_the waco horror_ - william edward burghardt du bois

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  • 8/22/2019 _The Waco Horror_ - William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

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    (Supplement to the C R I S I S , July, 1916)

    The Waco HorrorAN account of the recent burning of a human being at Waco, Tex., as reported by a

    special agent of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,70 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

    1. The City.THE ci ty of Wa co , Tex ., is the count yseat of Mc Le nn an county. It is situ ated on the Bra zos riv er, about h a l f w aybetween Dal la s and A u s t i n . It is the ju nc t ion poin t of seven rai lw ay s. The city is in afer t i le agric ul t ura l region wi th gr ai n andcotton as the c h i e f products, and with nearl y two hundred man ufa ct uri ng est ablishments, repr esen tin g some seventy differentindustr ies .

    It had a population of 14,445 in 1890w h i c h in cr ea sed to 20,686 i n 1900, an d to26,425 i n 1910. Th e whi te po pul at io n inthese twenty years has almost exactlydoubled. The colored popu lat ion has i ncreased from 4,069 to 6,067, forming thus23% of the popu lat ion. The bul k of thepopulation is native white of native parent age, there being only about 1,000 foreignersi n the c i t y .The whole of Mc Le nn an county containedi n 1910 a population of 73,250 of whom17,234 were Negro es. Th is tot al pop ula tio nhas nea rl y doubled in the las t twent y years.Waco is w e l l l a i d out. The streets arebroad, over six ty miles of them be ing paved .

    The sewer system of one hundred miles isexcellent. The re is a fine cit y-ow ned wa tersystem, and par ks on the sur ro und in gpra i r i es .There are thir ty-n ine white and twenty -

    fou r colored churches in Wa co . B y denominations the whit e churches ar e: Bap tis t ,14; Methodis t , 9; Chr is ti an , 4; Presbyte r i an , 3; Jewish , 2 ; Episc opal , 2 ; Eva nge li s t i c , 1; Lu th er an , 1; Cath oli c, 1; C h r i s t ia n Science, 1; Salva tio n A r m y , 1.The colleges are: B a y l o r Un i v e r s i t y , B a y l o r Aca dem y, the Cath olic College, the In dependent B i b l i c a l and Indus tr ia l ' School ,a l l whi te ; and the Cent ra l Texa s Collegeand P a ul Qu in n, colored colleges. The reare also the A . & M . Colle ge, the Gu rl eyS c h o o l , the Wac o Busin ess College, Toby 'sPrac t i ca l Business College, the Pro vid entSani tar ium, and the Tr ai n i ng School .B a y l o r Un iv er si ty was founded in 1854and has between 1,200 and 1,300 s tudents .It is co-educ ationa l. Th e presi dent is ru nn ing for the United States Senate.T w o high schools serve white and coloredpopulation, and there are seven banks, including four national banks.

    B A Y L O R UNIVERSITY, W A C O .1

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    2 T H E CRISIS S U P P L E M E N T

    In other words, Waco is a t y p i c a l southern town, alert, pushing and r i c h .2. The Crime.N E A R the countr y town of Robin son,some six miles from Waco, l i v e d awhite f a m i l y of four, named F ry ar , whoowned a small fa rm . Thi s they cultivat edthemselves w i t h the help of one hired man,a colored boy of seventeen, nam ed JesseWashington.

    Jesse was a big , well-d evelope d f e l l o w ,but ign ora nt , bei ng unable either to reador wr it e. He seemed to have been su lle n,and perhaps mentally deficient, w i t h astr ong, and even da ri ng temper. It is sai dtha t on the Saturday night before the crimehe had had a fight w i t h a neighboring white

