The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1903-08-14
FRIDAY, AUGUST IA. 1908.
LAW AND ORDER.

Inc GplueMlc OF IyncHln2S ana
riots prevailing in sections of the
country heretofore free of such eX-
hibitions has awakened public inter-
est. and on Tuesday and " ednesday
OF this week mob conference was
held at Chatauqua, N. Y, to discuss
the situation and, if possible, devise
a remedy. Such gatherings attended
by able men for the purpose of con-
demning mob rule will have a whole
some effect in those portions of the
country where mob rule is but sell
dom seen; but in the south. where
lynch law is most common, it will
have little or no effect. for the crime
of lynching in the south WI be abol-
ished only when the crime for which
it is the recognized punishment is
wiped out.
Conditions in the south are hot the
Same as in other sections, and the
white people of the south must be
judged accordingly. They must live
in close contact with the cOlOred race,
who far outnlmber them in many
places. A large element among the
negroes can appreciate no law except
brute force and they are held in re-
strant only by fear of swift and
awful punishment. Even witt and
certain punishment by the courts IN
the regular way does not hold them
in check. for to the ignorant death
has no terrOrs if removed a little
way, and to be the hero of 2 trial and
execution appeals to the Negroes love
of the spectacular.
1t is safe to say that without the
protection Of judge lynch, no white
woman could live in many portions
of the south, and this is no reflection
unon the respectable, law abiding
clement Of the colorcd race.
Necessity is a law unto itself and
lynching in the south will not be
abolished until the cause has been re-
moved.
Eevery person who believes in law
and order will indorse the sentiment
expressed in President Roosevelt's
Letter to Governor Dulfbin of Indiana,
but not everyone will agree with
him in assuming that the hideous
forms eff torture used recently in
lynchirg have been employed
against the negro because of his
color
1t is true that negroes have been
burned at the stake. or otherwise
tortured, but the form OF punishment
has been because of 1.-THE nature of
the crime committed rather than be
cause of the criminals color. Negroes
are the only ones upon whom such
inhuman punishment is inflicted. be-
cause they are the only ones to COM
init that particular crime It is a
fact worthy of note that only the
most ignorant and depraved members
of the colored race are ever guilty
of the crime for which men have re
GENTLY been burned at the stake. And
the only real remedy is the educa
tiOn of the colored race. Lynch law
may terrify and overawe the ignCr
ant for the time being but it degrades
those who enforce it's unwritten stat
utes and leads to tyranny and injus
lItS. Law dS,tiIllSt llut' dlt lpulltltN
one upon another. and when al
assault is made upon one law the
whole institution is shaken.
The laws delays and technicalitieE
may weaken its hold upon public con
fidence. but not nearly SO much a.
the abrogation of all law ny mol
violence.
violence but in spite of all this tht
people Of the south must deal Will
a condition and not theory.
he presidents words against mol
rule are timely and to the point. bu
he is plainly in error when he say
lit is the color of the criminal upol
which the mob seems to lay mos
weight" for it is the nature of tn
crime and nothing else which excite
the fury of the mob.