Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1875-11-06
PREFALENCE or LYNCH
Lily.

&s-h "
The prevalence Of lyneh lax in
this country Is becoming alarming.
and thinking men everywhere are
discussing tile absolute necessity for
taking some positive measures for It's
suppression. During tile lass tea
days no fewer than three prisoners
one ~ Illinois, one IN Wisconsin, and
one in Arkansas have been takeis
from hands of authorities and raug-
dered. Ii we 20 back aWcek further
we can count ncarIya dozen crimes
of this character, committed in theA
name Of Justice and hy men pFoges~
sing 70 be reputable citizens. The
perpetrators OF these deeds are nos
alone to blame. but they heara great
burden of guilt. We do not care
what the provocation, there in no en-
cuse 10 this land Of law and order for
usurping the powers of our constitu-
ted courts of justice. 1t il not me-
cessary TO point ont the dangers tor
which such crimes inevitably Lead
Tor any man of intelligence and re-
Election will see them and shun the
consequences.
\ lew years ago man WAS hung
he mob in Missouri. on the charge
OF murder. Hardly was the body
cold before evidence came out we'll
nigh establishing his innocence. Not
long since a young man In one OF the
Territories. the son of an esteemed
clergyman Of the East, was arrestesf
as a horse-thief, and before he had
time to prove his innocence and ex~
plain who and what he was, an in.
sane mob had dragged him to tree
and brutally murdered him. Recent
~ a man was lynched In Bellefon-
tame, Ohio, for the murder of Il
young girl, with whom he and his
wife had gone ont to gather berries
The wife was a swift witness against
her husband, and OH her testimony
principally the mob acted. IT has
since been pretty clearly developed
that the wife, who swore away her
husbands life. was the guilty party.
having committed the murder from
jealousy. These facts, horrible az
they are, do not seem to serve in any
way asa warming; but every day out
RACES OF this character increase.
There is something ofthe brute eveIs
in enlightened human beings. N
community experiences strange
sort of enjoyment in being wrought
up to terrible excitement and COM
uniting deeds Of grave and fearful
import, even while they shudder at
the act. Men individually cool be-
come collectively mad, and mob OF
one hundred will commit an act OF
atrocity which any one of the crowd
would siclSen and turn from If alone.
There are now and then crimes OF
this kind committed under solemls
sense of duty and self-protection; in
stances where by the laws delay, the
incompetency OF officials, or some
thing Of this character, q community
has become convinced that Justice
can only be done by a resort tobrute
force; but these cases are rare. This
is a favorite pretense with mObs, but
it is very seldom we'll founded. W.,
know that the laws delay is often
vexatious and many times scandalous
and unnecessary, and this trihing
with criminals lies at the bottoms or
these outbreaks; but at the same
time this fact is too often made the
excuse for an act which really has
no excuse, and one instance Of delay
or failure to punish an offender serves
as a pretext for a dozen lynchings,
which are nothing less than 50 many
cold-blooded murders. The courts
must cease dallying with criminals.
and administer justice promptly and
energetically, taking away this ex-
cuse for popular vengeance; but at
the same time mob law must be put
down. So far as we know no person
has been punished for completely il
these acts, but the time has come
when this must be done and the tide
Of anarchy turned back, or there will
soon be no safety for life or property.
The time to stop such things is In
their incipiency. Once let it be I'M
derstood that mobs are secure from
legal interference, and the business
of courts will be over and the reign
Of terror established.