Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1884-01-03
TIE MeD4DE MOB.

Tho Galveston News is seeming
" Furious over the McDadc mob,
and says that the deplorable occur
rsuos ise6f such character that it
pan not. with propriety, be passed
yer in silence, either by the civil
lthorities, state or county, the
Press, or the people whom the
press represents. It is safe to say
that therc is not good citizen in
all the. State of Texas who sp-
proves of mob law, but there are
times and circumstances under
which people arc goaded to des-
peration. 1t is true that in the
eyes Of the law every man is re-
searded as innocent until tried and
proven guilty. The men who were
SO unceremoniously lynched we're
6herged with crime, one of them
Vas under arrest, a second was
suspicioned and the third one was
simply in bad company. In the
Eioinity Of Mel ade lawlessness had
been rampant for some time and
the authorities were either powers
less or impotent; honest citisensI
became disguised and took the law,
into their own hands; three men
were taken out and hung without
judge or jury. That the
necessity for this proceeding
had an existence IS IN itself dis
graceful, and the inquiry may wen
be made, who is responsible for it.
Good citisens who make honest
, Tixings.a,..a.--s tllssesiF:.wise behave themf
e not responsible for the
lnievingi principles of men who
viii not work. The law is plain,
as is also the dutysof the officers,
and it is also plain that ifthieSes
were promptly arrested and pun
ished mob law would not be-re=
sorted to. The country in the VI
cinity- of McDade is said 10 be
sparsely settled, andhowever much
the officers may be inclined to ar
rest the offenders and bring them.
to justice they were foiled, the evi
denee to convict would fail, al
though there might be no doubt as
to the guilt of the accused. Such
a condition of affairs is certainly
lamentable, and there is no legal
remedy for them, the law being
absolutely powerless. While there
is no justification for mob law
there is no power to prevent it,
and in cases like the one under
consideration there is no means of
punlshing the mob who did the
hanging. All the power ofrthe
state government, or for that mat
ter the power of half dozen state
governments would not reach
them, for the very simple reason
that the mob has the moral sup
port of the community in which
they live, as well as the moral sup
port of a respectable majority Of
the good people of the state, who
while they oppose mob law on gen
eral principles, taeitly endorse the
act of the mob. There is hardly
a case on record either in, Texas
or elsewhere in which the partici-
tor in lynching has been brought
to justice. theoretically all agree
that the Iynchers should be punish.
ed, but practically it is impossible
for the law to reach them. Occur.
rences like this at GcDade should
put all honest men to thinking,
and the law-abiding element being
largely in the majority, the law
should be so enforced as to dc
away with the necessity of lynch.
ing: The Galveston News, in the
conclusion of its article, is inclined
to lay the blame at tho doors o.
tho state government. The people
themselves compose the state Cos
ernment, and if the government i,
failure the people are themselve,
alone at fault.