The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-08-11

Inc SUSnJeSC lack Oh VlSOr eItHcI III ue-
nunciation of the crime or in bringing
the criminal to justice is itself. unpardon-
able.
SHOULD EXPEDITE JUSTICE.
Moreover, every effort should be mac;'
under the law to expedite the proceed
ings of Justice in the case of such an aw-
full crime But it 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 us all and which lie at the root
of our liberty. 1t certainly ought to be
possible by the proper administration of
the laws to secure swift vengeance upon
the criminal and the best and immediate
efforts of all legislators, judges, and cit
izens should be addressed to securing
such reforms in our legal procedure as
to leave no vestige of excuse for those
misguided men who undertake to reap
vengeance through violent methods.
MEN who have been guilty of crime
like rape or murder should be visited
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 more technicahty to avert
or delay their punishment. The sub
stantIal rights of the prisoner to 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 sure
ly and all the agents of the law should
realize the wrong they do when they per-
NIT justice to bedelayed or thwarted for
technical or insufficient reasons. We must
show that the law is adequate 10 deal
with crime by freeing it from every YES
tige of technicality and delay.
INNOCENT PEOPLE SUFFER.
But the fullest recognition of the hor-
ror of the crime and the most complete
lack of sympathy with the criminal cali
not in the least diminish our horror at
the way in which it has become Gus
tcmary TO avenge these crimes and at
ehconsequences that are already pro-
ceeding therefrom. 1t Is, OF course, IN
evitable that where vengeance Is taken
by a mob it should frequently light on
innocent people; and the wrong done in
such a 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 commun-
ity itself is well nigh as great.
itHspeosapy is this .grue where she
lynching is accompanied with torture
There are certain hideous sigths which,
when once seen, can never be wholly
erased from the mental retna. The mere
fact of having seen them implies degrada
tion This is a thousandfold stronger
@I,D
the man has participated In 1T. Whoever
in any part of our country has ever ta-
ken part in lawlcssly putting to death a
criminal by the dreadful torture of fire
must forever after have the awful spec
tacle of his handiwork scared into his
brain and soul. He can never again be
the same man.
This matter of lynching would be a
terrible thing even if it stopped with the
lynching of men guilty of the inhuman
and hideous crime of rape: but, as mat
ter of fact, lawlessness of this type never
does stop and never can stop IN such fash
ion Every violent man in the community
is encouraged by every case of lynchlng
in which the lynchers go unpunished to
himself take the law into his own hands
whenever it suits his own convenience.
THIRST FOR TORTURE SPREADS.
'tIn the same way the use of torture by
the mob in certain cases is sure to spread
until it is applied more or less indiscrimi-
notely in other cases. The spirit OF law
lessness grows with what it feeds on, and
when mobs with impunity lynch crimi-
mails for one crime they are certain to be-
gin to lynch real or alleged criminals for
other causes. In the recent cases of
lynching over three-fourths were not for
rape at all, but for murder, attempted
Continued on Second Page.)