    ma n, and the man had threaten ed to k i l lh i m .O n Monday, Ma y 8, while M r . Fr ya r , hisson of four teen , and his daug hte r of twenty-three, were hoeing cotton in one pa r t ofthei r far m, the boy, Jesse, was plo wi ng w i t hhis mules and so wi ng cotton seed near thehouse where Mr s . F r y a r was alone. Hewe nt to the house fo r mor e cott on seed. A sM r s . F r y a r was scooping it up for hi m intothe bag w h i c h he held, she scolded him forbeat in g the mules . He knoc ked her downw i t h a blacksmith's hammer, and, as he confessed, c r i m i n a l l y assaulted her; finally hek i l l e d her w i t h the ham mer. Th e boy thenreturned to the field, finished hi s wo rk , an dwen t home to the ca bin, whe re he l i v e dw i t h his fathe r and mother and severalbrothers and sisters.

    When the murdered woman was discovered suspicion pointed to Jesse Washington ,and he was found sitting in his yard whitt l i n g a sti ck. He was arre ste d and immediately taken to j a i l in Waco. Tuesdaya mob visited the j a i l . They came in w i t habout thirty automobiles, each holding asman y as could be cro wded i n. The re wasno noise, no tooting of horns, the lightswere d im, and some ha d no li gh ts at al l.These were al l Robin son people. The ylooked for the boy, but could not find h im ,for he had been taken to a neighboringcounty where the sheriff obtained a confession fro m hi m. An ot he r mob went to thiscounty seat to get the boy, but he was ag ai n

    removed to D a l l a s . F i n a l l y , the Robinsonpeople pledged themselves not to l y n c h theboy i f the authori ties acted promp tl y, andi f the boy w o u l d waive his legal rights.A second confession in w h i c h the boywaived al l his legal rig hts was obtained in

    the Dallas j a i l . The Gran d J u ry indictedh i m on Thursday, and the case was set fort r i a l Monday, May 15.Sunday night, at midnight, Jesse W a shington was brought f ro m Dal la s to Waco ,and secreted in the office of the judge.There was not the slightest doubt but thathe w o u l d be tried and hanged the next day,i f the law took its course.There was some, but not much doubt of

    RIGGINS H O T E L , W A C O

    T H E FIRST BAPTIST C H U R C H , W A C O

    T H E C O U R T H O U S E , W A C O

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    T H E W A C O H O R R O R 3

    T H E C I T Y H A L L(The Boy Was Burned Back of This Hall)

    his gu il t. Th e confessions wer e obtaine d,o f course, und er duress, and were, perh aps,suspic iously clea r, and not ent ir el y in theboy's ow n wor ds . It seems, how eve r, pr obable tha t the boy was gu i l ty of murd er, andpossibly of premeditate d rape.3. Waco Politics.M E A N T I M E , the exigencies of Wacopolit ics ar e sai d to have dema nde d al y n c h i n g . Our invest igator say s:"The y brought the boy back to Waco because a l y n c h i n g was of p o l i t i c a l value tothe county o f f i c i a l s who are running foro ff ic e. E v e r y man I talked w i t h sa id tha tpolit ics wa s at the botto m of the who le bu si ness. A l l tha t element who took part inthe l y n c h i n g w i l l vote for the Sherif f. Th eJu dg e is of va lu e to his pa r t y because heappoints the three commissioners of thej u r y , and these commissioners p i c k theG r a n d J u r y . "

    The D i s t r i c t Judge of the C r i m i n a l C o u r tis R. I. Mun ro e, appointed by Gover norC a m p b e l l . H e is a lo w ord er o f p o l i t i c i a n ,and a product of a l o c a l machine. Hisrepu tati on fo r mor al it y is bad, and hispra cti ce at the B a r has been la rg el y onbehalf of the vicious interests.Th e S h e r i f f of the county, S. S. F l e m i n g ,is a cand idat e for re-election, an d has mademuch p o l i t i c a l capital out of the l y n c h i n g .

