The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-05-04

WHICH t6dcH6S ulu III plOtCSG AA
self at ali hazards becomes indlg'
nant and alarmed st the condition;
he can no longer end ure the condl-
tions which jeoparizs his life and
that of every citizen, and being un'
able longer to endure the sight that
meets his eye, Of justice trampled
into the dirt, while crime and raplne
flourish, ne comes to the rescue and
lynching is the result. 1t Is a
natural outgrowth. tits simply an"
other form of revolution. We will
put it in this way. A man has been
guilty of a murder in the first de-
gree; the crime is proven, and yet
the law keeps that man from the
punishment he merits; though a
Jury of his fellowmen declare in 81
soIeminty that he should yield bis
life as q penalty for his deed yet ne
lives, perhaps is set free. Again,
another is equally guilty, but a jury
through bribery, acquit him, and he
is turned loose with license to
murder Issued by twelve of his fell
low creatures. Finding the law
unavailing and experimenting the
great dangers that arise from such
conditions, men band together for
mutual protection, and the assas
sins are lynched. The lynchers are
known they are arrested, tried, and
the charge substantiated; could any
honest, law abiding citizen return
verdict of murder against the per-
sons charged? No, his whole moral
nature would resent such a verdict.
He could not escape the conviction
that the lynching had been merited,
that his own life was imperiled by the
escape OF the assassins. He would
be obliged to return a verdict of not
guilty even az against the proofs
and as opposed to law, because JUS
tee and the best interests OF man.
kind demanded it.
We are not favoring fy nching; we
merely wish to show that the people
are not to blame, and that lynching
is sometimes just. That the law
does not perform its proper func.
tons Is an evil we believe equally
divided between juries and courts.
IF few corrupt juries were lynched
and few caviling judges nailed up
on either side, the wholesome effect
upon that class of humanity whose
Wees and failingsymske juries and
judges necessity would be simply |
miraculous. Juries are bribed to |
violate their oaths; courts are given |
to deciding on technical!t'es rather
than on the merits. It is a
truth taught by history that
when the mere form prevails
and the soul and spirit have de-
parted from the religion and the
laws of country, that country is
on the eve of decay. If the form still
remains supreme, the revolutions
are the outgrowtb, and lynching is
but one form, as revolution is a
popular and forcible movement
against existing forms.
The murderer Hopt here has had
the benefit of every reasonable doubt;
twice he has been convicted and
sentenced to death; twice the SUI
preme Court of the United States
has overruled the action of lower
courts and awarded him another
trial, which is absolutely certain to
result as the former ones did. There
Is neither moral noE q legal doubt
as to his guilt, and yet the highest
tribunal OF the land protects him
from the operation OF that law
which men have held and still do
hold demands a life for a
life. Is not this trifing with
Justice on a mere technically? Is
net such course. calculated to bring
the value of laws into disrepute !?
Is it not departure from the spirit,
the soul of law, and an adherence to
the bare, the naked form, which
threatens either an early decay or
Igood ground for revolution In puSlic
sentiment, which, becoming pro-
nounced and determined, manifest
themselves in lynch law and In forci'
BILE opposition to existing conditions
If il is desired to stay the impending
difficulty, TO allay a well-founded
indignation, let it be done by . lean
ling toward justice and the true pro-
lection of life, rather than by
|, strict observance of forms and the
protection Of thieves and murderers
,lLst the law be supreme; but lei
, txh.& .unroroanv nanifeat itself AZ