The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-10-11
WHOLE No. 789.
Judge Lynch.

You may have seen street riot.
That is simply the outer circles of
whirlpool A shower of brick-bats-a
surge up and down--a dozen broken
heads-a cry OF '.police!' and your
crowd scatters like sheep, and sinks
away like ours.
Il A mob sets out to resist the authori-
ties. Nine out of every ten men in it
are towards. They boast and brag and
encourage, but they keep their own
bodies in the back ground. They want
to see someone hurt, but they know the
law will triumph, and they want to be
able to prove that they were simply
lookers-on. One brave man will walk
into a mob and defy and over-awe it.
A brutal outrage has been commit
ted 1t is an affair that stirs. the blood
of sons and brothers and brings u dan
gerous light to the eyes of husbands
and fathers. There is no boasting or
shouting. Knots of men gather here
and there, and they speak with fierce
earnestness, but in low voices. No
mob surges up and down--no wild yells
rend the air-no towards furnish drink
to excite young men to foolish deeds.
Lynch him.
1t is not shouted, but spoken in whis-
pers or read in each others eyes. Every
man has obeyed the laws every man
would peril his life in aiding to enforce
them, but there is feeling that legal
punishment does not always punish suf-
ticiently.
4..Lynch himi'
When men who never partal1e of
meal without bowling the head in
prayer whisper those words. look out!
The heart burns and thrills. For the
time being law is nothing. Fathers
whisper it to sons, brothers to each
other, merchants to mechanics. Lips
tighten and grow pale, teeth shut
close, eyes flash rs you never saw them
before.
The knots of men swell into groups
the groups consolidate. into q crowd.
| The leader takes his place, and instinct
lively the crowd realize that he is the
proper person. Speeches and orations
are not in order-rOpes arei
See now! Teeth shut tighter rs the
crowd moves. Not man would turn
back from loaded cannon. 1t moves
ahead, but in swrls and Kisses and gur-
giles like river vexed by rocks. 1t is
the whispers quick :snswers-,the
| pale faces-which tell you what danger
turks in the crowd. A noisy crowd can
be scattered. 1t will f:al to pieces of
itself. A silent body of men will take
your life if every man has to peril his
own.
1t is the Jail. Key or no key the
prisoner must come out. The crowd
would have him if score of grated
doors had to be battered down. He does
not plead. for mercy. One look around
him tells him that his life is hungered
for with such intensity that prayers
would be mockery. He may look up
ut the harvest moon and the star-stud-
ded heavens, but he sees nothing. He
is dazed and awed by the grim silence
of the band.
.'Haltr'
No voice commands, but here is the
tree. Tae whirlpool stands still for a
moment. Faces grow little whittier,
but the eyes of every man show q
doggcd determination that would blaze
into desperation If opposed. Tue moose
is rapidly adjusted, there is falling
back, and with a groan Of terror and
despair trembling in his lips the guilt Y
wretch swings in the air. The creak of
the limb-the calls of a night bird--the
deep breathing of men-are plainly
heard as the body swings to and fro or
turns round and round rs the death
struggle goes on.
| 1t is morning. Merchants are behind
their counters, mechanics at the bench,
sons at school. There is no sign that
last night was not one of tranquility
and peace. Men speak again, women
and children laugh as they walk abroad
the cyclone has passed. The Jail
doors are being repaired-the tree no
longer holds q corpse, and q stranger
would look upon this face and that and
whisper to himself: What good-na-
turc | see in every line of their counte-
nances! They are obedient to law and
enforce the best of order y" 70 u +
Riots are the work of demagogues and
boasters. Mobs are created by towards.
When men turn out with shut teeth and
whispered voices to take the law into
their own hands, Judge Lynch has
opened court and sentenced o man to
die.-Detr0t Free Press.