    He says, in an advert iseme nt in the Wa coSemi-Weekly Tribune:" M r . F l e m i n g is diseased w i t h a broadphi lan thropy. H e believes i n the equ ali tyo f man. He carr ies w i t h him in the d a i l ywalk of his o f f i c i a l d o m none of the 'boas to f he ra ld ry or the pomp of power .' He isjust as courteous, just as o b l i g i n g , just asaccommodating as S h e r i f f as he was whens e l l i n g buggies and cultiv ator s for the ha rd ware company. He presents to the vot er sfor the ir endorseme nt the reco rd made byh i m and his corps of splendid deputies."

    Our invest igator says:" W h e n I saw the S h e r i f f (F leming) hehad a beautiful story to t e l l . He had hiss tory f i x e d up so tha t the entire responsib i l i t y was shif ted on the Jud ge. The Ju dgeadmitted he c o u l d have had a change of

    venue, but said the mob anywhere w o u l dhave done the same thing."Meantime, the tip went out:" T h e cro wd began pou ri ng into the to wnthe day before and continued early Mondaymorning . The court room was packed f u l lan d a cr ow d of 2,000 wa s on the out side. The ju rors c o u l d scarcely get inand out f rom their seats. I asked the Judgei f he c o u l d not have cleared the court room,and he answered t h a t I did not kn owthe Sout h. I sai d, ' I f a perso n is bi genough, he can get up and stop the biggestmob.' H e asked, 'Do you wa nt to s p i l l i n

    nocent blood for a nigger?'"So me one had a rr an ge d it so t h a t i tw o u l d be easy to get the boy out of thecourtroom. A door w h i c h opened by a pecu l ia r device had been fixed so t h a t i t w o u l dopen. One of the ju ro rs was a convic tedmurderer w i t h a suspe nded sentence ov erh i m ." Lee Jenkins is the best deputy sheriff,but he is under F l e m i n g . B a r n e y G o l d berg , the other de puty sheriff, said , ' I fLee Jen kin s had had it , i t w o u l d never havebeen, but we are wo rk i n g for the man higherup and must take our orders f ro m h i m . 'B a r ne y Gold berg knows perfect ly w e l l t h a ti f F l e m i n g is not re-elected, an d the othe rcandidate gets in, he w i l l be out of a job.The other nominee for sheriff, Buchanan,is reported to be unable to read and write,but is said to have three dead 'niggers' tohis ' credi t . '" T h e boy, Jesse Wash ingt on, was askedwhat he thought about the mob comingafter h im . He said, 'T he y promised theyw o u l d not i f I w o u l d t e l l them about it. 'He seemed not to care, but was thoroughlyindifferent."The t r i a l was hur rie d through. TheWaco Semi-Weekly Tribune, M a y 17, say s:" T h e j u r y retu rned into court at 11:22a. m. , an d presented a ve rd ic t: 'W e , thej u r y , find the defendant gu i l ty of murderas charge d in the indi ctm ent and assesshis punishment at death. ' This was signedby W. B. Brazel ton, foreman." ' Is tha t you r verdic t , gentlemen?' askedJudge Munroe." T h e y answered 'yes.'

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    4 T H E CRISIS S U P P L E M E N T

    T H E WAITING C R O W D

    "Judge Mun roe began w r i t i n g in hisdocket. He had wri tt en : ' M a y 15, 1916:J u r y verdict of g u i l t y , ' and as he wrotethere was a hush over the entire court room.It was a moment of hes it ati on, but ju st amoment. Th en the t a l l man started overthe heads of the crowd. Fred H . K i n g s bury, who was standing alongside of JudgeMunroe, said, 'Th ey are comi ng after hi m, 'and as the Jud ge l ooked up, the wav e ofpeople surged fo rw ar d. " The cour t roomaccommodates 500 persons, but the Ju dgeha d all owed 1,500 persons to cro wd i n .Our investigator continues:"The stenographer t o l d me that there wasa pause of a f u l l min ut e. He sai d the people crowded around him and he knew whatwas c omi ng , so he sli ppe d out of the door

