The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1900-01-26

enterprises in the State, it Is to be concluded
that Mississippi has today the most hopeful in
dustrlal outlook in her history She has been
In the past the great Southern pioneer of polit-
lcal and social reforms. and now let her be
among the first of the States in the South to test
ana prove the wisdom of this industrial educa-
tional scheme.
Liberality to Capital Seeking Investment.
IL Is perhaps meet to say here, that now when
the tidal wave OF new industrial development
seems to have struck the State and capital is
hunting investment here. a liberal and just leg
isiatiVe policy should be pursued toward all
KINDS Of corporations and corporate interests.
III should be remembered that no country ever
became truly prosperous or great where a be-
coming regard was not shown for the equal
rights of both labor and capital by the laws, the
courts, and the people. Experience has shown
II TO De wise policy to extend liberal franchises
and privileges to such corporate enterprises as
ofer mutual benefits to labor and the public
generally. as we'll as to the money they employ.
l confidently hope, therefore, that no mere SEN
tlInental or prejudicial opposition to railroads
or other corporate enterprises will find favor
with the legislature, so that capital hunting in
Vestment will find no just cause to pass Missis-
sippi and go to other States Offering wiser
legitimate Inducements.
Suppression of Mobs.
But 1t may be well to consider in this cOnnec-
ton that though Mississippi possesses Just such
advantages of climate. soil and undeyelOped
raw material as should prove the greatest
tempter to the Immigrant hunting a home and
the capitalist looking for profitable investment
for his money, that both will be slow to go
where life and property are not sacredly re-
Spected by the people and protected by the
courts and the law. Though 1t is true that the
State is attracting attention because of the I'M
equaled advantages it offers capital by way of
profit in manufacturing yet, mark my prophecy.
the Stltp can never attain that mavnjfppnt de-
gree OF prosperity and grandeur of statehood
that OF right should be hers, so long as public
opinion permits the high-Ianded MODS to treat
the law with contempt, defy the courts and
officers, and murder the people without prose-
cutlon or punishment. 1t must be admitted
that the bloody work OF the mob is not of infre-
quent occurrence i'll the State. Though this is a
painful fact TO admit, and one which for reasons
OF political policy it might be best left unSaid,
yet it is a fact about which, for the public good,
every laW-abiding citizen should be bold to
speak in condemnation. The constitution OF the
State says The governor shall see that the
laws are faithfully executed" But experience
i'll all republics shows that the officers alone,
however faithful in their efforts to uphold the
majesty of the Jaw, must fail of the full meas
ure OF success unless aided and sustained by a
coura geouS public opinion. l hail, then. this
opportunity as suspicious for an appeal to the
legislature and people to stand by the in
coming administration in the enforcement of
the law and the suppression OF MODS. Lynch
ng first found liberation, and then justification,
II the State in a sublime respect for the virtue
and honor OF our white women, and true to the
rule in this as in all other cases where public
opinion either condone5 or approves the disre-
gard of the law, incentive to other acts of law
leSSnesS. and so on ad inffnitum. AS 4 common
sequence, therefore, ~lynching today in the State
IS visited upon the suspect not only of rape. but
of homicide, house burning, and even lesser
y vs.t ;,,- md la,r, ,~s 49, ,hT.
though IN many instances acting without mask
or disguise, has, with but few EXCEPTIONS, gone
his way without punishment or even indict-
ment SO far as the public has been advised. |
apprehend the mob spirit is no greater in Mis-
SlsSippi than in other States where similar race
intolerance exists, and yet, we are forced to ad-
nit. 1t is on the increase here, which fact may
we'll be taken as proof most true that there
exists either Il morbid increase OF lawlessness.
against which mob penalty as a corrective has
utterly tailed, or that there is a growth OF in
tolerance among the white people against the
negro (who is the most usual victim of the
mob. inspiring rash and hasty vengeance for
acts which the law does not regard so highly
penal as to merit punishment by death. The
law in its amplitude provides proper and COM
mensurate punishment for all manner of crime.
1t however imposes the death penalty alone on
those guilty OF murder. arson or rape, and m
der our present judicial system, with honest,
y hho JuAStS OH Vic ellCI VII
States attorneys learned in the law and faithful
in is maintenance, and with jurieS from the
intelligent and taNpaying men i'll each COM
munity, as may be done in every case under the
very wise provisions OF the present jury system,
there remains no justitiable reason why those
who are guilty of crime, great or small, should
not be properly punished by the courts of the
country. | go further, and confidently predict
that such would be done il the people properly
appreciated the sacred importance of maintain
ing the law and the supremacy OF the courts.
The honor of Mississippi and the good name of
her Christian civilization demand this, and the
suppression of mob violence, which, in my
judgment, is the most demoraliZing, brutalizin.
and ruinouS species of lawleSSneSS known to
any brave and free people.
The Remedy.
The fault lies in a defective or inactive public
, sentiment on the subject, and hence the remedy
must come from the people. The law has all
the while been ample and rigorous in it's penalties
Tor crime; the Judges have done their full duty
for the suppression of mobs, while appeals to
public opinion in this behalf have been made by
at least three of the religious denominations of
the State, and likewise by the press as a
rule; but all have failed to bring apparent
beneficial results in that regard. Since,
then, moral persuasion fails to sufficiently
arouse the people to the danger and enormity
OF the evil which is yearly growing. and
resort seems necessary to some stringent
gent legal method 10 arouse and move public
opinion TO more vigorous assertion of its in
tiuence in the premises, | would, therefore,,
recommend to the legislature the wisdom and
expectancy of passing a law giving TO the family
of any one who may be hereafter lynched, a
right to recover in the chancery court. a fixed
sum in damages against the county wherein the
lynching occurred. Let the amount of said
damages be made sufficiently large to engage
public opposition to the payment thereof, and
let the right of recovery be predicated alone upon
the fact that the lynching was done in the county
where the rec overy is sought. 1t is not unusual
that prisoners are taken by mobs from Jail and
from the custody of the officers without resr.-
ance and lynched. common to the further
serious consideration OF the legislature the ex-
pediency OF providing by law that the office OF
sheriff or constable shall become vacant, ipso
facto, whenever any prisoner is taken from the
jail or the lawful custody of such officer or his
deputy and lynched. In my Judgment the time
and occasion are here for some such stringent
measure, and it is to be hoped the legislature
will prove Itself equal thereto.
State Farm.
Mississippi has for 4 number of years en-
ployed her convicts in farming, from which
source she has received annually large net in
comes OF money. By the employment also OF
her own agents to control them and to direct their
labor she has been able to protect her prisoners
from undue severity OF treatment, and in both
instances has proven the wisdom of the farming
system. The State now owns several farms
/ -Ir