Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-08-12

Rooscvelts letter to Governor Durbir
ON the subject of lynching.
OYSTER BAY, N. Y.
AUGUST 6, 1903.
My Dear Governor Durbin:
Permit to thank you as an
American citizen for the admirable way
in which you have indicated the
majesty of the law by your recent
action in reference to lynching. | feel,
my dear Sir, that you have made all
men your debtors who believe, rs all
Z far-seeing men must, that the Well-be-
ing, indeed the very existence, of the
Republic depends upon that spirit of
orderly liberty under the law which is
as incompatible with mob violence as
with any form of despotism. OF course
mob violence is simply one form of
anarchy; and anaIaslg is now. as it al
\ ways has been. .tlfW handmaiden and
forerunner ofstytapny.
I feel that yolY3save not only reflected
honor upon the State which for its
good fortune has you as it's Chief
Executive, bufApon the whole nation.
1t is incuuiNtft upon every man
throughout this country not only to
hold up your hands in the course you
have been following, but to show his
realization that. the matter is one of
vital concern to US all.
All thoughtful men must feel the
gravest alarm over the growth of
iynching in this country, and especially
over the peculiarly hideous forms so
often taken by mob violence when
colored men are the victims-on which
occasions the mob seems to lay most
weight, not on the crime, but on the
color of the criminal In a certain pro-
portion of these cases the man lynched
has been guilty of crime horrible be-
You'd description crime SO horrible
that as far as he himself is concerned
he has forfeited the right to anykind Of
sympathy whatsoever. The feeling of
all good citizens that, such "a, rideolis
crime shall not be hide6tsly punished
by mob violence is dliss f1nt,in the lea st
to- sympathy for the criminals But to
very lively sense of the train of dread
fnl consequences which follow the
ronrse taken by mob in exacting in
human vengeance for an inhuman
wrong. In such cases, moreover, it is
we'll to remember that tho criminal not
merely sins against humanity in mex
piable and objectionable fashion. but
sins particularly against his own race
and does them wrong far greater
than any white man can possibly do
them. Therefore. in such cases the
colorci people throughout the land
should in every possible way show
their belief that they. more than all
Others in the community, are Mortified
at the commission of such crime and
are peculiarly concerned in taking
every possible measure to prevent it's
recurrence and to bring the criminal to
immediate justice. The slightest lack
of vigor either in dcnunciation Of the
crime or in bringing the criminal to
Justice is itself unpardonable
Moreover, every effort should u"
made under the law to expedite tn"
proceedings of Justice in the case of
such an awful crime But it cannot be
necessary in order to accomplish this
to deprive any citizen of those funda-
mental rights to be had in his own de
lenses which are So dear To us all and
which lie at the root of our liberty. It
certainly ought to be possible by the
proper administration of the laws to
secure swift vengeance upon the crimi-
nal: and the best an immediate efforts
should be addressed to securing such
reforms in our legal procedure as to
leave no vestigc of excuse for those
misguided men who undertake. to roan
vengeance through violent methods
Men who have been guilty of Il crime
like rape or murder, should be visited
with swift and certain punishment
and the just effort made by the courts
IN boot 10, I
under no circumstances be perverted
into permitting any more technicality
to avert or delay their punishment
The substantial rights of the prisoner
to a fair trial must of course be guar
anteed. rs YOU have so justly insisted
that they should he but. subject to
this guarantee, the law must work
swiftly and surely and all the agents
of the law should realize the wrong
they do when they permit justice to be
delayed or thwarted for technical or in
sufficient reasons. We must show that
the law is adequate to deal with crime
by freeing it from every vestige OF
technicality and delay.
But the fullest recognition of the hor-
ror OF the crime and the most complete
lack of sympathy with the crimina
cannot in the last diminish our horror
at the way in which it has become Gus
: temary to avenge these crimes and al
the consequences that are already pro
ceeding therefrom. 1t is of course in
evitabe that where vengeance is takei
= by a mob it should frequently lgh
on innocent people: and the wrong
done in such case to the individual il
one for which there is no remedy. Blu
even where the real criminal il
reached. the wrong done by the mob t.
the community itself is we'll nigh a
great. Especially is this true wher
the lynching is accompanied with tor
ture. There are certain hideous sight
which when once seen can never b
wholly erased from the mental retina
The mere fact of having seen them i'm
plies degradation. This is a thousand
fold stronger when instead of, merel
seeing the deed the man has participat
ed in it. Whoever in any part of on
country has ever taken part in law
Slessly, putting to death criminal b