The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-11
WHY WE HAVELYNCHING
CAUSES THAT LEAD TO PEOPLE TAX
ING LAW IN THEIR HANDS.
The Aggregate of Society Fails to
Keep Faith with the Unit, and the
Latter Makes His own Law.

other day, it may help things along a little
| towards some thing better to seriously ask,
and, if possible determine, where belongs
| chiefly the blame for that sort of thing.
| For Ripley county is by no means singular
in its infamy, nor was their crime, which
we so loudly condemn, beyond example
| atrocious Our country people are patient
enough, as a rule, and order loving, and
not at all as stupid as those who live in
| cities--and mugwumps and others-are fond
of assuming them to be. Then, when they
| take matters in hand and put drastic
measure through to conclusion, it must
be that in their judgment, who are on the
ground and know what conditions exist and
are sufferers from them, the provocations
| justify the action. That the Ripley county
lynching was a horrible outrage every
right-minded man must feel and say, as
suredly. But the wrong was not all on the
part of the mob. When society cannot, or
will not, keep its part of its compact with
the individual, the state its agreement
with a unit of the state, how long, in fair
ness, it be required of the individual
that he observe his, of the unit that it
suffer and be patient? And that is the
basis of all law and order, the agreement
OF the aggregate OF men with each single
man that if he will surrender his natural
right to protect and avenge himself, they,
aiding in a concerted and orderly manner,
Will see to it that he does not suffer. So
with the communities that combine to
make the state and the nation, the aggre-
gate of the organizations agrees with the
several units that all shall equally enjoy
justice and security and peace But the
state did not keep it's compact with the
Ripley county unit in behalf of order, as
row it is bent upon doing for it's punish
ment. Neither did it so in and around Sey-
mour years ago, nor in California, in the
early days, nor in numberless other cases
that might be cited, until its inaction has
become almost as dereliction, and Judge
Lynch the peoples favorite For in all
cases where he is put upon the bench it is
done in the interest of the law-abiding ele-
ment 1t is safe to say, except perhaps, in
the South, where negrophobla knows no
reason.
Anyway, it was so at Versailles. The
regularly constituted officers and machinery
OF the law could do nothing Tor the reiief
OF the rut1ian-ridden community nothing 20
give to any man d feeling OF security in his
person or family or property. Or we are
told, and cannot doubt it, truly. 1t was
not for their last crime that those men were
hanged, though the incidents of that mark
well their desperate character. A success
sion of OutrageS that covered almost the
lifetime of a generation and sent every man
to bed wondering if his turn was to come
that night had planted the minds of the
people with a sentiment made up of fear, re-
sentiment and desperation that waited only
an opportunity to make itself felt And the
| people are, after all is said, the final judge
| from whose judgment there is no appeal
all the people, certainly, who have agreed to
| be as one and not this section alone or that
| But this Ripley county section had suffered
! long and no help seemed to be in the other
| sections for ii. Then the other night, the
people themselves, through a self-consti-
| tuted agent of whose action they approve,
| applied a remedy; and as war is by all men
| held justified as the final arbiter when
| other remedy is none, so is the action of
| that mob justihable it being essentially an
| act of war in behalf of those who were
| otherwise helpless.
When all the circumstances are consid-
! cred. any other judgment than this as APP
! plicable to the good citizens of Ripley coun-
| ty must be as born OF Journalism upon
| precedent and as quite unrelated to right
| reason. Nevertheless the killing of those
men was horrible piece of savagery, for
| which heavy blame is somewhere. And that
| is the question--where does it lie?
| 1t is not much conundrum. Most people
would, offhand, answer 1T correctly. But 1t
would be quite as the Sunday-school missy
answers the catechism question, What IS
! the first''-or is it chief?-"end of MANI?
with a glib complacency and FEELING that
| having given the right answer, their whole
| duty was done and no blame could ever
attach to them-that is to say, everybody
/ knows all about it, but the knowledge IS SO
| commonplace that nobody pays any atten-
| ton to it, while the evil which is the sub
| ject of that knowledge is so patent, obvious
! and universal that it is but rarely Thought
| of as durable, but is accepted and endured
as a necessary incident or clVihzed exist
| ence.
It is the lawyer and his law, the judge and
| his court and the officers and executives OIL
| the law, from the .juryman and deputy up
| to the Governor and President, who are d.
rectly responsible for most or the crimes
| and all the exhibitions of mob fury that
make the news page of our daily paper
| daily horror Not the laxity of the execu-
| ton Of the law only, but the law itself III
| great part-the law of procedure, DOUBTLESS
more than the law of penalties and punish
ments-which, framed mainly by lawyers
with the direct purpose, 1t would seem, 10
foster litigation to their benefit and then
confused and complicated and hampered by
traditions and rulings and precedehtS Nnake
Of say, a murder trial, II there De put
money enough behind the criminal TO make
! If worth the while of eminent attorney,
| the most extensively grotesque NIX OF
| ira gedv and bowling farce known to Chris
''' But though these are more directly guilty.
the people" are not in posluon 10 throW
stones. For they are the source source OF ,,,s az
| finally be held responsible. The lawyers.
| the Judges the executives, are but their
! agents and should not be expected to be
| hetter than their creators. But the agents
abuse their trust. The aggregate must COM
NIT their affairs which are common TO al
TO the management of representatives, anu
these representatives quite as RUE pc
come at once possessed by the ldea that
the selection of them by the people " LOOK
after their common interests raises them
| to a somewhat higher plane OF existence
and justifies their use OF the delegated
mower of the many to their personal ag-
prandizement Therein lies the guilt Of the
| LAWYERS the judges and the executives, in
| that they readily act upon the presump-
tjon that they are bigger than their crea-
| tors and hence, because the discovery by
the people of the presence in them of demi-
godic qualities given an opportunity to
aggrandize themselves at the cost of the
many. ,,, .
that they know more in general than their
principals know, and in particular know
more Of the evil practices that disgrace
them and their profession. They should
bv virtue of the power that knowledge
gives be able to rise above the traditions
fy those practices, and have regard only
for absolute right and eternal justice
They are daily so situated that they can
at least try to do this But they do not
try to further justice and right, though
1T be to the confusion Of justice. and to
be plain, even to themselves, that these
agents OF the people are the more directly
and fiagrantly guilty Of the augmenting
mass of infernalisms that almost make one
despair of the race.
Recent events in our local history furnish
ample proof that this view is substantially
correct OF these. very notable case,
which is still pending, may serve most adj
mirably to exhibit the total disregard by
lawyers of the principles of justice in the
railroad Company of this city is engaged
at this time in the courts in defending it,
self, through it's officers and attorneys,
against an effort making by the people of
the city through their officers and attor-
neys, TO defeat it's purpose 20 compel them
tn convert into Tinted States money for ire