The broad ax., 1905-10-21

always avenged wrong Dy secret
murder. They assassinated the chief
lof police at his own door. Nine mem
bers OF this Infamous band were ar
rested and tried for the murder Of the
brave and popular guardian Of the
law. They were all acquitted.
Some OF the leading citizens. in
censed at the miscarriage Of justice,
shot down these nine members OF the
Malta; and, how much soever We may
lreprobate the drastic remedies ap-
piled by the citizens, it is gratifying
to say that, since these violent meas
lures were adopted, the hydra-headed
monster has never again lifted its
head In the Crescent City.
Yet another crying evil and incen-
tive to lynching is the wide interval
that so often interposes between a
criminals conviction and the eXecu-
ton OF the sentence, and the defeat
of Justice by needless procrastination.
Human life is indeed precious and
sacred, but the effort to guard 1t has
gone beyond reasonable bounds. 1t
is blessed to be merciful. but mercy
should not be exercised at the ex-
pense OF Justice and social order. Mis-
placed clemency often works Infinite
harm to the community.
OF late years. the difficulty Of carry
ing out the judgment Of the court Tin
murder trials especially has greatly
Increased from the wldened applica-
ton Of pleas in bar,-notably that OF
insanity. When a CONVICTION has been
reached, innumerable obstacles gen.
orally stay the execution. The many
grounds Of exception allowed to coun-
sci. the APPEALS from one court to an
Their of higher Jurisdiction, involving
an enormous expense to the COM
monwealth, the long periods Of time
intervening between the terms of the
lower ad higher courts. the impossi-
bility of recalling the original wit
nesses by reason Of their death or
removal to distant parts Of the coun-
try. the apathy or fading interest OF
the friends of the prosecution. the
untiring efforts of the advocates and
friends Of the accused, the facility
with which signatures for pardon are
obtained, with the final application for
mercy to the Governor.-all these cir
cumstances have combined to throw
around the transgressor an extrava-
II CANT protective system, and have gone
far to rob jury trials OF their sub
stance and efficacy.
When the crime of the accused has
been manifestly proved, and no ex-
tenuating circumstances can be ad-
vanced, the lawyers for the defence
have often recourse to the plea of in
sanity as a last resource. Medical
experts are always available to testi-
fy to the moral responsibility Of the
culprit, bewildering the jury by their
technical phrases. This subterfuge
not unfrequently succeeds in defeating
the ends of justice, though the san
ity Of the guilty party had never be-
fore been called in question.
I can recall a recent instance in
which a man was convicted OF a helm
GUS crime. The insanity dodge was
successfully availed Of. He was com
mitted to an asylum, from which he
soon afterward escaped with the aid
OF his relatives. and no effort has
since been made to rearrest him at
his home.
A sovereign remedy for the sup
preston Of lynching and for the re.
toration Of the laws supremacy is
found in a speedy trial and conviction
.of the accused, IL he is found guilty.
followed by the rigorous execution of
The sentence.
1t would be great blessing for So
ciety If our lawmakers were to revise
the criminal code now in force, and
to sweep away, or at least considerably
diminish, the barriers which Interpose
between the crime and its punish
ment A prompt execution OF the
verdict would strike terror into evil
doors. and satisfy the public con-
science.
But It is far more merciful to stop
crime than to punish 1t by legisla-
ton. 1t is better to remove a cause
than to repair its evil effects. From
data before me, infer that about
seventy per cent Of those who per-
ished by lynching in the Southern
States between 1885 and 1903 be-
lOnged to the colored population. p
the deep-rooted antipathy between
the white and the black races were
removed. or assuaged, these violent