The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-11-26

| soAono, 0Au WIG torQlCt WOulu % rlulCu-
!ous enough for D comic opera trial, but
Tor the fact that out of such misplaced
leniency will grow future lswlessness
and contempt OF the authorities.
The result Of the trial is q distinct
disappointment to law-abiding citizens
| everywhere in the State. To palliate
| or whitewash contempt of the authori-
ties in Roanoke is to encourage the
same contempt elsewhere. The verdict
practically licenses lswbreaking and
the trial as Is palpable miscarriage OF
| justice as could have been imagined out
| side the opera bouffe or farce comedy.
The accused were actually convicted
out OF their own mouths.
From the Richmond State.
The jury in the Roanoke riot cases
yesterday returned verdict in which
James e. Richardson WAS given thirty
days in Jail and fined S1OO. 8. w. Fuqua
and d. d. Kennedy were given one day
in Jail and Abe Perry was acquitted.
The jury stood ten to two for giving
the accused the full penalty of the law,
twelve months in jail and 800 fine. 1t
Is said the verdict Is generally con.
demned because of it's leniency.
Here we note the Inconsistency OF sud
den uprisings like that in Roanoke.
The thousand people VINO stood and
witnessed the lynching were to blame
as we'll as the ring leaders and yet the
sentiment OF the community is now dead
against the very act it at one time al
most upheld. But the verdict Is a good
one.
From the Staunton News.
Roanoke has tried three men for
participating In the late riot. One was
acquitted and two we're convicted. OF
the two convicted, one was sentenced to
one day in Jail, and the other to thirty
days in Jail and to pay fine of SlOO.
On the natural supposition that the
strongest cases were tried first, one
might be inclined to think that this is
miscarriage of justice, but on reflec-
ton it will not so appear. At one time
the city of Roanoke was virtually in
| possession Of the mob, and if there was
any very we'll defined opposition,
| appearances failed to indicate it. A
| conviction therefore means complete
revulsion OF opinion from sympathy
with the mob to strong disapproval, and
| the convictions, although the punish
ment be light are vindication of the
law, for which we congratulate our
sister city.
| From the Philadelphia Public Ledger
| When one man is fined but 500 and
two others only 81 each, together with a
| single days imprisonment, for parti-
| cipating in the riots at Roanoke, Va, on
| Septem Der 20, the outlook for the pre-
servation of law and order for the future
of that city is not very reassuring. Such
| punishments are nothing more than a
| travesty of Justice, and an encourage
| ment for the lawless to take upon them
selves the functions Of Judge Lynch on
the slightest provocation. The riot. of
which the trials were an outcome, was
one of the most disgraceful of the many
brutal and bloody outbursts on the part
of riotous people that have been stain
ing the pages of different States his
tories in the last few years. In i'm
posing nominal punishment on three OF
the participants q splendid opportunity
has been lost of teaching those similarly
dispos I'D that the laws cannot thus be
outraged with impunity.
From the Philadelphia Telegraph.
The result of the trial of the Roanoke
rioters is practically miscarriage O.
justice. The indicted men have beer
found guilty, and indeed they seem tc
have been at very little trouble to seek
for any other verdict; but being guilty
they are not to be punished. nomi,
nal fine and nominal imprisonment is
the penalty they receive, and naturally
enough they accept their punishment
with hilariJy as a triumph to rejoice
over. They pay dollar each and pass
one day engaged in a frolicking picnic
within the walls of the county Jail The
trial establishes the fact that the Law
has been dehed and openly violated
and it further establishes the fact this
can be done IN Roanoke, Va under Ger.
tain circumstances, without fear of the
conseq uences. The law is recognized
only to be set at naught. Its mandates
are form ally pronounced and then openly
nulliied, there being no power in the
community to punish disobedience. The
direct effect of the Roanoke trial can be
! to encourage riot and to break down
respect for law.
From the Charlotte, N, c., Observer
None OF the Roanoke, Va, lynchers
have been hung, as they deserve to be
| but several of them have had dose
which, though very small, will prob
! ably cause them to think twice before
they again go on lynching expedition
One gets fine of 500 and thirty days
In Jail, another gets day in jail and a