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