Arizona republican., 1903-07-18
The Evil of LynChlnS.

Like all other thoughtful citizens, MT. Justice Brewer of the supreme court of the United States is troubled in mind by the prevalence and growth of lynching in the United, States. An occupant of the highest bench in the land cannot be expected to discrimin- ate between one lynching and another. and it is not, therefore, surprising to hear Judge Brewer condemn unspar- ingly all forms of mob law At Mill waukee the other day he sad:
 Every man who participates in the lynching or burning of a negro is a murderer, pure and simple. The prin- cipal participants in the crime can be held by any court in the land for mur- der in the same degree as if the crime were committed by an individual.
 There is going to be a reaction against the atrocious crimes with which the papers have been filled. I expect that 1t will come soon. I cannot say what form 1t will take, but there will be an uprising of popular feeling against lynchings which will result in legislation, or a remedy of some other form
 So far as miscellaneous lynchings go the putting to death of helpless pris- oners for any crime, big or little. which has happened to arouse the mob spirit we believe that Judge Brewer is right in thinking that a reaction is coming against such lawlessness. Not a radi- cal reaction, perhaps. for the Outgrowth from savagery Is a matter of evolu- tion. and lynching is but the mani festation of that savagery which ex- ists, more or less latent, in the breast of every man. To bring about this reaction the bench itself can do more than the newspapers or any other agency of civilization. It cannot be disputed that the laws delay oe which we hear so much Is responsible for a very large percentage of the lynchIngs. As an example, only the other day the dispatches described the beginning of q murder trial in San Francisco for a homicide committed more than a year previously. The knowledge that when a criminal has been lodged in jail, under a formal in dictment. his punishment is still an un- certain thing of the distant future. and that jusuce in the end is likely to be made the plaything of interruptions lawyers and by the assent of com plaisant judges who are wrapped, like mummies, in the red tape of precedent ard case law. we believe, the most moving cause for the growth of the lynching evil. The crimes for which negroes are burned do not come under this head, of course. There will be a rapid diminution of lynchings for crimes in general when it Is believed that trial judges have determined to expound law from the standpoint of common sense and in disregard of hair splitting objections. and when it has been demonstrated that courts of ap- peal have ceased to grant new trials, when the record shows that the ends of justice have been accomplished
 Ground for this prediction is found in our own experience, here in Ari- zona. For nearly a. score of years there has not been a lynching in this territory. This is not because our peo- pie are different from Americans else where. It is because there has been established a confidence in our courts. Crimes of violence have been frequent, as in all frontier communities. but the sure and swift punishment of the law has usually followed. When justice has miscarried it has been through the failure of juries to do their duty and not through any fault of the courts. When convictions have been had, re- versals have been so rare as to make the exceptions notable. To be sure. disappointed lawyers have complained of our supreme court, have called it "a body Of mutual affirmation" and so on but there has been no complaint from the people and while carloads of crim- inals have been sent to the peniten- tiary, there has been no allegation that any innocent man has suffered. In short, the people of Arizona have be- come convinced that if a man is guilty of murder or other atrocious crimes. there Is little possibility of his escap- ing punishment by reason of delays. technicalities and appeals, and so the lynching evil is not known among us.
 As to the lynching of negroes for as- saults upon women. some other remedy must be found, and we fear that Judge Brewer will be disappointed if he ex . poets any reaction or uprising of pop ular feeling" while these atrocious crimes multiply in number. It goes for nothing that the eminent justice of the supreme court is strictly right when he