The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-05-23
FIGHTING JUDGE LYNCH.

The efforts OF the governor OF South
Carolina to forever remove the jurisdic-
tion Of Judge Lynch are attracting wide
attention and favorable comment. The
question had reached a most serious
stage when he announced a determine
ton to use all the powers Of his Office to
prevent further outrages against the
law, and it is gratifying to know at this
time that q reactionary sentiment
among the best people of the state en-
dorses his policy. The opposition comes
from the lower class Of whites and rene
gade negroes, who have taken advantage
of a sentiment demanding quick justice
under certain conditions, and under this
guise have carried out crimes as terrible
as those nscribed to the accused. The
leading negroes Of the state have now
organized to guard members Of their
race from outrages at the hands Of
whites, and at a recent convention de-
cided to plant branches Of a protective
association in every town. The plat
form is we'll set forth in this resolution:
I'VE submit that irreparable injury Ia
don't tho state by suoh crimes as the heart
loss and upiustifable lynchinRs. which are
Of almost daily occurrence. In driving away
capital n unsettilnR labor. "a we'll as the
%bliRhtinQ moral effect for creating race
rrejnaiocs. of creating dis respect of law. of
d~chumanl2inR the population. and. in short,
OF feeding all tho turbulent passions and
preiudicee. and forming q volcanic bed
under the very structure of society. which.
unless ~sresdily stopped. will ere long burOt
forth in such a terrific eruption a. TO carry
al! that We prize in character, property,
virtue and life IN its comm on ruins"
To say nothing about the causes OF
these lynchings which never check crime
as conditions exist in the south, it is
strange that the people OF that country
naye never considered the effect upon
their prosperity. A community where
laws are detied is the last place to at
tract o prospective settler, and when
this is openly approved by a large public
sentiment, it is difficult to understand
how any desirable immigration can be
hoped for. The southern states with all
their have been held back in
the march of progress. OF these,
Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia
have been developed for the very reason
that they have more law-abiding citizens
and consequently fewer lynchings.
1t is high time for state authorities to
appreciate the fact that laws were made
to be obeyed, and that If this require
menti is not respected in enc sense, en-
couragement is offered for other viola.
tions. Officers who wink at the crime
Of dragging a man from Jail at night and
hanging him to a tree, can hardly be ex-
pected to enforce the laws if any amount
Of public sentiment DEGREES to the con.
trary. This, however, is the state OF
affairs In that region, and 30 long as i,
exists there must be an absence Of in.
v~estors who, first of all, seek security 70,
property Us we'll as life. If the latte,
cannot be had there is no assurance O!
the former. When the people of the
south insist on this change, they vii.
cease to wonder why immigration seeks
the channels of the west and northwest
Let South Carolina carry on the work rs
her governor has started it and she
will be first Of all to receive such benefits
as accrue to a community where justice
is alone determined by the old estab.
lished methods of Judge and jury.