    back of the Sheriff, w i t h his record s; a ndS h e r i f f F l e m i n g slipped out also." F l e m i n g claims t ha t all he was c a l l e dupon to do in the way of protecting the boywas to get h i m to co urt." A big f e l l o w i n the back of the cou rtroom y e l l e d , 'Get the Ni gg er! ' Barn eyGoldberg, one of the deputy sheriffs, t o l d met ha t he did not know t ha t F l e m i n g haddropped orders to let them get the Negro,and pulled his revolver. Aft erw ard s he gothis friends to swear to an affidavit tha t hewas not present. F l e m i n g said he had sworni n fifty deputies. I asked h i m wher e theywere. He asked , ' W o u l d you wan t to protect the ni gg er ?' Th e jud ge made no effortto stop the mob, although he had firearmsi n his desk."

    4. The Burning.* " T H E Y dra gge d th e boy dow n the st air s,

    A put a chain around his body andhitched it to an automo bile. Th e cha inbroke. The bi g f e l l o w took the ch ai n off

    the Negro under the cover of the crowd andwound it around his own wrist, so t ha t thecrowd je rk in g at the chain was je rk in g atthe man's w ri s t and he was ho ld in g the boy.The boy shrieked and struggled."The mob ripped the boy's clothes off, cutthe m i n bit s and even cut the boy. Someone cut his ear off; someone else unsexedh i m . A l i t t l e g i r l work ing for the firm ofGoldstein and M i n g l e t o l d me t ha t she sawthis done." I went over the route the boy had beentaken and saw tha t they dragged him between a quarter and a h a l f a m i l e f rom theCourt Hou se to the bridg e an d then drag gedh i m up two blocks and another block overto the C i t y H a l l . A f t e r they had gotten himup to the bridge, someone said t ha t a fire

    was alread y goin g up at C i t y H a l l , and theytur ned around and went back. Seve ral people denied tha t thi s fire was go in g, but thephotograph shows t ha t i t was. Th ey got al i t t l e boy to light the fire." W h i l e a fire was being prepared of boxes,the nak ed boy wa s stabbed and the ch ainput over the tree. He tried to get away,bu t c o u l d not. He reac hed up to gr ab thechain an d th ey cu t off hi s fingers. Th e bi gman struck the boy on the back of the neckw i t h a knife just as they were p u l l i n g h imup on the tree. M r . Lester thought tha twas pra cti cal ly the death b l o w . He was

    lowered into the fire several times by meanso f the ch ai n ar ou nd his neck. Someonesaid they w o u l d estim ate the boy ha d abouttwenty-five stab wounds, none of themdeath-dealing."About a quarter past one a fiend go tthe torso, lassoed it, hu ng a rope over thepummel of a saddle, and dragged it aroundthrough the streets of Waco.

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    T H E W A C O H O R R O R 5" V e r y litt le dr in ki ng was done."The tree where the ly nc hi ng occurr edwas righ t under the Mayo r ' s wind ow. M a y or D o l l i n s was sta ndi ng in the windo w, notconcerned about what they were doing tothe boy, but that the tree w o u l d be destroyed. The C h i e f of P o l i c e also witnessedthe l y n c h i n g . The names of f i v e of theleaders of the mob are known to this A s s o ciation, and can be had on application byresponsible parties."Women and children saw the l y n c h i n g .One ma n hel d up hi s li tt le boy above theheads of the crowd so that he cou ld see, anda li tt le boy wa s in the top of the ver y treeto w h i c h the colored boy was h un g, where

    he stayed u n t i l the fire became too hot."An o t h e r account, i n the Wa co TimesHerald, Mond ay night , says:"Gr e a t masses of humanity flew ass w i f t l y as possible through the streets of thec i t y in order to be present at the bridgewhe n the han gi ng took place, but whe n itwas learned tha t the Neg ro was being take nto the C i t y H a l l la wn , crowds of men,women and chi ldr en tur ned and hastenedto the lawn." O n the way to the scene of the burningpeople on every hand took a hand in showi n g the ir feelings i n the matte r by s t r ik ingthe Negro w i t h an yt hi ng obtainable, somestruck him w i t h shovels, bricks, clubs, andothers stabbed him and cut him u n t i l whenhe was strung up his body was a s o l i d coloro f red , the blood of the ma n y wounds in f l i c t e d covered hi m fr om head to foot.

