BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-06-14
sArlJUAN, JUNO "A
Can The Nation
Stop Lynchings :

ACCOMPANIED by frightful torture OF the
VICTIM before he lost, consciousness, has
diseraced the United States before the
civilized Y orld' The latest atroclty oc-
cured in Texas, and, as usual, tue OF,
fender was a negro who. had assaulted
white woman. 1t is the growing ire
ouencv of this resort to savage cruel
ties in putting crirninal-or an alleged
crin1inal-to death which is the most
alarming development Of Lynch. law IN
recent years. Moreover, the tact that
a negro was burned alive by a MOB IN
one of the chief cities of Kansas IN 1901
and another in Colorado town during
1000 shows that the spirit which
prompts and which condones such ter
rible outraoes is not confined to one sec
ton of the country.
1t is not strange that these fresh bar.
barities should have revived discussion
of the question whether the nation can
not do something, through Legislation
by Congress, to stop the practice Of
lynching in parts of the country. where
the State authorities fail to punish the
offenders. Mr.. Gallinger of New
Hampshire offered a resolution IN the
Senate, the other day, directing the
Committee on the Judiciary to make an
inc 1iry into the subject, and to repor'
wi. ether, under the laws and Const1tu
ton OF the country, there is any rem
edy for the evil Mr.. Gall1nger IS not
a statesman of high rank as Consti
tn ional authority and he frankly ad
mitted that he very much questioned
whether the Federal Government car
do anything in the premises but ne
rightly urged that an authoritative
statement from the Judiciary Commit
tarest horror in Texas, an able argu
ment was presented by law er o1
high standing in New England in sup
port of the contention that the United
States has the power to protect the
lives of its citizens and the lives ol
resident aliens, as well-against mob
violence within tie States, ii the States
fall to protect them. In the Harvard
Law Review for May, Mr.. Albert E.
Pillsbury, el-Attorney-General of Mas
sachusetts, while admitting that prob
ably majority of public men and
Constitutional lawyers would answer
of hand in the negative the question
which he raises, contends earnestly that
the United States has police power
which is broad enough to cover the
case. He points out that Our highest
judicial authority has already decided
that the United States by the hand Of
its marshal may lawfully kill one who
assaults a Federal judge travelling
through q State in the discharge of his
duty-as happened to the late Justice
Field of the Supreme Court in Califor-
MIA, some years ago and that the S-ate
cannot hold the marshal TO account for
such killing; as also that the United
States may punish, as for murder, one
who kills a prisoner in the custody of
Federal officer within State.
Mr.. Pillsbury holds that the clause of
the Fourteenth Amendment which for
bids any State to deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the eqnal protec-
tion of the laws" is sufficiently inclusive
to justify legislation by Congress against
lynching His argument is that forbid
ding the State to deny equal protection
to all lis the equivalent to requiring
the State to provide it." and that THE
Constitutional requirement may be vio-
lated by acts of omission, no less than
by acts of commission"
As the State can act only by its off
GERS, the onmisien of such officers to
furnish equal protection is. in his view,
the omission of the State itself, and he
therefore concludes that '.it would seem
to follow that, when citizen or other
person is put to death by a la xless
mob, in default Of the protection which |
the State is bound to provide for all |
alike, there IS a denial of equal protee-
ton by the State. in the sense of the
equality olase. which Congress may
prevent or punish by legislation apply /
ing to any individuals who partici .ssa.e
in or contribute to it, directly or indi I
rectlyg
This is irg snious reasoning, but i
does not seem probable that it will be
accepted by the conservative lawyers Of
the Senate judiciary Con mittee.