The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-07
THE sHERIFFs
And How They Can Suppress the

Kansas C1fy Journal.
 While during the past few months there had been an epidemic of negro lynchtng h she South there also has been osab rn epa, 2, exhibition in Eliferenf parts of the south of a detsrrnination on the part of public the fury Of the mohs. A dispatch from sardis Miss. the other day rccounted that Sherfff Mitchell had procured company of militia srn with which aS tS gTGh,sSGf hsG about the county jail and the message closed with the siFnichent statement that that this is. the first time in the history q negro from would-bc iynchers. And the rather surprising information was added that the Governor of the state had fus ana f ts s' Sas Sny S sSs ss
 This weeks issue of The Literary pi-
 gest has clustered together no less than
 which were frustrated by local authori-
 ties. The fact that these incidents oc-
 cured Tn North Carolina South Carolina
 and Texas ' shows that sh the feeIinx in the
 South against the iynchins practice is c1
 wide diffusion. And 1t Is made to bear
 an important character from the Tact
 that the Governors of at least. i've Of
 these States have declared their tnten-
 tfon to use the utmost Of their power ID
 put stop to the fearful practice. Fur
 the recent action of the Alabama consti-
 tutional Convention, which adopted res
 olution swing the Governor power 70 re, ,
 his prisoners to be lynchcd
 On Thursday of last week In Ashythe.
 Ala, says The Digest, a mob tried 70 lynch negro who had just been sen. and fairest trials ever witnessed, and after the father of the negroB victim had made Q strong appeal to the mop 70 allow the law to take It's course. hI sHerin cd the court house against the mebs ana after considerable Airing on both aides the mob retired with the loss cf two oI in town since last Monday. trying. to stir up trouble" One of the hrothefs was killed and the other desperately wounded
 4 Of the sns sa snsr sn by mob of fifty men bent on lynching a negro prisoner, secured snot- gun by a ruse and drove the entire mob mob of 300 men men tried to take negro from the jail at Charlotte, N. C., but on a show of determination to protect thIns 1ns esto st fen when Sherif Fry, almost single handed dis- persed R mob that had come to lynch Mexican prisoner. II value my henor as self" he declared. as he faced the mob with revolver in hand. and nerve sel- dom fails to conquer a mob'f was the la oeRs' At Sf shs q gSsr Dukes gave another illustration of the same spirit. When the Governor of the ssts s ssss sssgns ss hst tbs .sgss s %E dn
 think the prisoner ought to be removed to . safer place, the Sheriff replied .thae he had the prisoner in jail; that the jail prisoners: that if extreme measures were necessary he would pdomptly resort to them, and If some people get hurt # courageous talk came to the ears of the woufd-be }ynchers they slunk away.
 In Georgia, at about the PaEms time. Sheriff Joseph Merrill faced lynching success, and in Lebanon. Ky, Officer Brent opened fire on a lynching mob that was battering in the jail doors, and the mob took tc their neeis t Defore ,ns any one isviile paper paper to remark. that 1t be- lieves a single courageous onicer can cool the ardor of alnest any mob II ne VIII only let 1t be known that The intends 10 shoot, and shoot to kill"
 It Is 6 cheerful duty to note the growth of an auti-lynchins sentiment throughout such a sentiment everywhere, North as well as South. There was time whom with superior virtue the North and West were able to pass nltter & Sritc,ss acartac.d %pGn the South. But with the memory of the Colorado and Leavenworth atrocities still fresh In mind, together with the mob savagery just displayed in Missouri, it Is difficult to see where one section tB less lawless or ferocious than the other, and | the stone-casting period has certainly | gone by. And neither does 1t avail much | to preach at the mobs or tie character of | men who compose them. What Is needed | Is a development of enough public senti- 1 ment against mob lynchers to plant in | every officers bosom that feeling of of | liciai honor which led the Texas Sheriff | tow face death rather than deliver over . prisoner. If once 1t becomes the rule | for Sheriffs and other ja.. onlciais to make a fight in protection of the charges | placed in their care, there will be few | mobs to vex the public quiet