Minutes of the North Carolina Conference page 26

Minutes of the North Carolina Conference This year came in finding that a number of those persons classed as public enemies had been accounted for, while we have a breathing spell from the kind of crime mentioned before, we still find that the tendecy [sic] to commit crime is very great, Human life is taken quite often upon little provocation. It has been said with punishment that deters crime. Law alone has not the power to do away with crime entirely, it must be aided by teaching people the beauty of upright living with makes a person a good citizen. We are now to speak of the darkest blot upon the American people. The most barberous that may be committed by a civilized people that is the crime of Lynching. There are some good people that this practice of murdering human beings should be blotted out. This opinion was manifested in the introduction of the Anti lynching bill in the Senate by Senator Wagner of New York. This bill after being debated for a week was take from the floor of the Senate by parliamentary maneuver that it might die not be given up until something is accomplished. Whether or not while being born. But there are those who say that the fight will this affected the general public we can not tell, we do not know that a number of Lynchings followed it. For the first six months of the year four lynchings were reported. Following this there were three in the month of July. The latter part of October a report gave the number of the lynchings thus far as fifteen. When we think of the flimsy reason for which some of the human beings are done to death at the hands of the mob we can see that deep seatedness of the barbarity. Out of the fifteen lynchings which have taken place one was accused of slapping a white woman and another for being drunk. Since the victim is usually a Negro, the attitude of the United States toward the Anti-lynching Bill seems to reveal the fact that a very large number of white Americans believe that this is the proper treatment to mete out to the Negro. If this is true then we say that it is bad philosophy, bad psychology, bad logic, and wicked morality. Why take one criminal and make many? The mob usually numbers from a few to hundreds and no one can take part in a Lynching actively or passively with out being affected. Turning to the other side of the picture we find a giant ray of hope in the decision handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Scottsboro, Ala. case, which held that the Negroes could not be considered to have had a fair trial when members of their race had been systematically excluded from both the Grand Joury [sic] and the trial Joury, this decision was not warmly received by the entire South. The North Carolina Legislature was in session at the time the decision was handed down, the legislature immediately passed a law to increase the peremtory [sic] challenge in the selection of a trial jury so that the spirit of the law might be made void. Some of the other Southern states resorted to similar tactics, but some of them accepted the decision in good spirit and began to carry out the law by putting Negroes of the Jury. Over against this, this same high tribunal decided that the State of Texas was not depriving the Negro of any of the constitutional rights by excluding him from participating in the primary of the Democratic Party. We desire, in passing, to take a brief notice of this new menance [sic] that has sprung up among us out of this gas and electric age in which we live. Statistics compiled for 1934 show that 35,500 persons lost their lives during the year in motor traffic and that the 1935 figures may even surpass that. This shows the tremendous cost of our modern progress and offers a challenge to every one not to lose a single opportunity to help lessen this great waste of human life. When considered from all angles the crop has been good. The farmers have produced more than enough for the maintenance of the nation thereby having a pretty large surplus for export trade. They have obtained fair prices for their produce but the cost of the things they had to by and the various taxes levied did not leave much profit. But it gave them better courage to face the future. The government�۪s management of food stuff or something has sent prices on these commodities soaring which it is hoped that this will be