New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-28
CHTYALRYi

To the minds of humane men the most plausl-
bic apology for lynching ravishers has been the
hardship Of compelling their victims TO appear
in court It was not a valid excuse. for a
woman could, in fact, be far better protected
in court than when forced under mob rule to
tell her story and pass on questions OF identity
before miscellaneous crowd fntruding at any
hour and IN the first moments of her trouble
into her home. Nevertheless, it was an excuse
which bespoke a certain chivalry. 1t won some
credit to lynchers for q sincere, If mistaken,
delicacy. and a determination to protect their
wronged women from the shame OF public as
ISOLATION with their assailants. Southern
writer has voiced that sentiment IN verse, say
ing that "a man may learn how very merclful
is death" when he sees In court the sufer1ngs
Of woman as
She tells
The story of her guitless infamy,
while the Beast grins over the recital Then
he cries:
That is the picture
Again: ss,rhe Law should take its courss"T
What would that poet say of Sundays lynch
ing at Eupora Miss? What has Southern
chiyalry TO say for such a deed? What has
Governor Vardaman to say for permitting such
q horror to be deliberately carried out under
promise made by officials one day TO give the
prisoner I'D TO the mob the next! Inc negro
who TO the last denied his guilt, was hanged IN
the presence of four young girls whon he was
said To have attacked This was Euporas way
of protecting them from public gaze IN tne
hour of their humiliation! To show addluohaA
regard for the fine feelings OF womanhoou' ohe
OF these young girls was for second ulne
and now publicly-brought In personal contact
with the alleged worker of her innocent shame.
Oh +Ia X,
then when he had been put on horseback, with
the rope tied 20 q tree, she led the horse from
under him. with her own fair hands acting as
exer11tioner! She could not for shame race inc
wretch in the solemnity and comparative prl-
yacy Of q courtroom, but she could parade as
his victim and handle him before vast throng'
And this Is cbivalry! This IS regard for feml-
nine delicacy! This is the course taken TO shleIu
women IN the hour Of their misery and preserve
in its exquisiteness the fine flower of Southern
womanhood!
That is the picture
Do hear you say 80
Again. The Mob should take its course?
This transforming a woman into Jack Ketch
Is worse than savagery. Even among saw
ages there is a standard of womanly con-
duct This deed is from the very pit. 1t is
as black an insult to the womanhood OF Mis-
sissipui as the crime which it purported TO
ayenge. The world over, the executioner is
social pariah. Men appear TO do the fatal work
Of the law in masks or draw bolts behind
closed doors 1t is reserved for Mississippi, In
the name Of chivalry, TO turn woman into
Vublic hangman. Concede that In spite OF his
protests, the negro was guilty; suppose, Tor the
moment even, that lynching was the best way
To deal with such q crime; where except among
fiends shall we find a defence of such treat
ment Of a woman? Who but Satan himself
would outrage an already ravished woman by
exhibiting her beside her ravisher In a murder
Gus spectacle and making her deliberately soil
her hands and soul with blOodE