The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1883-12-13
IN. Y. Independent
The Remedy For Lynching.

The murderer of Miss Ida Atkin-
son, in Indiana, who was arrested and
put in Jail, and who, moreover, had
confessed his crime, and was about to
be dealt with by the law therefor, was
last week forcibly taken from jail and
from the custody of the Sheriff by an
armed mob, and then summarily exc
cuted under lynch law. About one
hundred and fifty men composed the
mob. They surrounded the jail with
an armed force, prepared to defy all
resistance; and when they had broken
into the cell of the prisoner, they took
him out and soon dispatched him by
hanging him to the limb of tree;
and there they left him.
There is no doubt that Melting, the
prisoner, committed the murder; and
for this offense he was already in the
hands of the civil authority, and
would in due season have been pun
ished as the law directs. Judge Lynch,
however, could not wait for the due
course of law; and, hence, in defiance
of law, proceeded to do the hanging
at once. He summoned some one
hundred and fifty men, who, in the
character of mob, took the place of
the civil authorities and did the work
for them.
Every man composing that mob is
a murderer in the sight of God and
man, as really as was Melting himself.
Lynching is murder, since it is the un-
lawful killing Of human being with
malice aforethought; and the fact
that the killing is done by one hun
dred and fifty men acting together,
and not by single man, does not In
the least degree change its criminal
character. It simply furnishes that
number of murderers, instead OF one.
One murderer killed Ida Atkinson,
and for that deed forfeited his life to
public justice, and deserved to die; and
one hundred and fifty murderers killed
Melting, and for that deed forfeited
their lives and equally deserve to die.
The latter murder is far the most aw-
full one, by reason of the number COM
mitting it and its effects on human So
ciety. lie unpunished, it undermines
the very foundations Of public safety.
There is nothing so fatal to the regu-
lar operation Of law or so dangerous
to human society as the reign of lynch
law. Lynchers are desperadoes of the
most horrible kind. They are far
wors than horse thieves, or gangs of
rufians, and are quite as bad as pi-
rates.
What, then, shall the State Of In
diana do with the murderers of Mel
ingP We answer that the very ut
most efforts should be made by the
officers of law to find out who the
men are that committed this murder;
and then every man thus detected
should be indicted, tried and convict
ed, and then be hanged by the neck
until he is dead. This is the remedy
for lynching: and it is the only rene
dy that will efectually put a stop to
lynch law. We call upon the author
tiles Of Indiana to bestir themselves
and spare no pains to bring these
lynchers to condign justice. So long
as it is practically understood that
such lynching mob can do its work
with impunity, and that when the
work is done that will be the end OF
the matter, lynching, especially in the
West, will continue as a popular mode
of avenging crime. Let few lynch
ers be hanged for their crime, as all
ought to be, and the too common
practice Of murder in this form will
take the hint The people of Indiana
have great duty to perform for their
own credit and their own safety, as
well as for the safety and good morals
Of the country. To let this horrible
outrage pass, with no effort to bring
these offenders to justice, would be to
treat the most dangerous form of
murder as if it were really no crime.