The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-07-13
sRlFTiAe Tas RESPONSIBILITY.

sRsETlaG TRE REsPoNsIslllTY.
ne invite she attentson Of ou'
readers sosne remarkable lesteS written
by Sheriff Graham OF williamsburg
county so Gov Heys#srd In explana-
sipun 81 ssiig failure 10 prevent she
lysnching s ! n ss Cairo Williams By the
Scranton
ingstree, July A. 1904.
essnv.sD. GMsywayd,. Columbia.
Dear sSSssxss SEA from the papers
fhas rom slegtsph me ssser yo1
heafa ae sshes Nn3orsunate dynching OF
~ q liialnss1S Scranton on the 3oth,
which tsle2fam Ehaye not received,
ssa have been 1p there trying to sln-
ressirasa The unfortunate deed, until
tsis morning, and the telegraph oface
not dpen this morning, 1t being q
holiday. could not get any clue on
any one. AL appeared 20 know moth.
ing uasiI the crowd, masked and
b,acked, boasded the first local pasSen-
ger train and searched is. had taken
the precaasiion, with the advice OF
,Tndge Aldrieh, TO have the: fast train
ssop here for the prisoner by wire,
which did fffer receiving Iepl.
from Capt. Lynch the train would
stop felt psetsy fafa shat the danger
was oyer. Feeling badly, { sent three
reliable c0rstables, one being my
deputy sheriff, whom Z have all conf
aence ii, and know did au they
coald 30 save the prisoner under the
circumstances. Had not thought
the dangerRas over, feeling as did,
would certainly hare gone, ont as all
say Is would haVe been foolish Co
resist the crowd No one regrets it
any sno.e than do, after protecting
ssE,e poor creature, three nights, to have
him taken and 30 be criticised L by
editors wac do not know the situa-
ttien.
The courts and Jurors are to blame
for this lyAching Had the prisoner
been convicted cf murder / do not
think he world have been iynched.
When ]. arrived In Scranton went
10 8orks rying 20 learn all she particu-
lars. News came that he was found
5n the edge Of q bay about three quar-
tiers Of mile from town. As soon as1
got tie facts TNired Magistrate Bald
win aad he came over and organized a
mry of inquest and went out and ex-,
amined the body and adjourned to
meet on 5he 9Th to take testimony in
thecase. Will keep you posted as the
esse develops. Yours truly,
George J. Graham, s. VIC.
There Is nothing noteworthy or ont
sug the ordinary in the explanation of
how Williams happened to fail into
the hands Of the mob. In fact, it is
quitc IN the usual form for so-cailed
explanations Of such occurre1ces. The
mob vas determined to lynch the me-
gro while those who were responsible
fer his life and safety were not anima-
Ted with lis great determination to
protect him. Consequently, and as is
customary in such cases, .the mob sue
ceeded II accomplishing its purpose
and the eussodians OF the negro could
only regret the occurrence. They
esuld moi even recognize any OF the
aoansbers Of the mob and even unto,
shEss day no man knoweth whence they
came or wfsher they went.
Is is not the explanatory part OF the
sSheriF,s letter that strikes us as at,all
remarkable Dnt his expression Of opin-!
ION as to the real responsibility for the
lynching. Consider this assertion:
ssTne courts and jurors are to
blame for shis. lynching. Had the
prisoner been convicted OF murder j ,
do not think he would have been
Ignchsd. =
What does this mean If not that the
ccHrt and jury should have convicted
Williams of murder, evidence or no
evidence, thereby maxi. the machi-
nery OF. the law s1bservient to the
demands of the mob sea5imeut which
had preindged the prisoner at the bar?
How can the court and jurors, be
held responsible for the lynching. if,
after fair and impartial trial, they
conld not-having. due regard for
their oaths TO bring, true verdict
according to tie law aud evidence
pronounce Williams guilty OF murder
as charged. The simple fact that
there was disagreement of opinion
among the Jurors resulting in mis-
trsal is proof that, the evidence intro
duced by the prosecution did not es-
tablish beyond reasonable doubt that
Williams was guilty Of murder. If
the assertion of Sheriff Graham is
taken literally it means but one OF
ssro things, viz: Either the jury re-
fused TO render true and honest YER
dict IN accordance with the evidence,
Or that the conrt-the Judge and So
Hcitor-~ere derelict in the perform
snce Of their dnty and thereby caused
miscarriage Of justice. # this is