Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1898-07-30
EDITOR oL1FfoRD's PROPOSITION

Our esteemed contemporary, the
Martinsburg, w. VA, PIONEER Press
IN it's issue OF July %, says:
"John Mitchell, Jr., editor OF the
Richmond PLANET, a paper every race
loving Negro should read, has made
and is making constant warfare on
| lynch-law. To condemn the second
crime and not with equal force con-
denim the first one, will not carry with
it the force it would otherwise do.
In the face of law that will punish,
the second crime is always blacker
and more heinous than the alleged
one. Whether or not the Negroes be
guilty OF all the crimes charged to
them, il is well known that they have
been guilty of some of them.
Now Brother Mitchell, why don't you
center your opposition to the crime
against the criminals and ad wise cas-
tration as an absolute remedy Y'
The answer to the first proposition
is easy. We condemn the crime for
which the officers of the. law are unwill-
ing to mete punishment.
To speak plainly,-rape is a felony
punishable with death in this state.
Lynching is felony punishable with
death in this state. AS rule all col
ored persons charged or suspected of
rape are han ed and all white persons
charged or suspected of lynching are
set free.
Then what is the need of condemn
ing the crime of rape as strenuously as
you do the crime of lynching
In the one case public sentiment is
so much aroused that both guilty and
innocent are punished.
In the other case. public sentiment is
so dormant that even the guilty are
not punished.
Law abiding citizens land we in
clude ourselves in the number) con-
denim all forms of lawlessness. but they
have established the machinery of the
law for it's punishment.
We have never defended a rapist
who had been legally convicted upon
reliable testimony and concerning
whose guilt there was no question.
In this country, all colored men
charged with rape are hanged. All
white men charged with rape are sci
free. The exceptions to the above
rules are rare.
What becomes of that basic princi.
pie of equality guaranteed in the Four.
teenth Amendment to the Constitu
tion of the United States
We would remind our contemporary
that crime began with CAIN and it haI
been continued until the present time
1t may be checked, but never elimi
mated until the millennium comes.
The law is intended to punish tn,
criminals. When it operates upon tn,
. rapist and the lyncher with an impair
tial certainty, we shall be as silent q
the grave and leave to blinded j ustic
q the regulation of the affairs in the are
, ma of crime.
q Castration as a remedy would not b
q any more effective than would hang
ing, because . double purpose is &C
a complished by the latter. Not only ar
the parts referred to rendered useless
but the life of the criminal blotted out
It should not be forgotten that owe
"a against the practice of castration upo
q the victim stands the stern decree c
q Article VIII of the Constitution of th
United States which says "No
q cruel and unusual punishments infiict
ed"
The humane way of dealing wit
4 criminals is always the best, remen
n bering at all times that it is not til
severity of the punishment that checl
re- crime, but the certainty of it. Trul
a says the Lord: Vengeance is min
10 and I will repay"
! "Lynch-law must go