The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-08-25
REMEDY FOR CRIME.
Adequate Punishment of Crimi-
nails Has Been Suggested.

Recently a correspondent of the
Charlotte Observer suggested certain,
adequate and public punishment of the
terminals who commit the usual crime,
las the only means of preventing lynch
law. The Washington Post. in COM
lmenting on the conclusions of the cor
respondent, questions the efficacy of
this remedy and invokes as proof of
its conclusions The annals of the An
lglo-SaXOn race. Only a few days since
the Post served notice on the whole
reeime Of criminal administration"
that unless the courts stop their mad
dening delays the crime Of lyncning
would never end. and still advocates
Iquick action on the part of the courts
1t appears to is that there is an ele-
ment of contradiction in the two ex-
Ipressions of the Post on this subject.
for a rehabilitation of the machinery
of justice surely means that there will
be certain and adequate. if not public
punishment for crime. However. the
Ipoint advanced by the Post is historl-
lcally interesting. That paper says:
we do not think this proposition
L COL NAS ISSS Va ILL
Twas in England when hangingS were
lpublic; when Tyburn Hill was thrOng-
ed almost daily by merry and uprOar-
Gus thousands who attended the cere-
lmany as they would a pageant or a
holiday. Men, women and children
lfocked to the gallows. cheered the
condemned man as he passed in a sort
of royal progress. bowling. smiling. eX-
lchanging salutations with his admir-
lers and friends, a popular hero. en-
WED, lauded. cheered to the echo. They
hung everybody then. n for the|
smallest crimes. The highwayman. thel
assassin, the sneaking thug. the petty
thief, the poor woman who Snatchedl
la crust of bread for her starving baby.
Did they check crime. On the con-
itrary they encouraged and increased
it. The Dick Turpins n Claude Du-|
walls. trunding gayly along in theirI
HUNDREDS, dressed up in satin and fine
lace and receiving the acclamatiOns of
the crowd, merely melted hundreds tol
of emulation. "A merry life and
la glorious death became the "shlbbolethl
of the mob. and crime fed upon thel
lglittering p~ageantry of the galloWs.l
THE custom was condemned at last. It'll
was a choice between that and the del
lmOraliZatiOn-and deDOpulatiOn-OfI
England. The Observers correspond
ldent should consult the annals of theI
IAnglO-SaXOn race. We have said. andl
we repeat. that the only way to check
the horror Of lynching is to rehabilitateI
the machinery of justice in the respect
of the people. Let it be shown to thel
satisfaction of civilized society that thel
lhideous crime which is the p"roVocationi
lOf the mob will be punished by death..f
surely, swiftly. without the maddenin2l
uncertainties and delays which now att
Itend such cases. n lynching will soonl
be an institution without a Sympathlz-l
er or IN apologist."
The Observer thinks the solution liesI
beyond the courts of justice. in a Iargel
measure. The Observer we'll says:
1.-The suggested correctiveness in theI
administration of justice certainly
needs to be applied. by the Post may
be assured that their application would
mot be wholly effectivo to restrain thel
movement of the mob. There is no
difficulty about cOnvicting and punish
line promptly. by due process of law.
la negro commits a crime, and esDe-
Icially the crime. but the anger Of the
lpeople burns so fiercely against this
particular criminal hat they cannot
wait longer for justice than they can
get their hands on him. We depre-
Icate al DIor lynch law 1t is sub
versive of orderly government and Is
a menace to orr institutions. 1t is not
Worth while to go over the arguments
lagainst it-how lynching for n crime
LEADS to lynching for another. until
finally men will be given short shift
flor petty OffenSeS: 0 yet to refer
again to the danger OF 1ynching the
wrong person, as was done in Georgia
week before last: of the cruel Injustice
of it sometimes. as in the case of the
killing of two negroes in South Carolina
Ia few weeks AGO. bec@use hey would
not tell the hiding place of a murderer.
when in all human prC" 'itv they did
not know it. 1t is not worth While.
we say. to dwell upOn the monstrous
wrong and don of lynch law. When
addressed to a mob intent upO aveng-
ling Il wrong done q white woman ar
gument falls upon deaf ears. and we
have ceased to hone for a cessation of
1.-THE organized murler that goes nicer
1.-The name of lynch law until the viola
Ition OF women shall cease. How to
istop that is the proposition that all
good citizens, white n black. should
Address themSelv"~ to. Until this SOL
vent is discovered the only prevention
is to be found in ~" VIGILANCE and res
Iolution of the officers of the law