Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-06-06
THE URBANA LESSON.

Urbana. o.. is in disgrace with the
northern press. 1t has been unsparingiy
| denounced by them because Of the lynch
ing OF "Cllcle" Mitchell. The comments
| OF most Of the editors could hardly be
more savages II they were censures OF
| lynchlng In the South.
| Several Of the northern papers have
| even gone so far as TO praise the people
! OF Fairfax county, Va. at the expense
OF those Of Urbana. They point out. as
the Dispatch did yesterday. that while
the Urbana mob was hanging Mitchell the
citizens Of Fairfax were quite content
that their Sheriff should execute the ex-
IRENE sentence of the law upon Lewis.
The comparison Of the two cases is good
as Ear as the cases run In parallel lines.
but we rise TO remark In behalf Of the
poor, abused, unfriended citizens of Ur-
bana that perhaps they would have be-
haved as orderly as the Fairfaxians did
had the penalty for the crime in question
been the same In Ohio as it Is in Virginia.
In Ohio it Is thought that twenty years
Imprisonment is sufficient punishment.
Not so here. We think the crime merits
death-speedy death. The Urbana case
was one Of peculiar atrocity, and If ever
rascal deserved TO pay the penalty OF
his crime with his life, Click Mitchell
was that man. And So too, the people
of Urbana thought. They regarded the
sentence Of the law imposed upon him as
ridiculously inadequate, and hence pro-
ceeded TO execute unofficial justice upon
him.
Most Of the northern editors are in the
position of those who laugh at scars.
themselves never having felt a wound.
The crime for which Click" Mitchell was
punished is rare in the Northern States
If our northern friends had TO deal with
ii as often as we of the South have, they
would be of one mind with us as to how
the offenders should be treated. Every
rascal proved guilty OF the usual crime"
should be promptly hanged. They ought
TO be given very little time to live after
their guilt has been established.
OF late the Virginia law has been so
amended as to secure very speedy trials,
and this has done much TO lessen lynch
ings. Nearly everywhere in this State
now he who assaults woman Will have
an immediate trial. and seldom does the
jury fail to do it's duty.
OF course, there remains the old hor-
ror of subjecting the injured woman to a
cruel cross-examination in court, but this
is mtigated to a large extent by the pub
lie knowledge that it is extraordinarily
hard nowadays to find a lawyer who
will offend against propriety in such a
case. The probabilities, therefore, are
that we shall not have lynchings in
Virginia as frequently hereafter as here
tofore. Indeed. in time, they may die
out entirely. But never will our peo-
pie consent to the opinion that any
penalty less than that of death will fit
the case of the negro who makes a
dastardly assault upon a white woman.
Another question raised BY the Ur-
bana incident is whether the military
did right or wrong in firing upon the
crowd. In a published interview, Gov
ernor Bushnell, of Ohio, expresses re-
gret that the soldiers did not fire a round
Of blank cartridges into the crowd, or
else attack 1t with their bayonets.
Doubtless. all the officers and soldiers
now deeply regret that they fired as
they did. In all such cases-and we can
recall at least three-the military have
grieved much that they used powder
and ball upon their fellow-citizens.
But il seems TO us that only those
who are in command and who give or
ders to fire can be rightly held blama-
ble 1t is the duty of soldiers TO obey
their superiors. 1t is not theirs TO ask
the reason why. If any Of them fired
without orders. each of them y indi-
vidualy responsible
If after consulting with the Sheriff the
commander gave orders to fire the re-
sponsbility rests upon him. But in all
such cases bullets should only be used
in the las. dread extremity. The life
of any one Of the citizens killed by that
volley of Inusketry at Urbana was we
doubt not, worth that of a hundred such
fends as "Clicll" Mitchell.