Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1903-10-02
NOT
|MOBS' ONLY CRIME
Or. Walker Of the First Baptist
Church Deplores Growth Of
Strike Violence.
GRAVES lis ANSWERED
During Civil War Colored Men
Guarded Wives and Daughters
Of the Southland.

4 rev. w. Nj. walker OF the FlrBt BapelSI
church delivered the third Of his series
Of sermons on - Pressing National Perils''
last evening. discussing the crimes conn
mitted by mobs. the increase in which
form Of lawlessness in the last decade
is alarming, said there are tHo forms
especially In which this spirit manifests
itself. as In connection with the COM
stantiy recurring labor difficulties: the
other In connection with criminal out
RACES. in which mob lawlessness supplants
Justice and the orderly administration Of
the judicial function OF government.
- While reeognizing the jnstiee of the
coal fields. DR.. Walker deplored the re-
sort to violence. Some men preferred to
work to seeing their families starve, they
were waylaid s manned for life i even mut- 7, s
seems nowadays to attend almost every
considerable strike Respect for law -
abandoned. property is sacrificed, and
fraqueny ny loss Of us rssnts
spect for law is losing Its hold upon many
Of our people, said the speaker and
this Is especially true in the cities. The
seriousness OF this problem is one which
demands the most earnest thought by the
people. tf Ss # ss s,2 s
DR.. Walker referred to the lynchings at
Evansville, Indiana; Wilmington, Della
i ware. and elsewhere. showing that this
kind Of mob violence Is not confned to
last two years and q half there we're
sS7 cases of known lynchtng. No
doubt but some OF these men were inno-
cent: who denies that they were not ems
titled to a fair trial a.z!s.s4i
y 1.-THE words OF John Temple Graves,
that mobs are the bulwark OF society.
and the moral monster which terrifies
and restraints an Inferior race when
statutes and courts are laughed at" are
true. then for q large portion Of our
country a free government is an utter
failure But are the words true
In forty years. Forty years ago when the
call to arms summoned men OF the North
to the front Who watched over the
wives and daughters of ths South land! ~,
stance said the minister, during those
four years OF awful conflict, in which the
black slave proved unfatthful to his mis-
to his care In countless homes all over
the south land. the wives and daughters
OF the Confedracy were absolutely de-
fenseless. and yet the mistress Of the
in absolute security. because negro
slave stood guard, silent sentinel. be-
fore her door. With these facts before us.
10 well attested that to doubt u. impos.
fresdom have SO transformed the race,
that the fury Of the mob and the brutal
Iity OF the stocket can alone protect the
women Of the South from INSULT
ITO my mind. such a statement dis
credits the Intelligence Of the man who
makes It Is the1nttsrance OF prejudiced
partisan who, seeks an excuse for acts
OF fiendish cruelty, and not the honest
Conclusions Of an impartial observer.
Upon the frontier. or In mining camps,
where desperate men are gathered In
large numbers, 2 resort TO lynch law may
may sometimes be necessity. But that
lawlessness, such as have repeatedly dis
gracsd our country, is necessary to ter
rify ten million people and keep them IN
subsection. Is beyond belief. The same
in Mac adonia and excuse the barbarity
with which the Russians have treated the
Jewish race.
..The commission Of crime in the South
mob to violate the law with impunity.
But on the other hand. lawlessness, no
matter what form It may assume, is
menace to the nation. inere are go e1e, e
wrongdoing every time that acts OF
violence are allowed to go unpunished;
Let striking workmen destroy life and
Th ooh on lsfuss
fere, and thousands Of men Will conclude.
that in this land OF ours liberty is the
same as license. Let brutal mobs be al.
the he time viii come when the spirit OF
.lawlessness will throttle the very founda.s
tions Of the republic.
"If ever there was an excuse Tor mob
Der day. when President Mckinley re-
ceived fatal wound at the hands Of an
assassin. But today we, recognize, that
nothing. connected with that awful trag.
5edy, more sublime than the words Of
the dying statesman. Let no one hurt
him Upon that vile wretch punishment
was visited. but, to the honor Of the
American people. be 1t said, It was the
punishment which even handed justice
meted out to him. and not the brutality
which the fury OF a frenzied mob would
have inflicted II in this supreme In
stance. where quiet was nnmistakable.
the law was allowed to have Its way,
surely there can be no excuse for the
mob that gathers for the purpose Ct
worst passions of the human heart upon
the spectacle OF his suffertngs Every
the orderly procedure, Of the e, courts q 2.
threatened. And to help maintain the
sovereignty Of the law Is today one Of the
first duties Of every man who truly loves
his country. " 81 II u
FEARLESS AND INDEPENDENT.