    " D r y goods boxes and a l l ki nd s of i n flammable ma ter ia l wer e gat her ed, and i trequired but an instant to convert this intoseet hin g flames. Wh en the Ne gr o was firsthoisted int o the air his tongue prot rude dfrom his mou th a nd hi s face was besmeared w i t h blood." L i f e was not extinct w i t h i n the Negro'sbody, alt hou gh nearl y so, when anotherchain was placed ar ou nd his neck an dthrown over the l i m b of a tree on the lawn,everybody tr yi ng to get to the Neg ro a ndhave some pa r t i n his death . The i n f u r i ated mob the n leaned the Neg ro , who w ash a l f alive and h a l f dead, against the tree, hehav ing just strength enough w i t h i n his

    limbs to supp ort hi m. A s ra pi dl y as possible the Neg ro was then je rk ed int o thea i r at w h i c h a shout from thousands ofthroa ts went up on the mo rn in g ai r anddry goods boxes, excels ior, wood and eve ryother article that w o u l d burn was then inevidence, app ear in g as i f by mag ic. A hugedry goods box was then produced and filledto the top w i t h all of the ma ter ial that hadbeen secured. The Ne gr o' s body was swa yi n g i n the ai r, and al l of the ti me a noiseas of thou sands was hea rd and the N egr o' sbody was lowered into the box.

    " N o sooner had his body touched the boxtha n people pressed for wa rd , each eager tobe the first to li gh t the fire, matches weretouched to the inflamma ble ma te ri al and assmoke rap id ly rose in the ai r, such a demons tr ati on as of people gone ma d was neverhear d before. Ev er ybo dy pressed closer to

    T H E MOB

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    6 T H E CRISIS S U P P L E M E N Tg et souve nirs of the affa ir. Wh e n they ha dfinishedw i t h the Negro his body was mutilated.

    "Fingers , ears, pieces of clothing, toes andother par t s of the Negro's body were cutof f by members of the mob tha t had crowded to the scene as if by ma gi c whe n theword tha t the Ne gr o had been tak en i ncha rge by the mob was her al ded over thec i t y . A s the smoke rose to the heavens, themass of people, nu mbe ri ng in the neigh borhood of 10,000, crowding the C i t y H a l l l awnand overflowi ng the square, han gi ng f ro mthe windows of buildings, v i e w i n g the scenef rom the tops of buildings and trees, setup a shout tha t was heard blocks away."Onlookers were hanging from the w i n dows of the C i t y H a l l and every other b u i l d i n g that commanded a sight of the burning,and as the Negro's body commenced to burn,shouts of delight went up from the thou

    sands of throats and apparently everybodydemonstr ated in some wa y the ir sati sfaction at the retribution that was being v i s ited upon the per pet rat or of such a horrible cri me, the wor st in the ann als of M c Lennan county's history."The body of the Negro was burned toa cr is p, an d was le ft for some time i n thesmoldering remains of the fire. Women andchildren who desired to v i e w the scene wereallowed to do so, the crowds parting to letthem look on the scene. A f t e r some timethe body of the Negro was jerked intothe air where everybody could v i e w the remains, and a mighty shout rose on the air.Photo grap her Gilderslee ve made severalpictures of the body as w e l l as the l ar gecrowd w h i c h surrounded the scene as spectators."The photographer knew where the l y n c h i n g was to take place, and had his cameraand par aph ern ali a in the C i t y H a l l . Hewas ca lle d by telepho ne at the prop er m oment. He wri tes us :" We have quit s e l l i n g the mob photos,this step was taken because our ' C i t y dads'objected on the gr ounds of 'bad pu bli ci ty ,'as we wanted to be boosters and not knockers, we agreed to stop all sale.

