Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-06-11
The Crime Of Crimes,

even cold-hloOdcd murder For
pure-minded, delicatcly organized
Caucasian woman to be criminallv as
>aultcd Ivy one of her own race is Ger
tainly bad enough. but when the ray
i>her is hybridous descendant 0
Ham, a curly, ill-sccntpd negro, al
! fostering with animal lust, then tn,
case becomes one Of unSpcakablc dis
gust and horror.
| From time immcmorial and anon.
the most savage races OF the earth thi:
crime has merited the death penalty
and to compensate in some degree fOl
the enormity of the otfensc, the naples.
culprit was subjected to the most ter
rible ordeals by way of torture thai
heather cruelty could invent. Ston
ing, crucifying, tlaying alive and
burning were among the devices EN-.
ploycd to remove the miserable Great
urcs from off the face of the earth. II
Is Il matter, then, of little wonder that
ga short shriit and strong rope
should have become the common YER
diet among civilized and enlightened
nations for q crime for whose blood
curdling instincts human language
has neither symbol nor synonym.
The spirit of revenge, the greed for
gain, the demon of highway robbery
and even religious zeal, may be classed
among the incentives of murder, but
for the nameless crime under consid-
Grafton there is none of these goading
stimuli. On the contrary, however,
the perpetrator of this atrocity is
neither brute nor human, but simply
the horrid incarnation of demonian-
ism.
1t may be safely predicated then,
that so long as their fendish spirit
animates the human form and walks
the streets of our cities and towns; so
long as it boldly enters the sacred
realms OF home and assaults defense
less women, the cherishing wives and
daughters of our land, so long will
lynch-force continue to displace the
so-called thews of justice and reign rs
the supreme law of the people. The
most obvious warrant for this radical
conclusion is found in the utter in
adequatencss of our legal code for the
prosecution of criminal cases and the
uncertainty of speedy and adequate
punishment. The endless exceptions,
appeals and technicalities, concocted
by unprincipled lawyers and passed
upon by weak-backed judges, have rem
dered the most stringent laws inopera-
tive. The people may be long-suffer-
ing, but there are times when they will
rise up in their holy right and assert
their Drawn and muscle in the admin
istration of justice according to their
own unqualified ideas of moral right
eousness, law and order.
Kings may rule with vigor and auto.
Gratis may sway the populace under
monarchial forms of government, but
a free people who make their own
laws constitute, in the long run, the
power behind the throne and the
true sovereignty of the commonwealth.
Conservative people may disclaim
and condemn mob law, the gospel
teacher whom cowboys would call a
tenderfoot, may raise his kid-gloved
hands in genuine holy horror at the
lynching of richly-deserving wretch,
but these things will 60 on and peace
full communities continue to be
shocked by their published details
till there are some radical changes in
the enactment and administration of
our criminal laws.
1t has been for ages the glory of I'M
written law as well as among polished
nations as barbarians that q house
holder could shoot with impunity the
midnight burglar or incendiary. Then
let the ravisher promptly suffer
death at the hands of untrammeled, I'M
fiinching constituted law, and we
shall soon hear of the last lynching of
such monsters. Let the fountains of
the great deep be broken up and the
windows of heaven opened for the out.
pouring of such a flood as vii, he ade.
quate to forever cleanse the .Augean
stables of our legislative halls and
temples of justice. Let the eyes of
Justice be unbandaged that she may
see clearly when her scale-beam is on
an equal poise and that no false
weights have been imposed upon her.
The only way the American citizen
can escape taxation is for him to save
his money and invest it in U. S. bonds.
He can then snap his fingers at the
assessor and pull the nose of the tax
collector. But if he is foolish enough