The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-08-17
JUDGE BREWER
ON LYNCHING
Temperate Article of Associate
Justice of Supreme Court.
DELAY IS CAUSE OF CRIME
GUILTY ONES SHOULD BE
PROMPTLY PUNISHED.

N Ew YORK, Aug. 16.-Associate
N Justice David J. Brewer of the
supreme court Of the United
States has contributed TO Leslie's
Weekly an article ON the crime of
lynching, in the course OF which he
SAYS:
Our government recently forwarded
! to Russia a petition in respect TO al
D legged atrocities committed upon the
>.ews. That government. as might
, have been expected. unwilling TO have
It's internal affairs a matter of Cuusid-
GRAFTON by other governments. de-
clined to receive the petition. If. i'm
stead of so doing. it had replied that it
would put stop to all such atrocities
when this government put a stop to
( lynchinSs, what could we have said?
Good Men Join Mobs.
1T is well to look the matter fairly
f in the face. Many good men join i'm
( these uprisings Mortified at the atvOci-
I " of the crime and wager fOU swift and
summary punishment OF cOurs- they
violste the law themselves hut rely
on the public sentiment behind them
for escape from punishment. -Iany Of
these lynchinEs are accompanied by the
horrible barbarities of s8VaSe torture,
and all that can be said ia p1lHatiuu is
the atrocity 81 she Cffenses which led
up to them. For time they were con-
fined largely To- the south but that
section of the country no longer has
the monopoly. The chief Offeuse which
causes these lyuchings has been the
assault of white women by -colOred
men. No words can be found too
strong to describe the atrOcity of such
a crime. Ii is no wonder that the COM
munity is excited. Men would disgrace
their manhood if they were not And
If few lynchings had put "a stop to
The offense society might have con-
doned such breaches of its laws. but
the fact is. if we may credit statistics.
the back beast jfor only a beast would
be guilty of such an Offense). seems to
be not deferred thereby. More than
that, as might be expected, lynching
for such atrOciOus crimes is no longer
confined to them, but is being resorted
TO for other Offenses.
Prompt Punishment.
What can be done to stay this cpl
demic of lynching2 One thing is the
establishment of a greater confidence
IN the summary ana certain punish
ment of the criminal. Men are afraid
Of the laws, delays and the uncertain
ty of its results. Not that they doubt
the integrity of the judges. but they
know that the law abounds with tech
nlcal rules and that appellate courts
VIII ofen reverse Judgment of con-
Viction for a disregard of such rules.
notwithstanding a fun belief i'm the
suit of the accused. If all were Ger
tain that the guilty ones would
De promptly tried and punished
the inducement to lynch would be
largely taken away. In an address
which / delivered before the American
Bar association at Detroit some wears
since L advocated doing away with
appeals in criminal cases. IL did not
meet the favor OF the association btlt
1 still believe in its wisdom. For nearly
hundred years there was no appeal
from the judgment of conviction uf
criminal cases in our federal courts,
and no review except in a few cases.
IN which, two judges sitting. a Giffer-
ence Of opinion on a preston Of law
was certified to the supreme court In
England the rule has been that there
VIII be no appeal in criminal cases. al
though question of doubt might ba
reserved by the presiding judge for tina
consideration of his brethren. Z. j.
Phelps. who was minister TO England
during Mr. CleVeland's first administra-
ton, once told me that while he was
there only two cases were so reversed.
Does anyone doubt that justice was
fully administered by the English
courts?
Excuses For Lynching.
1t is said in exteuuation of lyncning
in case of assault that il is az addition
al cruelty TO the unfortunate victim 40
compel her to so upon the witness
stand and in the presence of Il mixed
audience tell the story Of her wrongs.
especially when she may lie subjected
to cross examination by over Jealous
counsel. do not believe This matters,
but il must be remembered that oftel
the unfortunate victim never lives 10
tell the story OF her wrongs, and If she
does survive she must tell it TO some
one, and the whole community knows
the fact. Even in the court room any
high minded judge will stay counsel
from any unnecessary CrUss-eNa NINA
ton, and finally If any lawyer should
attempt It the community may treat
him as an outcast. I can but think
that If the community felt that the
criminal would certainly receive the
punishment he deserves. and receive il
soon, the eagerness for lynching would
disappear, and mObs, whose gatherings
too often mean not merely the destruc-
ton Of jails and other property. but
also the loss of innocent lives, would
greatly diminish in number.
"One thing is certain. the tendency
of lynching is to undermine respect for
the law, and unless il be checked We
need not be astOnished If it be resorted
TO for all kinds Of offenses and often
times innocent men suffer for wrongs
r.TnH IN HHgasN h. b.