The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-05-16
A Years Record.

The Chicago Tribune has been keep
ing record of lynchings and finds
that two hundred persons suffered
death by such violence in 1893. Two
hundred persons put to death by the
mob" in one year in our highly civil
lied country is large exhibit and a
bad one for US. Probably so many
persons have not been lynched in
Europe in two hundred years. Proba-
bly, not so many in idol-worshipping
China, with its population counted by
the hundreds of millions more than
ours. Probably not so many in the
revolutionary and unplogressive "coun-
tries to the south of us" which we
are so fond Of patronizing. Probably
not so many were lynched in Africa
in the same year-that is, put to death
by the crowd without the formality OF
trial and condemnation after the re-
ouirements of the local codes of that
country. It is probable, in short, if
not certain, that our most Christian
and cultivated Republic beat the
world last year in the matter Of execu-
tions of criminals and supposed crimi.
mails by persons acting in the name of
Justice and without warrant of law.
Two hundred lynched persons, men
and women, killed by their peighbors
for real or fancied offences, if brought
together and exhibited in group,
would make a CHASTITY "mob'' Of them
selves. Few Of the appalling disas-
ters' incident to our civilization, such
as railroad wrecks, and burning hotels
and theaters, and tornado visitations,
and coal mine explosions, etc., num-
Der so many victims in the course of a
year. Yet the public reads the dead
rolls Of these disasters with shuddders
and cries of pity and protest that such
things can be, and our lawmakers are
moved to pass laws to prevent their
recurrence, while we pass over the
count of the victims of the mob with
out comment and without much con-
cern. The Chicago papers statistics
have scarcely attracted passing atten.
tion. We have come, in the course of
the development of our much-vaunted
civilization, to regard lynching. as
feature of ito be regretted, perhaps,
but to be endured without excitement
and without undue exertion to insti-
tute reformatory conditions.
The Tribune is doing good bust
ness, therefore; in simply gathering
the statistics Of the evil, bringing
them together and printing them in a
body for the public information. A
lynching here and lynching there
every day or so makes but little i'm
preston on the public mind. The
record is not so bad when we take it in
broken doses. 1t appears in its true
light when we count two hundred
lynchings during the year 1893, and
are reminded that this number is only
less than was reported for 1892. The
light grows stronger yet when we are
further reminded that about two thous-
and men and women are known to
have been put to death by mobs in
this country during the past twelve
years. Itwas an appalling calamity
when the sea destroyed so many lives
on our coast last fall. 1t is great
evil that the mob has destroyed two
or three times as many during the
past dozen years, and that no steps
have been taken, or are being taken,
to stop the steady growth of the record
year by year, week by weck-almost
day by day.
There appears to be little or nothing
gained for the cause Of law and order
and higher civilization by newspaper
sermons delivered against the evil. 1t
has grown in spite of all the protests
that have been spoken or written
against it. The effective remedy has
not been found, evidently: The mob
spirit is stronger, if anything, than it
was score of years ago, or a dozen
years ago. The practice Of lynching
is spreading over a larger area Of the
country, is extending to States and
communities hitherto nearly strangers
to it, and is finding those to justify it