The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-06-14
In Defs..s OF Fra.klI. Coa.ty.

Many and some rather severe criti-
cisms have appeared 10 tue press on
the late action of some oftbe citizens
of Franklin county, In this State, in
rsference to the hanging Of Tom
Bailey. AS an expression Of publie
opinion in oppositioa TO This sum-
mary manner of executing vengence
on a particular class of criminals
there can be no doubt of the right
Of the press to do soft it thinks the
crime is not OF such character as to
warrant summary. vengeance, Many
or these artieles assume a SORT of
tone Of lecture-reading to the people
of Franklin county. The most pro-
nounoed Of this character is long
and well written article IN The
BRooKHAyEN LEADER, headed Civil
or Mob Law, which Shsll Prevail?'
From that article we take the follow
ing extract: - It..
T"The fact is-and we speak
plainly because the subject demands it
those who engage In this sort of business
1
in the sight Of law. In short, those who
deliberately proceed, regardless of the
forms of law prescribed, to deprive man of
his life because of u murder he has commit
ted, that moment themselves take the place
in the category of crime of him whom they
essay to punish. On the same principle q
larger mob might, with propriety, hang
the smaller, and so on until there would
be no more of a whole caunty left than
there was of the Kilkenny cats in the
story" ...
This denunciation, 10 strikes US, is
too broad and extreme. 10 is Che
broad bold announcement that the
men who executed the negro for out
raging little girl are as great crimi-
nails as the man who committed The
deed, and might be hung by the
friends OF the deceased with The same
propriety that he was hung, and
they stake the place IN "the catego-
ry of crime ofhim schom they "es-
say to punish" That is putting it
strong! and we cannot concur that
those men now stand IN the same
category of crime as the man who
committed that hellish deed, This
is sweeping, blasting criticism on
the good county of Lincoln and the
sducated town of Brookhaven. 1t is
hut few years, as we are informed,
since two men were hung on the pub
lie streets of Brookhaven, in The
presence Of an immense concourse OF
people; not by an .outburst of rage,
that drove a few maddened men to
hang the beast in the ninght-as the
Franklin county people dido
avoid disturbing the people of Mead
vile, but in open day, after prepare
ton and announcement of the occa-
sion long enough before hand for the
population IT, gather; and we are In
formed that there we're enough pres
ent to have prevented it if they had
been SO inclined. That was not in
Franklin county, however.
Neighhor, how long do you think
you could take julips at Peters" il
you would ann ounce in your next
issue that those men were and are in
the same category with those whom
they essayed tn punish? ... I'D.
The poor little gill that writhed in
the foul embrace of the licentious
beast walled out for her life, and
was flung dying into a pond-was
not a spectacle before the eyes of a
civilized community to produce calm
reflections on the proper mode OF
executing the laws, and upon the
consequences to government, or on
the probable hanging Of themselves
BY another larger mob. Where was
that mob to come from?
| We know of no cummunity that
has tolerated that loathsome, dam
manable crime beyond the time that
they could get their hands ON the
tperpetrator.
( A man of fifty and child but nine
tyears Oil; no doubt of his guilt. The
child was mutilated to death; lived
a short time-long enough to speak
between her agnoies ofpain and pour
into the ears of her relatives aid
Their friends the scene of her torture.
| 1t was q warning in Frankiin-as
it was in Lincoln-hissed into the
ears of all such beasts who contem,
plate similar crimes, and it will likely
be needed. ..arr.
1t is easy TO advise others to keep
cool. Where is the community in
which swift retribution does not fol-
low that crime?
We desire to say as empahtically
as THE LEADER speaks, that the
Franklin county people are as free
from crime, and as honorable people
as are in the land, and with an ap-
probation of female honor that will
ever make it unsafe to commit that
nameless crime within their borders.
-SWmmit Times and Intelligencer.
Careless Handling of Newspa.
pers In the Mails