The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1903-07-30

THURSDAY. JULY 80, 1908.
What to Do.


Statesyillc Landmark.
The Monroe Journal discusses the
subject of lynching in conservative
and thoughtful editorial, and having
in mind, doubtless, the recent lynch
ING in Union county, it says:
So. to us who have believed and said
that danger lies back Of it all, Il painful
and embarrassing question comes
doubly so when we face the occurrence,
as any Of us are liable to do, in our own
communities among our neighbors ana
friends. In the face Of ii righteous pun
ishment meted out to n heartless savage
at our own doors-a savage OF whose
guilt there is no shadow Of dOubt-can
we have the heart or the desire to con
denim those who met the ends Of justice
in an extra lawful way? But then, there
is the danger-reason, observation, ms
tory. all have written the deep truth
that beyond the unlawful execution OF
Just punishment lies the menacing dan
ger. nay, the certainty, OF the unlawful
execution Of injustice MObs, drunken
with blood thirstiness, caring little for
justice, but feeling secure, have done
great wrong already, only because they
could do so with impunity, for the reason
that the unlawful action OF good men In
times OF great prOvocation had been JUS
titled by public opinion.
And there we are. '1is a conflict be-
tween reason and feeling 'Tis a puzzle
too deep for us. We have tugged at it in
vain. Wiser heads than Ours cannot say
how it will all end But the danger-we
must continue to point it out.
Every editor who has given this
subject thought has been confronted
with the very problem which the
JOUTnaI finds itself unable to solve.
But there is but one conclusion,
that reached by the JOHna-''we
must continue to point out the dan
ger" We must III season and out OF
season preach respect for the law and
obedience TO it because it is right.
But ii our admOnition is TO be heard
and respected we must at the same
time insist and demand that the
courts Of Justice and all men charged
with the enforcement OF the law. the
protection OF human rights and the
punishment of wrong doing, shall do
their duty and DO it promptly and
impartially What availeth il ii we
talk day after day of the awful con-
sequences of mob law-and every
thinking man realizes the horror, the
hell OF anarchy that will follow if the
mob spirit is uuchecked--bu what
ayails it. We say. to talk about this
If we witness day after day, as we do,
the failure Of Justice and utter no
protest. For one this writer shall
continue to cry aloud and spare not,
because he believes he is asking for
right and justice and in asking for
this is doing what little he can to
avert the awful epidemic Of lawless-
ness which will certainly follow the
continued failure OF Justice
In a letter to the editor of this pa
per q citizen OF this county. writing,
under date Of til" 18th, says:
Never in the history of North Carolina
has lynching been SO agreeable to the
common class or humble class of people
as now. You can scarcely hear a man
condemn lynching at this day and time.
1t is an every day saying: oh, it : 10
use to try him; il they don't clear him in
court the Governor will pardon him; so
ii he gets justice the people will have to
give it to him And this is the naked
truth
I'm Kentucky this week II mob took
q white man ont OF Jail and hung
him. Why? Because OF the law $ de-
lays and the fear that Justice was 90
ING to be cheated. The man had
killed another two years ago. The
case dragged along and after two
trials the defendant was given Il life
sentence. There is no evidence that
the life sentence was particularly OBJ
Jected to, but after the two trials and
the life sentence, another appeal was
taken. The defendant had some
money, we are told, and some infu-
entail friends, and the people feared
and had a right to fear that there
was great danger that this criminal
would escape punishment entirely.
ThereupOn they took the law into
their own hands and took the man
out and killed him. They had lost
faith i'll the courts and they doubtless
had reason to believe that even if
the courts did their duty the crimi-
nal would, rs is SO often the ease un-
der similar conditions i'll North Caro-
lima, receive executive clemencv.
What would it have profited to talk
to that Kentucky mob about re-
spccting the courts and obeying the
law? They would have answered and
with truth. that those charged with
the administration of Justice had
failed and there was but one resort
to call in Judge Lynch.
We do not care to indulge in
gloomy forebodings. but some of
these days in North Carolina, unless
there is II speedy change, when there
Is Il conspicuous interest of the fail
ure of justice the Kentucky incident
will be repeated; and when these
things result let the blood be upon
the heads of those responsible for
the conditions which prompted it.