The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-08-11
ON
!. II: !. LYNCH[lN|(C(
Mr.. Roosevelt Writes a Strong
Paper on the Subject.
CONDEMNS VIGOROUSLY
Every Man Who Has Taken Part In One
He Says. Must Suffer Degradation.
Governor Durbln Makes
aPeply.
CONDEMNS 1T VIGOROUSLY

OYSTER BAY. ~ T., Aug. 1o,-In a
letter. the publication OF which was au-
thorized to-day. President Roosevelt
commends Governor Durbln, OF Indiana,
for the attitude he assumed recently re-
specting lynching.
The salient points in the letter follow:
Permit me to thank you as an American
citizen for the admirable way in which
you have vindicated the majesty OF the
law by your recent action IN reference to
lynching.
feel that you have not only reflected
honor upon the State which for Its good
fortune has you as It's Chief Executive,
but upon the whole nation.
All thoughtful men must feel the
gravest alarm over the growth OF lynch
ing In this country. and especially over
the peculiarly hideous form SO often
taken by mob violence when colored men
are the v1ctims-on which occa sions the
mob seems to lay most weight. not on
the crime, but on the color OF the criml-
nal. In a certain proportion of these
cases the man lynched has been guilty
of crime horrible beyond description;
crime so horrible that az far as he him
self 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 course taken by the mob In
exacting inhuman vengeance for an In
human wrong.
ADVICE TO THE NEGROES.
In such cases, moreover, It Is we'll to
remember that the criminal not merely
sins against humanity in incapable and
~ 20 lon, f,,k I'll r&f
larly against his own race, and does them
wrong far greater than any white man
can possibly do them. Therefore, In
such cases the colored people through
out the land should in every possible
way show their belief that they. more
than all Others in the community. are
Mortified at the commission OF such a
crime and are peculiarly concerned IN
taking every possible measure to prevent
its recurrence and to bring the criminal
to Immediate Justice The slightest lack
Of vigor either In denunciation Of the
crime or, In bringing tho criminal to JUS
tlce is itself objectionable.
Moreover, every effort should be made
under the law to expedite the proceedings
Of justice In the case OF such an awful
crime,
Men who have been guilty of crime
of this sort or murder should be visited
with swift and certain punishment. and
the just efforts made by the courts to
protect them In their rights ,hould under
No circumstances be perverted into per-
hitting any mere technically to avert or
delay their punishment ST.
1t lis, OF course. inevitable that where
vengeance Is taken by mob IT. should
frequently light on innocent people, and
tho wrong done In such case to the
Individual Is one for which there Is no
remedy. But even where the real criminal
is reached. the wrong done by the mob
to the community itself Is well-nigh as
great. Especially is this true where the
iynchlng is accompanied with torture,
There are certain hldeous sights which
when once seen can never be wholly
erased from the mental retIna, The mere
fact of having seen them implies degra-
dalton. This Ia a thousandfold stronger
when instead of merely seeing the deed,
the man has participated In It. Whoever
III any part of our country has ever taken
part In lawlessly putting to deatha Grim
inal by the dreadful torture Of fire must
forever after have the awful spectacle of
his own handwork scared into HE brain
end soul. He can never again be the
same man.
PROGRESSIVE LAWLEssNEss.
This matter Of lynohing would be a
terrible thing even II It stopped with the
lynchng of men guilty OF the inhuman