The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-09

of determining the guilt Of the accused
| is ignored or Importance minimized-
But II Is the greatest of the underlying
horrors of mob law, that there 10 ana
can be. no practicable method by which
this question OF guilt or fnnocence can
be determined. 1t Is true that there
are many cases in which guilt IL reas-
onably clear. but these very cases tend
excuses the mob in the next case. which
may be of doubt.
| The elements of doubt In every In
curry as to the commission OF 2 crime
mitted, and is the person In custody
| the perpetrator.
1t Is the baldest truism to say that
| under every State Constitution. by the
common law. and under the sacred
guaranty Of Magma Charta, the price.
| less heritage of English speaking peo-
pie for centuries OF freedom. every
man charged with crime influential or
humble. white or black. Is given the
right TO be confronted by the witness
them. and to have an opportunity to
produce witnesses in his defense
Is not this mockery when tho
slightest effort upon the part OF the
supposed criminal to ask the altered
victim a question, would be signal
for his death?
with crime should be as certain as hu-
| man testimony can make IL. Is this
secured by a hurried presentation of a
dazed or terrified negro to the injured
| woman. suffering. as she is from ner-
vous excitement. while the crowd with
out is grimly awaiting its victim? Not
unfrequently there is hardly a pretense
of an investigation, the victim being
taken from officers or jail directly to
his DOOM Nor indeed would IL be pos
sible under such circumstances to en-
te' upon an investigation which would
Iba worthy of the name.
| 1t would require a courage rare In
the extreme for negro to offer him.
seld as a witness in behalf OF the sup
be his only hope for establishing his
defense. do not mean that a care
full investigation is never made. but
f fHG I' mob. led by it's most extreme
members. is the trier of the accused.
| Is 1t to be wondered at that there
Is often a fearful heading in every
list of lynchings, mistaken Identity: !"
and another suspected of crime" We
are compelled to choose between two
alternatives. Upon the one hand we
the law and Of bringing the woman
who has suffered frightfui wrong upon
| the witness stand In a court house.
which should be cleared of idle specta-
| constitutional amendment, and where
she will be the object OF soficitude and
pity and defended from unjust asper-
| sion.
Upon the other we are obliged to VII
olate the fundamental basis of the
Constitution and to incur the terrible
with torture, a human being Charged
with crime. without trial. without OPP
portunity for defence or safeguard
Can humane, intelligent lawyer
hesitate as to his diction?
/ will not suggest what our feelings
would be If the colors of the actors
Can We blame the Intelligent and ed
ucated negroes IL their feelings are
greatly wrought up upon this harrow
Ing subject Sno We should keep IN mind az
the crime charged so excites the fury
of the mob that 1t sometimes seems
to supply the lack of conclusive proof.
No ApolOgist for Lynching for Other
AS to lynching for all other crimes
which. according to the best statis-
ties obtainable, constituted four-fifths
of the cases last year. no apologist has
yet arisen.
We cannot meet these statements by
Snep g,Ten pSbotS bH ons
pers and not questioned at the time
they occur. but only when assembled
in statistics afterwards.
No man within the sound of my voice
can fail to know that homicides OF this
character have occurred in numbers
each year. and are now recurring from
week to week.
To depict or dwell upon the evils
and dangers arising from a contempt
uous disregard of law, and from re-
sorting to murder by a mob as the or
binary method to follow in cases OF
alleged crime committed by a negro,
or by a white man il heinous In its
character. would be to offend your in
telligence. / am not attempting to say
anything new, or to utter one origt-
nal truth The ordinary fundamental
truths of civil liberty. the basic guar
antics of constitutional law, are neither
novel or modern. 1t has been
said that We do not need new
truths so much as we do to recon in
the mint OF thouhgt the truths that
have become worn and undecipherable
through handling of ages. and to send
them forth again as fresh and cur
rent coin, stamped with the image and
lsuperscripture of truth.
Judge Somerville of Alabama, has re-
Gently written:
Mob violence in every form. which
treads under its ruthless and bloody
feet the law of the land. for the main
tenance of which all just governments
are constituted, Is a species of anarchy
which assassinates its victims and
stabs the law 1t Is equally condemns
ell by the stern voice of the Decalogue
and the gentler teachings of the Ser
mon on the Mount. :"
The work of Judge Thomas OF this
lefty, in the formation OF proper public