The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-10-10

child, miscegenation, giving evidence,
elopement, refusing to give evidence,
! violation of contract, and even on &C
count of unpopularity and suspected
robbery. Lynchings have occurred in
almost every state In the union and
until the commission of the Whining
ton, Del, horror they created very lit
tie comment.
eve cannot look with indifference
on the widespread moral obliqueness
indicated by mob rule. I need not say
it is inexcusable. The excuse that JUS
tice is slow and uncertain is not in
accordance with the facts. In no part
of the United States would it be diff
cult to select jury to adequately pun
ish those who now fall victims to mob
rule; and, furthermore, it is inexcus-
able, because it exerts no restraining
influence on the criminally inclined.
need not tell you that violence begets
violence and that disrespect for law
and order propagates itself.
I'VE need to get at the root of this
matter, to discover if possible why our
country has been subjected to this con-
fiagration of mob rule within the last
two decades. Mr.. Herbert Spencer in
his latest book has offered two posi-
BILE explanations of the cause, not of
lynchings, to be sure, but of general
lawlessness. He discusses the revival
of the military spirit at the expense of
the civic ideal Decentralization, he
terms it,, and shows that it is, after a
fashion, reversal Of type; and also
comments at some length on the dan
gers attendant upon education when it
is in advance of moralization, showing
that it has a direct tendency to make
people unwholesomely discontinued
and INSCRIPTIONS.
"Other eminent thinkers do not hes
itate to attribute lynching WIDELY to
race prejudice, but as whites are
lynched as we'll as Negroes, although
not to the same extent, this hypothesis
would seem to be faulty.
"All these things may be factors in
urging violence and INSCRIPTIONS men
to deeds of lawlessness.
'Lynching is frequently condoned
on the ground that the better class OF
citizens compose the mobs that perpe-
trate the outrages. Even if this asser-
ton were true, l cannot see how it
the crime; but there never was any
thing less proved or less probable.
Some of this audience may have wit
messed a lynching. If there are any
present who have, I ask them to cast
their minds eye back to the scene and
endeaVOr to tell how many responsible
citizens there we're in the mob. ven
ture to say that they will not remem'
Der single one.
mo, mobs are not composed OF our
best citizens, whatever some OF the
newspapers may say to the contrary
They are composed of the disconnected
and ill-governed members of the com
munity. In short, the men who as
semble to safe their thirst for blood
by burning or hanging a fellow crea-
ture are the same men who go to make
up our criminal classes.
Il will not insult your intelligence
by saying that mob rule is anarchy.
We are civilized people and know that
while government exists there is no
excuse for an Individual or group OF
individuals who usurp it's functions.
Justice Brewer spoke the plain, un'
vanished truth when he said that
lynching is murder. It was a whole
some truth and seems to have refresh
ed the moral sense of the nation as
a cold douche refreshes the body. And
I assert that every person who makes
one of lynching mob should be treat
ed as a murderer. do not say that
when they are so treated lynching will
cease; but Il am convinced that the
knowledge that swift and sure justice
will follow the commission of a crime
has a salutary effect on all law-break-
erS.
I'VE are proud of our country and
it's institutions; we have cause to be
proud of it; but while we tolerate mob
rule in any form or deny to the mean
est individual the protection OF the
law, we still have something to be
ashamed of in our nation.
"The great man (and as nations are
composed of individuals, the great ma
tion), subdues his passions, respects
the laws and comedies to others, with
out distinction, the rights and prlvl'
leges he demands for himself. We are
proud of our intelligence and OF our
learning; but We must bear in mind
that "a high intellectual development,
without a corresponding growth OF mo-
rality, is a curse to mankind.