The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-05-11
HORSES put lB0YE WOMEN.
Extraordinary Argument OF the
! Washington Post in Defence
Of Roosevelt S eonlmeada-
fisn Of Western lynch
ers of Horse Thieves.

Some OF our esteemed SouGhern con
tennoraries are wasting q great deal
az valuable tine trying TO prove chat
TIE Hon. Theodore Roosevelt enter
sssT,g and has on various occasions
expressed very loose, not 20 say lndul-
cent views IN the matter OF lyachlng.
One of these contemporaries. fof
eyamDle, Quotes from The Winning
oe the West, as follows:
80 In many Of the cases OF lynch law
Ehiirh have come to my knowledge
t,e effect has been heaiehy for the
community, but sometimes great
Injustice has been done. Generally
the yigilantes, by q series Of sum
mary executions, do really good work.
But is is not fair TO isolate one or
two sentences from the general con-
text. ;hereby con5riving false pre-
sssntasion of the author S argument. M Z
Roosevelt was careful to explain
himself bY adding Horse thieves are
aIways numerous and formidable on
q the irontier. though in onr own eoun-
try they hare been summarily thlnnee
s s,sst sc late years. It IS the fashion tc
laugh st the severity with which
horse stealing is punished on tne BOT
der, but tlae reasons are eViceng.
Horses are the most valuable proper
" of sEe frontiers-nan, whether COW
: how. hunter or settler, and are. often
ABSOLUTELY essential to his WeH-beIng
Sand eysn TO his life. They are always
lnarketabie and they are easily stolen.
for they carry themselves OF instead
4 q, To he; ga rriad. Horse steal
ING IS thus q most tenpting business,
especially to the more reckless yl1h-
ans. ana i5. Is always followed by
armed men, and they can onty oe
kept IN check by ruthless severity.
This puts the case In very dsner-
enS light. The pioneers who pusneo
our border west zom the Missoufa
to the Pacific slope could hardly have
been expected to abandon the banner
of civilization to few reckless and
wicked horse thieves. They had to
nrotecs themselves BY such means as
lay rsady TO their hands or surrendei
tie. cause of law and order TO regime
of barbarism. There we're no Courts
ar other agencies Of organized society
10 protect them. Is was for them TO
saw whether they would set up en-
liehsened institutions in the wilder
ness or surrender righteousness te
sayagcry. It seems to- as taaG MI.
Rooseveit states the case very clearly;
There can be no progress Wlthou,
security for Life and property. Chris.
tsanity cannot flourish side by slde
ssith rampant and triumphant crime.
The Question was between the shorse
thief and the honest pioneer.
ss This, however, is not TO say tina,
Mr Roosevelt has committed himself
to q sympathy with lynehing. With
I'm twelye months he has said, IN the
course OF letter to the Governor o.
Indiana
y All thoughtful men must feel tie
orayest alarm over the growth o
iynching in this country, and espec1
ally over the peculiarly hideous forms
so often taken ley mob violence Whel
colored men are the victims.
He must be a person OF very du!
uarceptions who fails to distinguish
between the lynching OF negro raplst'
in Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, Misslsslp
p1. Delaware Alabama and mdaans
and the determination OF the hors'
thieves who at one time threatened T.
obstrnct the winning OF the West. l
ii not only that horses are marketable
nronersy OF specific value,. they ar
slso Indispensable TO the propaganda
s If civilization. Without them tn
uioreers cousd not have pushed for
ward the outposss, rescued the track
lass desert and established free insti
: tntious in the once howling iungles o
ths far frontier. The propriety OF Mr.
RooseTelt's attitude is too obvious TO
discussion.