Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-08-20
EYNoEE EAw-ITS CAUSE AND ITS
PREVENTION.

The Press and Times reads a long
homily on lynch lava thing which no
weIl-ordered mind approves. More per-
tihent to the interest Of this people nov,
than condemnation of admitted evils, is
honest inquiry into their causes and the !,
devisihg Of wise and prudent means to
prevent them. What produces lynch
law so frequently in Tennessee, that the
public Journals are but daily bulletins of
horrors ? That something in the ma
ehinery Of government is utterly out Of
gear is Enthusiastically is wrenched
from its prepriety is manifest, We are
not in the normal condition Of communi-
ties lof civilized men-sensible mem
meniwho knew that such a state of things
Is rain0us ard destructive to every inter
est How then does it come aboat2 and
why il it not remedied2 is idle pat-
tering to tell men that 1t is wrong to take
the law into their hands, and diIate upon
the disastrous consequences that will
certainly ensue These acts are not done
in wanton frolic They are deliberated.
They are done knowingthem to be wrong
that they are desperate remedies
Those who perpetrate them feel that they
are driven to commit them. We do not
speak in justification of them, BY any
party or under any circumstances. We
revolt from the idea that society contains
50 large an element of fiends as the res
cord of forays upon life in this State
would show We hold that a sense of
supposed or actual necessity impels the
actors, and would seek the cause, and as.
certain what has so upheaved the sills of
the social fabric And we do not needt to
go far or search deep. Il is plain and is
read Of all men. .Ely
Justice, said one Of the most profound
statemen Of all time, is the only proper
basis Of, and the only proper end of gov.
ernments The government set over this
people is neither founded in justice, nor
does it administer Justice, nor does
it seek Justice as an object This
fact is 30 glaring and obvious that
men have ceased to look to the
laws, for they are not just; they have
ceased TO rely upon the officers, for they
are partial and vindictive; they distrust
courts, for they have seen them be-
come. the scenes of farce, and the
instruments of tyranny and COrrup-
ton they have no confidence
that the Chief Executive will use
the law as protection to society, for they
have read his public papers in which he
offers premium for crime, and have
seen him empty the State prison Of the
sentenced criminals of the law In add
ton. to all this, they see the makers of laws
engaged in ipstigating the bad passions
of that class of population, to whose ig-
norance and brutishness, crimes Of the
most revolving character are most natural.
Ina word, profound impression pre-
walls that the very fountain Of justice is
corrupted, and that its stream is led with
polluting springs; that the law no longer
guarantees security to life and property
or tends to, the prevention of crime
Whom government is thus mal-adminis-
tered is it strange that lawlessness should
run riot 2 that the vicious, in the ore in
stance, should give rein to their prOpen-
stiles when there is no let or hindranee,
and as a sequence, that their victims and
the communities abused by their crimes,
should adopt instant, effective and terri
BILE measures of prevention and retalia>
toni If this vile condition is much lOns
ger permitted, can it be wondered if
society should 50 to pieces, and vigilance
committees and regulators should every
where usurp the seats Of the rightly con-
stituted authorities Laws unjustly
abridging men Of their inherent rights;
laws u6justly taxing property and a
general sense, that justice between man
and man is not possible in Tennessee,
is the cause Of our social disorders. 5au
The true remedy is simple; and cons
sists in the restoration of equal rights to
white men, the repeal of obnoxious and
oppressive laws, the publication of the
Judiciary, tho abandonment of the insane
attempt to make what God has made ins
ferior the equal of the superior as a
constituent Of society, the inculcation in
the letter and the spirit of the laws Of a
purpose, to deal justly and fairly, and
the manifestation in the speeches and
official utterances Of the men in authority,
Of temper promotive of harmony and
Cancellation. IF this were done, in six
months a salutary change would be
wrought and its effects felt in every CONS
nunity In the State. joy ID 5000 ei s.-