    " P . A . G I L D E R S L E E V E . "Our agent continues:" W h i l e the torso of the boy was beingdragged through the streets behind thehorse, the li mbs dro pped off and the headwas put on the stoop of a disreputable woman in the reser vation dist rict . Some lit tleboys pulled out the teeth and s o l d them tosome men for five doll ars apiece. Thechain was s o l d for twenty-five cents a l i n k ." F r o m the pictures , the boy was app arently a wond erf ull y buil t boy. The torsowas take n to Robi nso n, hu ng to a tree, and

    shown off for a w h i l e , then they took itdown ag ai n and drag ged i t back to tow nand put it on the fire again at five o'clock."5. The Aftermath.

    "I T R I E D to ta lk to the Jud ge . I meth i m on the street and said, 'I wa ntto talk w i t h you about something very im

    portant . ' He asked, ' Wh a t is the natureo f it ?' I sai d, 'I wan t to get your opini ono f tha t l y n c h i n g . ' H e sai d, ' No , I refuseto talk w i t h you about that . What do youwa nt it fo r? ' I sai d, ' I f you refuse to ta lkw i t h me, there is no use of t e l l i n g you whatI want it for. '"When I met him the second time, w i t hdiffe rent clot hes on, he did not r ecogn izeme. I pu t on a st ro ng E n g l i s h accent andsaid I was interested in clip pings fr om Ne wY o r k papers w h i c h showed tha t Waco hadmade for i t s e l f an a w f u l name, and I wanted to go back an d make the nor the rne rs feeltha t Wa co was not so bad as the papershad repr esen ted. Th en he gave me theCourt records."Our inves tiga tor continues: "I went tothe newspaper offices. Th ey were al l of theopinion tha t the best thing to do was tohus h it up. Th ey used i t as a news it em ,

    and tha t finished it . Th e Da ll as News didnot cite anything editorially because no tlong ago they had done something quiteas bad and the boy was not guilty." W i t h the exception of the Tribune, a l lthe papers had si mp ly used it as a newsite m and let it drop. Th e Tribune is ownedby Judge M c C u l l u m , who says anything hepleases. He is ne ar ly b l i n d . When I readthe article to him I said, 'I w o u l d l i k e toask you, if tha t had been a colored womanand a white boy, w o u l d you have protected

    T H E VICTIM

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    T H E W A C O H O R R O R 7

    T H E T O R T U R E (Note the "Frenzied" Mob)

    tha t woma n?' He answered, 'N o. ' 'I f it hadbeen a col ored boy an d a colo red woma n?N o . ' ' W e w o u l d not have stopped the n i g gers doing an yt hi ng they wanted to.' 'Doy o u think they would? ' 'N o. ' 'Then, theyprove their superior c i v i l i z a t i o n . ' Then hebegan to t e l l me how he knew all aboutthe niggers and we northerners do not. Hesaid t ha t as an oldsoutherner he knewperfect ly w e l l howto handle the c o l ored populat ion. Het o l d me how he wasraised w i t h them,had a colored ma mmy, nursed at herbreast, etc.

    "There is a buncho f people in Wacowho are dying tosee someone go forward and make aprotest, but no onei n Waco w o u l d do it.E x - M a y o r Mackayeand C o l o n e l H a m i l ton both said , 'W edo not know what todo. W e are not o rganized to do it . Itis a case of race andp o l i t i c s . '" I put out a loto f wires for a l a w yer to take up thecase, but no human

