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.
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.
From the establishment of the gospel system the pulpit has occupied an important, unique and potential position in all things pertaining to man's well being along moral, social and spiritual lines.