arrested and
n aced in jail. Mob took prisoner ouf
of town, hanged him arid riddled
’jody with bullets.
Simmons, colored; charge, ^hooting
and kil ing marshal of town'" in a
’ciuor raid. Did not come into the
'\ands of the law. Bound to tree and
hot to death.
‘ The only thing that wik put a stop
o lynchings is the enactment into
law of legislation that wifi punish
members of mobs, county and state
fficials, and committees that cause
officials, and communities that cause
and permit this crime.
“There is scarcely an inte ligent
oerson today who makes the claim
that such a law is unconstitutional •
Practically everyone recognizes now
that the Congress has the power, by
appropriate egislation, to enforce
hat part of the 14th Amendment of
.he Constitution of the United
which says that no state ‘shall
deny to any person within its juris
diction the equal protection of its
nws.’ Our right to do this so far as
he 14th Amendment is concerned, is
he same upon which we acted in
roviding a law fcr the enforcement
f the 18th Amendment.
‘•Practical y the only opposition we
hear now against a Federal Anti
Lynching Law is the cry that Con
gress is invading ‘States rights.’ How
silly this c aim is, is made known te
very person when it' is made that is
he last 35 years, there have been
more than 4,000 known 'ynchings in
the United States and that in scarcely
an instance have there been any con
victions of members of mobs and
those responsible for this crime. If
we should recognze ‘States rights’ in
this matter, we will be simply con
ceding the fact that mobs shg 1 be
permitted to lynch people withou*
hought of possibility of punishment
>y the states. This opposition to this
•egis’ation is nothing more tfian the
lesii'e that this crime of lynching
ha 1 continue to go unpunished, that
mob' law shall continue to prevai1
nd take the place of the courts.
“It is surprising that newspaper
wil' continue to argue against this
legislation for this reason. Some
splendid newspapers are now sup
porting this legislation, but many
ethers are not and are trying to ex
cuse their opposition * by crying out
that the Congress is invading State
(Continued to Page Eight)
Inter-racial Conference
Opened in Kansas City.
^layor and County Counselor
Give Welcom e—President
Coolidge Sends Greetings.
i Kansas City
Spies and vis
the Country
By 500 peop e
nee from otb
states as dis
Jifornia, and
seated.
dcome Mayof
olored peop'e
©operation of
Kansas City, Kansas:—
With delegates in attendance from
nearly every Slate in"the Union, the
'vationa Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People opened its
'■'cjurteeuth Annual Session in Kansas
City, Kansasf with » ma^ meeeting
obt the night of Wednesaay, August
J3. Mayor W. W. Gordon and the
fion. J. L. Brady, County Counselor
of Wyandotte County, delivered warm
addresses of we’ceme and a message
of greeting was read from President
'la vin Coolidge in which the Pres
dent termed the N4 A. A. C. P.
as ‘ representative of one of the most
useful and effective efforts in behalf
k f the colored people of the country.”
O.hers who spoke pt the meeting
were Bishop W. T. IVernon, of the
\. M. E. Church of South Africa, and
/ester A. Walton, Negro staff corre
•sp; ndent of the New York World.
On the day before the meeting spe
•ia cars rolled into tj
'Vrminal, bringing d'
'ers from a’l parts
■ n d it was ostimated
Had come to the confi
er parts of the count
ant as Texas., and
'Jew Jersey bei 'g r<
In his address of
Gordon asserted that
were entit ed to t
whites and .should
relations were so cordial he had to’d
the police department “to go fishing’’
during the conference. Mayor Gor
don said:
‘ The destiny of the Nationa Asso
ciation for the Advanceinent of Col
ored People lies within the coopera
tion of its membership because no or
ganization of any kind, no State or
Nation, can survive a wave of opposi
tion unless those who compose the
organization stand nobly by it and ad
vocate its cause. In doing this, you
must have the cooperation of the
white race as well as of the colored
race. This you are entitled to receive
and I have no doubt that this coop
eration will be gladly given you.’’
Bishop Vernon spoke of the injus- '
tices that were driving co ored peo- j
pie northward from the southern
States and Mr. Walton, of the New
York World, urged that the migrants
be helped in every possible way to
adjust themselves to their new en
vironment. He urged the estab isfnhf’
of housing commissions,, composed
jointly of white and colored citizens
White Southern Woman Speaks.
