Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-08-10
.LYNCHINC OUTRACEs
President Roosevelt Com.
 nends Durbin's Action.
LAW AND ORDER MUST PREVAIL
Punishment of Murder and As. Sault to He Sure and Swift,
 but Mob Law Must Be Crusased Out.

but Mob Law Must Be
 Crusas cd Out.
 OYSTER BAY, N. r., Aug. 10.-Pres ident Roosevelt has written a letter to Governor Durbin of Indiana commend ing him for the attitude he assumed recently respecting lynching. The pres. ident also embraces the opportunity to express his own views in reference to lynching and mob violence generally. pointing out that mob violence is mere ly one form of anarchy and that an. archy is the forerunner of tyranny. The president vigorously urges that the penalty for that crime which most ire quentIy induces a resort to lynchine shall be applied swiftly and surely, but by due process of the courts. so that it may be demonstrated that the law is adequate to deal with crime by freeing 1t from every vestige of technicality and delay"
 President Roosevelt's letter says in part:
 Permit me to thank you as an Amer ican citizen for the admirable way in which you have vindicated the majes- ty of the law by your recent action in reference to lynchfng. feel my dear sir, that you have made all men your debtors who believe, as all farseeing men must, that the well being, indeed the very existence of the republic, de- pends upon that spirit of orderly lib erty under the law which is as incurn patible with mob violence as with any form of despotism. Of course mob vio- lence is simply one form of anarchy, and anarchy is now, as it always has been, the handmaiden and forerunner of tyranny.
 "All thoughtful men must feel the grayest alarm over the growth of lynching in this country and especially over the peculiarly hideous forms so often taken by mob violence when col ored men are the victims-on which occasions the mob seems to lay most weight not on the crime, but on the coler of the criminal. In certain pro- portion of these cases the man lynched has been guilty of crime horrible be- yond description, crime so horrible that as far as be himself is concerned he has forfeited the right to any kind of sympathy whatsoever. The feeling of all good citizens that such hideous crime shall not be hideeusly punished by mob violence is due not in the least to sympathy for the criminal, but to very lively sense of the train of dread ful consequences which follow the course taken by the mob in exacting in human vengeance for an inhuman wrong. s9#s
 |'In such cases, moreover, it is well to remember that the criminal not merely sins against humanity in inexplicable and unpa rdonable fashion, but sins par ticularly against his own race and does them a wrong far greater than any white man can possibly, do them. There fore in such cases the colored people throughout the land should. in every possible way show their belief that they, more than all others in the com munity, are mortified at the commission of such a crime and are peculiarly con- cerned in taking every possible meas ure to prevent its recurrence and to bring the criminal to immediate jus tice. The slightest lack of vigor either in denunciation of the crime or in bring ing the criminal to justice is itself un- pardonab ble.
 Moreover, every effort should be made under the law to expedite the proceedings of justice in the case of such an awful crime. But it cannot be l necessary in order to accomplish this to deprive any citizen of those funda- mental rights to be heard in his own defense which are so dear to us all and which lie at the root of our liberty. It l certainly ought to be possible by the proper administration of the laws to secure swift vengeance upon the crim- 1 inal, and the best and immediate ef- l forts of all legislators, judges and ctti- zens should be addressed to securing such reforms in our local procedure as to leave no vestige of excuse for those misguided men who undertake to wreak vengeance through violent methods.
 "Men who have been guilty of crime like rape or murder should be visited l with swift and certain punishment. and the just effort made by the courts to protect them in their rights should un- der no circumstances be perverted into permitting any mere technicality to avert or delay their punishment. The  substantial rights of the prisoner to a fair trial must of course be guaranteed, as you have so justly insisted that they should be, but subject to this guaran- tee-the law must work swiftly and 1 surely, and all the agents of the law should realize the wrong they do when l they permit justice to be delayed or thwarted for technical or insufficient 1 reasons We must show that the law is adequate to deal with crime by free ing it from every yestge of technical tty and delay.
 '"The nation, like the individual can- not commit crime with impunity. If l we are guilty of lawlessness and brutal violence, whether our guilt consists in active participation therein or in mere 1 connivance and encouragement, we shall assuredly suffer later on because of what we have done. The corner stone of this republic, as of all free | royerDune entH iS rospect for and Ohedi.