to the negro has
been passed with the intent of controlling his labor and
drawing his circle of freedom into smaller and smaller
compass.

In the rural districts the negro is not only at the mercy of
the lawless white individual citizen, but equally at the mercy
of the rural police, the constables and magistrates. There
is hardly a record in modern history of greater oppression by
judicial officers than that dealt to the negroes by a large
majority of the magistrates and other officials who preside
over the inferior courts of South Carolina.

In towns and cities, as a rule, mayors' and recorders' courts
are mills for grinding out negro convicts; negroes charged
with petty offenses are brought into these courts, convicted
and sentenced with lightning speed, before they even realize
that they are on trial unless they are able to hire attorneys,
whose fees often equal the fine that would be imposed. They
are beaten at will by arresting officers, frequently shot and
many killed if attempt is made to escape by running away from
the officer, and for any such shooting, officers are seldom
put to the inconvenience of trial, even if the victim die.

In tragic truth it must be confessed that there is in the
South--South Carolina, more certainly--no protection for the
life or person of any negro of whatever standing, sex, age,
against the intent of the bloody-minded white man.

The negro does not ask for special privileges or social
legislation in his behalf. He does not ask to be measured
by any standard less than the white man's standard, but he
insists that the same test shall apply to all men of all
races. He refuses to accept the declaration of men who claim
to be earthly agents and representatives of the Almighty, the
interpreters of His will and laws, and who solemnly assert
that the God of the Christian ordained and decreed the negro
race to be in slavery or semislavery to the white race.

The negro believes that the world is built on a moral
foundation with justice as its basic rock. He believes that
the Almighty is just, merciful and benevolent, and that He
included all men in His plan of human development and reaching
out for protection.

He asks only for justice. Nothing less than justice will stay
the movement of negroes from the South. Its continued r