The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-09-12

put to death without trial, not because
the court is not trusted, not be-
cause of delay that could be or ought
to be avoied by the courts. not because
the law is unworthy, but because the
prisoner is unworthy of the law.
To the first ground set forth, ! do
not agree The more grave the ofrense
the more important the trial to the
State and the accused, and the more
sacred the right of trial. The great
purpose of trial is being lost sight Of
namely, the ascertainment of the truth,
whether the defendant is guilty or in
nOcent. Some write and speak as if the
innocent only should be tried, and the
guilty punished without trial. But who
is to distinguish the guilty from the in :.
nocent-the law or the mob? 1
L feel the force of the second ground
as fully at least as any of those who
have promoted or participated ia the
murder Of an ironed and helpless prisL-
oner; but l do not believe it is sufft
cient to Justify the awful results that
are now disgracing our civilization. For
yirtuOus and modest woman to have to
pass through such an ordeal would GER
tainly be great hardship to her and
y
it is all over, and justice is done. a
pure and noble woman will thank her
God-and her country, too-that the real
criminal has been singled out, condemn
ed, and executed in the only way known
to the law of God and man, and that
the blood of no victim of violence, either
guilty or innocent, crieth from the
ground against her relatives and friends.
While in the wonderful spectacle of
criminal ignorance and demagogism we
see in many of our newspapers, as well
as in the almost drivelng idiocy that we
hear on our streets, there is a general
implication that all lynching is attrfbu-
table to the imperfections of the law, the
uncertainties and delays of courts and
lawyers, not one, so far as l know, has
ever been fool or falsifier enough to
specifically attribute lynchings in rape
cases to these causes
In Georgia, and in the South. rape of
the kind | have already designated has
been handspring of lynch law. Judge
Lynch is now only extending his juris-
dlctlOn to other cases not originally con-
templated. and for his new Outra yes be
and his eXecutioncrs and allies are gfr-
ing new excuses.
While some good men. in a mixed
feeling of Indignation at tbs, accused
and sympathy for his victim. sometimes
say things that are promotive of mob
violence, they intend no such result The
mob that does the bloody work has for
its inspiration and leadership those who
are inherently Wanton and wicked, and
they are followed and rc-enforced by
others who are morally and mentally
weak. Many IA shallow-pated fellow
joins in because he feels that il is bravo
and manly, when it is only cowardly anS
brutal I4ynchers do not seek to yind,-
cate the law because they love it. bur
they violate it because they do not love
or respect it.
The spirit of the law departs not from.
its courts to seek the mob as an agent
to do its bidding. The spirit of the Law
seeks to protect the accused in his rights
as well as to punish him for his wrongs.
and even after his conviction guards
him against all other punishment except
that which has already been provided
TO be administered by its own hands.
The spirit of the law Is protection to Sc
ciety, its members and interests. AND
nothing mOre-not retaliation nor re-
venge. not retribution nor vengeance;
vengeance belongs to God alone"
The spirit of the mob is blo0dthirsty
retaliation. diabolical revenge: not the
prevention of crime. but the commission
of crime, of murder in its most brutal
and cowardly form; and when in the
pursuit of its victim it is ever ready,
except when deferred by fear, 10 muir
der as we'll the officers of the law and
, such others as may obStruct its pur-
poses. This spirit is not to be appeased
by compliance with its demands. The
more subservience and submission to it
the more fierce and exacting it win be.
1t is not to be circumvented by pre-
lenses of substantial amendment in the
law when there is only change from
tweedledum to tweedledec; nor would
any alterations in our fundamental law
be satisfactory as long as constituted
authorities and established methods Of
trial exist.
The decree has gone forth. and it is
! beng enforced somewhere every day,
! that in certain cases there shall be no
trial at law for the accused or fOr"Ghose
| that murder him, and that in other
eases the courts must do the bidding OF
| the mob, or step aside and allow the
mob to act for itself This spirit must
| be crushed by the law, and to this enc
the law needs the support of all good
| citizens.
In concluding this article / but re-
peat, the trouble is not in the law, but
! in lawlessness.
DUPONT GUBRRY.