The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-10
Writes Letter to Governor Duf- ban Thanking Him for His
 Efforts to Suppress t
SWIFT ADMINISTRATION
 OF LAW IS THE REMEDY
Mob Law Springs from Anarchy ana Anarchy is the Forerunner of Despotism-Most Lynch
 ings Are for Murder.

Oyster Bay. N. Y. August s-In let- ter, the publication of which was au- thorized today. President Roosevelt comments Governor Durbin of Indiana for the attitude he assumed recently to express his own views Tn reference to lynching and mob violence generally. pointing out that mob violence is merely one form of anarchy and that anarchy is the forerunner of tyranny The Pres- ident vigorously urges that the penalty for crimes that induce resort to lynch ing 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 it from every vestige of technicaity and delay"
 President Roosevelts letter in full to Governor Durbin follows:
 Oyster Bay, N. Y. Aug. 6, 1903. My Dear Governor Durbin:
 Presidents Letter.
 Permit me to thank you as an Amer lean citizen for the admirable way in which you have vindicated the majesty of the law by your recent action in ref erence to lynching. feel. my dear sir. that you have made all men your debt- ors who believe, as all far-seeing men must, that the well-beins, 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 des- potism. Of course, mob violence Is sim ply one form of anarchy; and anarchy is now. as 1t always has been. the hand maiden and forerunner of tyranny. T feel that you have not only reflected honor upon the state which for it's good fortune has you as It's chief executive but upon tho whole nation. It is incum- bent on every man throughout this coun- try to hold up your hands in the course you have been following to show his re- alization that the matter is one of vital concern to us all.
 Growth of Lynching.
 All thoughtful men must feel the greatest alarm over the growth of lynch- ing in this country and especially over the peculiarly hideous forms so often ta- ken by mob violence when colored men are the victims; on which occasions the I mob seems to lay most weight, not on the crime, but on the color of the crim- lnal. In a certain proportion of these cases the man lynched has been guilty of a crime horrible beyond description: a crime horrible that as far as he himself Is concerned, he has forfeited the right to any kind of sympathy whatso- ever
 "The feeling of all good citizens that such a hideous crime shall not be hideously punished by mob violence is due not in the least to sympathy for the criminal, but to very lively sense of the train of dreadful consequences which follow the taken h1 in pxartfnp fu- human vengeance for an inhuman wrong In such cases, moreover, 1t is well to re- member that criminal not merely sins against humanity in expiable and unpar- donable fashion, but sins particularly against his own race and does them wrong far greater than any white can possibly do them.
 Negroes Should Help.
 "Therefore. in such cases the colored people throughout the land should in every possible way show their belief, that they, more than all others Tn the community, are mortified at the commission of such crime and are peculiarly concerned in talk ing every possible measure to prevent it's recurrence and to bring the criminal to immediate justice. The slightest lack of vigor either In denunciation of the crime or in bringing the criminal to justice is It. self unpardonable.
 Moreover, every effort should be made uHutf lnt idW 10 t1ptulit lnt pTDtttdiHkd of justice in the case of such awful crime, but 1t cannot be necessary in order to accomplish this to deprive any citizen of those fundamental rights to be heard in his own defense which are so dear to all and which lie at the root of our lib- erty. It certainly ought to be possible by the proper administrator of the laws to se- cure swift vengeance upon the eriminal and the best and immediate efforts of ali legislators, judges and citizens should be addressed to securing such reforms in our lawful procedure so as to leave no vestige of excuse fer those misguided men who undertake<to wreak vengeance through violent p1ethods.
 Raplsts Should be Punished.
 Men who have been guilty of a crime like rape or murder should be visited with swift and certain punishment and the just effor made by the courts to protect them in their rights should under clrcum- staPces be perverted into permitting any more technicality 10 avert delay their punishment. The substantial rights of tha prisoner to a fair trial must of course bs guaranteed as you have so justly insisted that they should be subject to this quar- tee, the law must swiftly and surely, and all the agents of the law should realza the wrong they do when they permit jus tlce to be delayed or thwarted for techni- cal or insufficient reasons. we must show that the law is adequate to deal with crime by freeing It rom every vestige Of technicality and delay.
 But the fullest recognition of the hor- TOT of the crime and the most complete lack of sympathy with the criminal can. not in the least diminish our horror al the way In which 1t has become custo. mary 10 avenge the crimes. and at ths consequences that are already proceed ing therefrom. that where gyidence if taken by a mob. 1t should frequently light upon innocent people, and the wrong done in such a case to the ind- vidual is one for which there is no rem edy. But even where the real criminal is reached, the wrong done by the mok