At the second evening mass meet
iug, a white woman from the South
Mrs. Thomas W. Bickett, widow of
he former governor of North C^o
ina and chairman of the woman’s
section of the Inter-racial Committee,
delivered an addrfess of greeting from
that body and told of the southern
women’s efforts to stamp out lynching
nd mob vio enee. She said commit
tees were at work in every southern
state, and in 800 counties, working
"or race betterment. She said:
“We are a long, long way from
solving the raee problem in the
outh, but we have made a hopeful
beginning. As interested, thoughtful
white men and women we are seek
"ig through our civic and re igious
-ganizatiors .tq meetdn a spirit of co
peraton the leading men and women
'f the Negro race in the community
n which we live. We are becoming
increasingly conscious of the fact
' hat as those in authority, our respon
sibility towards the Negro cannot be
evaded and many of our people are
gjoing forward with a determination
that no unfair advantage shal" b<
taken of the Negro, but that he shall
(Continued te Pasre Eigbt)
l --
Pres. Coolidge Sends
Greetings .To Negro
Advancement Body.
Calls its Work “One of Most
> Useful and Effective Efforts”
for Colored People.
Kansas City, Kans).—President
O.lYin Coo idge has sent the fo’low
'-ng message of greeting to the Four
teenth annual conference of the Na
tional Association -for the Advance
ment of Colored People, now ho’ding
a race re ations conference in Kansas
| City:
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON.
My dear IV^r. White:
Thank you for drawing my atten
tion to the approaching An-«-al Con
ference of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored Peo
p'e. I have long regarded this gati
ering as representative of ope of
+he most useful and effective effort^
in beha f of the colored people oFTlre
country, and sincerely trust that its
sessions this year may be as produc
tive of beneficial resuHs as they h£ve
’ieen in the past.
Most sincerely ycif?a. "
(Signed) Calvin Coolidge.
Mr. Walter White,
Assistant Secretary,
National Asociation for the
Advancement of Colored People,
69 Fifth Avenue,
New York City.
Livingstone College •
Opens Sept. 19th.
The for.y-third session of LdTin&
-tone College opens September 19th*
1923.
The opening exercises will be he’d
in the college auditorium at 3:§#
o’clock.
Registration and classification of
students wi 1 take plaCe Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday, September '
17th, 18th and 19ih, beginning each
day at 9 o’clock. Starting Thursday,
September 20th, at late registration
fee of one dollar wi 1 be charged.
After the first week the fee for late
registration will be two dol are.
From the number of applicants now
enrolled the attendance promises to
be very large. A number of new
features and improved condition*
will greet the opening. Ballard Hall
that was recently burned has been
rebuilt and will be ready for service
A new matron and assistant will he
in charge of the girls -
A proctor, who wi 1* have charge of
the buildings and grounds and gen
eral oversight of the ^boys will be n
necessary and welcome addition. A
number of n^ew teachers, experienced!
and wel’ prepared along their special
lines of duty will join the. effort for
a larger Livingstone.
Students planning to attend or de
siring further information about the
school shou d communicate at ones v
with President D. C. Suggs, Living
stone College, Salisbury, N- C- ,
MR. J. S. STAN BACK* * y
President Eighth Regional District Sunday School Convention which con
vened at Chester, S. C., August 30-September 2. It embraces the three oott
ferences of that State. *
Watching The Breakers.
TAKEN OVER BY STATE.—
COMMENTS ON PERSONS ANC
THINGS
By W. H. Davenport.
“Applause
Waits on success; the fickle mu'ti
tude
Like the light straw that floats along
the stream, ^
Glide with the current still, and fo
low fortune
Thus mused Frankin in one t>f his
musing moments. And the taking
over the Natiohal Training School
* of Durham by the State, as a State
formal Schoo’, is the tribute which
appreciation pays to 'merit. Dr. J. R, ;
Shepard, the Presdent of the SL. BE_
T,, has been retained as the principal
of the State Normal School. Tba
National Religious Training School*
has won an enviable record for thor
ough scholastic work within the
bounds set for itself, and the main
tenance of strict discipline and moral
and religious cntjire. Card-playing'
nor dancing is permitted members off
the faculty, nor to the students; nor
has socializing, nor indiscriminate
contact with young men .and^yqpyyi ■
of the city been remarked. Dr. Shep
ard has set an example in the adminis
tration of his school which other
school heads within the state word if '
do we'l to emulate. The N. R. TV
has the confidence and respect off all
the peop'e.
be interesting to know .
layman thinks of
W> kaeti
It would
what the
(