The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-08-10
LYNCHING HIS THEM;
.srvrI.T CoMMENDS GOVERNOR
DURaIN FOR HIS STAND.
THEN GIVES HIS VIEWS.
we MOB LAW is MERELY ONE
FORM OF ANARCHY.

SpAElN VI
HINDER Law-Lynchings' Horrible
ro,m when COIOred Men Are
v,ctimr-NegrO Criminals Sin Not
onIv Against Humanity but
Aqatnst Their Race-Rapists and
,,u-derers should Meet Swift and
Certain Punishment.
OYSTER Bay, N. Y, Aug. Sin let
,sr the publication of which was au-
+bor,zed to-day. President Roosevelt
oor,meads Gov. Durbin of Indiana for
tbA attitude he assumed recently re-
spectng lynching.
The President also embraces the OPP
portunity to express his own views in
reference to lynching and mob vio-
Ience. generally, pointing out that mob
violence is merely one form of an
archy and that anarchy is the fore
runner of tyranny.
The President vigorously urges that
the penalty for that crime which most
freolentIy induces a resort to lynch
ing shall be applied swiftly and sure
" but by due process of the courts,
so that it may be demonstrated that
the law is adequate to deal with crime
nv freeing it from every vestige of
technicality and delay
ROOseveIt's Letter.
President Roosevelt's letter in full to
Gov. Durbin follows:
oyster Bay, N. Y, Aug. 6, 1907
NV Dear Gov. Durbin: Permit me to
thank you as an American citizen for
the admirable way in which you have
indicated the majesty of the law by
your recent action in reference to
lynching. 1 feel, my dear sir, that
you have made all men your debtors
who believe, as all far-seeing men
must that the well being. indeed, the
very existence of the republic, de-
ponds upon that spirit of orderly lib
erty under the law which is as incom-
patible with mob violence as with any
form of despotism. OF course. mob
violence is simply one form of an
archy, and anarchy is now, as it al
ways has been, the handmaiden and
forerunner of tyranny.
Elected honor upon the state which for
its good fortune has you as it's CHIEF
executive, but upon the whole nation.
1t is incumbent upon every man
throughout this country not only to
hold up your hands in the course you
have been following, but to show his
realization that the matter is one of
vital concern to us all.
Lynchings HideOus Form.
All thoughtful men must feel the
gravest alarm over the growth of
lynching in this country and especially
over the peculiarly hideous forms so
often taken by mob violence when col
ored men are the victims-on which
occasions the mob seems to lay most
weight, not on the crime, but on the
color of the criminal
In a certain proportion of these
cases the man lynched has been guilty
of a crime horrible beyond description,
crime so horrible that as far as he
himself is concerned, he has forfeited
the right to any kind of sympathy
whatsoever. 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
a lively sense of the train of dreadful
taken by the mob in eXacting inhuman
vengeance for an inhuman wrong.
In such cases. moreover, it is we'll
10 remember that the criminal not
merely sins against humanity in in
explable and objectionable fashion, but
SINS particularly against his own race,
and does them a wrong far greater
than any white man can possibly do
them.
Therefore, in such cases, the colored
people throughout the land. should in
every possible way show their belief
mat they, more than all others in the
community, are Mortified at the COM
mission of such a crime and are pc
1uidrlly concerned in taking every pos
sple measure to prevent it's recurrence
ana to bring the criminal to immediate
Justice. The slightest lack of vigor,
9llner in denunciation of the crime or
m bringing the criminal to Justice is
Hset objectionable.
Moreover, every effort should be
made under the law to expedite the
pIoceedlngs of justice in the case of
Iuch an awful crime. But it cannot
oe necessary, in order to accomplish
nv, TO deprive any citizen of those
tunuamental rights to be heard in own
glehse, which are so dear to us all
Srty
Vengeance should BE Swift.
1t certainly ought to be possible
~ Uhe proper administration of the
TVS to secure swift vengeance upon
VIE criminal, and the best and i'm
nleuidte efforts of all legislators, judges
Gnu citizens should be addressed to
uilng such reforms in our legal
pro-euure as to leave no vestige of ex-
as Tor those misguided men who I'M
l'ake TO wreak vengeance through
Violent methods.
wen who have been guilty of a
Inc ike rape or murder should be
leu with swift and certain punish
~ and the just effort made by the
curtis to protect them in their rights
"oulu under no circumstances be per-
Srted into permitting any mere tech
ishment. -''"' '''ei pun
ne substantial rights of the pris-
70 a fair trial, Of course, must
guaranteed. as you have so Justly
h., 'eu mat they should be- but, sub
~, 70 ms guarantee, the law must
~ swiftly and surely and all agents
me law should realize the wrong
h. 10 When they permit justice to
yea or thwarted for technical or
uslent reasons. We must show
me law IL adequate 10 deal with
Dy freeing II from every vestige
tschnicality and delay
Mobs Make Mistakes.
sut the fullest recognition OF the
iIpf 81 the crime and the rnost COM
lh'k u sympathy with the Grim