    being in Waco w o u l d tak e i t up. I wro teto a friend i n A u s t i n and one in Houston,and the A u s t i n friend telegraphed me tha the w o u l d send me word as soon as he hadfound someone. I ha d a le tt er f rom theHouston friend who gave me the names ofthree law yer s, but am not sure w heth erthey w o u l d take up a case of this k i n d . A l lhave their doubts ofever getting the casein to court." I di d not dareask much about l a w yers." A s a result ofthe l y n c h i n g a Sunday S c h o o l Convention w h i c h was tohave met there, w i t h15,000 delegates, hasbeen stopped." W . A . Brazelton,the foreman of theJ u ry , was very outspoken against thew h o l e affair andblames the o f f i c i a l sfor it. He felt tha tas foreman of theJ u r y he c o u l d no tlead in a protest butthought some protest ought to bemade." M r . A i n s w o r t h ,one of the newspaper men , seemed th e

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    8 T H E CRISIS S U P P L E M E N Tonly one who wanted to s ta r t a protest." C o l o n e l H a m i l t o n , a man of high standi n g , a northerner, and at one time a bigra i lroad man , was outspoken agai nst thewhole affair, bu t said tha t i f he led in aprotest they w o u l d do the same thing toh i m . He said he w o u l d never register ina n y hotel tha t he came from Waco. Tw oWaco men who did not register from Waco.

    " A l l a n Stanford, e x - M a y o r of Waco, sawthe S h e r i f f and the Judge before the t r i a la n d received assurances tha t the l y n c h i n gw o u l d not tak e place. Th ey shu t themouths of the better element of Waco byt e l l i n g them tha t the Robinson people hadpromised not to do it. Th ey ha d gotten thepromise of the Robinson people tha t theyw o u l d not touch the boy du ri ng the t r i a l ,but th ey di d not get the pledge of the disreputable bunch of Waco tha t they w o u l dnot s ta r t the affair."Judge S p e l l said the affair was deplorable, but the best thing was to forget it." W h en representing m y s e l f as a newsreporter, I asked, 'What s h a l l I t e l l thepeople up Nor th? ' E x - M a y o r Mackayesaid, ' F i x it up as w e l l as you can forWaco, and make them understand tha t thebetter th ink ing men and women of Wacowere not i n it .' I said. 'But some of yourbetter men were down there.' The wholet h ing savors so rotten because the betterm e n have not tri ed to protest agai nst it .Y o u r churches have not said a word. D r .C a l d w e l l was the only man who made any

    protest at a ll . "6. The Lynching Industry.TH I S is an account of one l y n c h i n g . It ishorrible, but it is matched in horror by

    scores of others i n the last th ir ty years , andi n i ts i l l e g a l , law-defying, race-hating aspect, it is matched by 2842 other lynchingsw h i c h have taken place between Ja nu ar y 1,1 8 8 5 , an d Ju ne 1, 1916. These ly nc hi ng sare as f o l l o w s :C O L O R E D M E N L Y N C H E D B Y Y E A R S ,1885-1916.1 8 8 5 781 8 8 6 711 8 8 7 801 8 8 8 951 8 8 9 951 8 9 0 901891 1211 8 9 2 1551893 1541 8 9 4 1341 8 9 5 1121 8 9 6 801 8 9 7 1221 8 9 8 1021 8 9 9 841 9 0 0 1071901 107

    1 9 0 2 861903 861 9 0 4 831 9 0 5 611 9 0 6 641 9 0 7 601 9 0 8 931 9 0 9 731 9 1 0 651911 631 9 1 2 631913 791 9 1 4 691 9 1 5 801 9 1 6 (5 mos.) 31

    T o t a l 2843W ha t are we going to do about this record? The c i v i l i z a t i o n of A m e r i c a is atstake. The sin cer ity of Chris t i an i ty is c h a l lenged. The Nat iona l A s s o c i a t i o n for theAdvancemnt of C o l o r e d People proposes immediately to raise a fund of at least $10,000to s tar t a crusade against this modern bar

    barism. A l r e a d y $2,000 is promised, conditional on our ra is ing the whole amount.Interested persons may wri te to Ro yNash, secretary, 70 F i f t h Avenue, N e wY o r k C i t y .

    FINIS