The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-08-10

lnal cannot in the least diminish our
horror at the way in which it has be-
come customary to aVenge these
crimes, and at the consequences that
are already proceeding therefrom. II
u.s. OF course, inevitable that where
vengeance is taken by a mob it should
frequently light on innocent people,
ana the wrong done in such a case to
the individual is one for which there
is no remdy. But even where the real
criminal is reached the wrong done by
the mob to the community itself is
wen nigh as great. Especially is this
true where the lynching is accompan-
led with torture.
There are certain hideous sights
which when once seen can never be
wholly erased from the mental retina.
The mere fact of having seen them inn
plies degradation. This is a thousand
fold stronger, when, instead of merely
seeing the deed the man has partici-
pated in it. Whoever in any part of
our country has ever taken part in
lawlessly putting to death criminal
by the dreadful torture of fire must
forever after have the awful spectacle
of his own handwork scared into his
brain and soul. He can never again
be the same man.
LawIessness Induces It's Like.
This matter of lynching would be
a terrible thing even if 1t stopped
with the lynching of men guilty of
the inhuTnan and hideous crime of rape;
but as a matter of fact, lawlessness of
this type never does stop and never
can stop in such fashion. Every vlo-
lent man in the community is encour-
aged by every case of lynching in which
the lynchers go unpublished to himself
tab To-, IL
ever it suits his own convenience.
In the same way the use of torture
by the mob in certain casW is sure
to spread until it is applied more or
less Unfortunately in other cases.
The spirit of lawlessness grows with
what 1T feeds on. and when mobs with
impunity lynch criminals for one cause
they are certain to begin to lynch real
or ALLEGED criminals for other causes
I'm the recent cases of lynching over
three-fourths were not for rape at all
but for murder, attempted murder, and
even less heinous offenses. Moreover
the history of these recent cases shows
the awful fact that when the minds of
men are habituated to the use of tor
ture by lawless bodies to avenge crimes
of a peculiarly revolving description
other 'lawless bodies will use torture in
order to punish crimes of an ordinary
tvpe.
. All Should DenOunce Lynching.
Surely no patriot can fail to see
the fearful EQUALIZATION and debase-
ment which the Indulgence of such a
spirit and such practices inevitably
portend. Surely all public men, all
writer's for the daily press, all clergy
men, all teachers, all who in any way
have a right to address the public
should with every energy unite to de-
nounce such crimes and to support
those engaged in putting them down.
LAS a people we claim the right tc
speak with peculiar emphasis for free
dom and for fair treatment of all mer
without regard to differences of race
fortune, creed or color. We forfeit the
right to speak when we commit or con
done such crimes as these of which
/ speak.
The nation, like the individual, can
not commit a crime with impunity
If we are guilty of lawlessness anC
brutal violence, whether our guilt con.
sists in active participation therein oil
in mere connivance and encourage
ment, we shall assuredly suffer later
on because of what we have done.
The corner stone of this republic
as of all free governm ents, is respect
AOI anu ODCulcllSS " The law w mere
we permit the law to be defied or evad-
ed, whether by rich man or poor man,
by black man or white, we are by
just so much weakening the bonds OF
our civilization and increasing the
chances of its overthrow, and of the
substitution therefor of a system in
which there shall be violent altera-
tons of anarchy and tyranny Sim
cerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt.
Hon. Winfield t. Durbin, Governor of
Indiana, indianapolis, Ind