The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-05-13
Tho Law and the Lynching.

|
rho Law and the Lynching.
Mr.. George Ticknor Curtis had a
letter in the Sun yesterday, in which
he criticized the recent presentment of
the New Orleans Grand Jury touch
ing the Malta lynching incident. The
rist of his remarks is in the following
sentences:
How did it happen that the City Of New
Orl~aus had a Trial Jury capable of being
hribed. or capable of being intimidated by a
secret society," IL does not seem to have
occurred to the Grand Jury Of New Orleans
or TO any of the presses OF that city which
Justify sa Their s eos sss That EVERY Y f Iss iagieisyI
tribunals. II there Is q corrupt Judge
or o corrupt jary. the responsibility
for such a state Of things Is with those who
placed the one on the bench and the other In
the Jury box. It Is a very strange doctrine to
proclaim that under such circumstances it IS
excusabls for the community, whether repre-
scented by a large or small number of persons,
70 put men TO death because they were
acquitted By q jury which tried them for an
offence with which they were charged and did
not convict them.
All the first part OF this is true; but
is it 10 utterly idleg New Orleans
is not the first place nor will it be the
last where the tribunals of justice be-
come tainted. As long as human ma
ture is human nature, men may be
tempted with money, and justice may
be perverted by bribery. In this case
the element of fear operated on the
jurymen, too. Men will always be
found who will not do their duty if to
do it involves danger.
1t does not appear that the New
Orleans courts are as a rule corrupt or
weak. The law seems to be admins
tered there with at least average
strictness and impartiality. The Ease
of the Malta conspiracy appears to be
altogether a special one. This ne
farious combination has through a
long course OF years corrupted the
fountain head Of justice by threats
and by bribery. 1t has separated
itself from the rest OF the community
and made itself a special case, so that
when the need of reform became in
stantly pressing the reform needed
was not a general one, but a special
particular publication of the moral
atmosphere of the city in reference to
this one hideous element of offence.
The question remains as to the form
the process Of publication should
take. The citizens had lost conf
dence in all the ordinary methods.
The Malta itself had taught the peo-
pie to regard the courts, the process
of the law as impotent. The judges
the juries were honest enough; their
bias if they had any was against the
Malta; but it was practically impos-
sible between terrorism and bribery TO
get twelve men who would agree that
a member OF the conspiracy was
guilty of any crime.
The desperate character of the stu
4 alton had evidently impressed itself
on the people of the city with a fxity
which we can hardly realize. Some
thing had to be done to redeem the
place from the grasp of the murder
society, and yet nothing seemed effec-
tive short of an appeal to violence.
This was the conviction OF all the
people of the city, and we are bound
to believe that they were right.
In our judgment, under such cir
cumstances, the appeal to violence
was right. 1t was revolutionary; but
it would be absurd, in this age to dis
pute the proposition that revolution
is the ultimate right of the people
when they can secure redress no other
way. In this country the Govern
ment does not rule, the people rule.
The Government is only the agent of
the people. Surely, then, there may
be times when the people may set
aside the machinery they have them
selves created, and may directly exer-
else the fundamental power of SOW
ereignty-the punishment of crime
for the protectionsof the community
at large. This is a right, not lightly
to be exercised, nor to be abused at
all by cliques or factions or minori-
ties, or even ordinary majorities.
But in the case of the New Orleans
Iynching there seems TO have been a
unanimity which iustifes the act. 1t
is a matter Of absolute certainty that
if the people of that city were polled,
not one per cent. of them would vote
in condemnation Of the act. The best,
the most enlightened citizens prompt
ed it the authorities admitted its
substantial propriety; the press n
dorsed 1t, all the people approved it,
In presence Of such a state Of things
the criticism of Mr.. Curtis or any
other finieking or hair-spliting lawyer
is futile, weak and Improbable.
OUT of its great experience of Re-
publican politicians the State Gazette
unookafh &Lro