The broad ax., 1905-10-21
Concluded from Page -
CARDINAL GIBBONS ON LYNcHINo

lof one individual Is sometimes at
tended by the accidental and prOmis-
cuous staying or woundlng Of by
ISLANDERS In the conflict which arises
between the mob and the officers Of
tho law.
II Lynch Law were substituted for
the Law Of the Land. no citizen
would DO secure from violence or
de1th. The leading men Of the COM
,munity. II not restrained by con-
science, would WELD an influence
like that which was swayed by the
Barons OF the Middle Ages. who could
assassinate with impunity every
harmless commoner that stood In the
fway OF their lawless ambition or las
Civlous passions. They could easily
trump up charges against the object
lof their hatred or malice. and subOrn
4 hired band OF retainers to avenge a
lsancied crime.
Another deplorable result OF lynch
ing Is that public sympathy is some
times withdrawn from the innocent
victim of lust and murder, and Is
transferred for the time being to the
brute who outraged and killed her.
Her defenceless condition. her agon-
lies and cries for help, her vain en-
treaties, her dishonor worse than
death, eliminating often in toture and
murder in order to cover the cine
all this horrible picture fades form
view and Is almost fogotten, while
the iniquity of the human fiend is
cJndCned or palliated on account Of
the lawless manner in which his
crime was expiated. He often be-
comes the hero Of the hour, and is
regarded by some even as a martyr.
Ind, while the malefactor's crime is
almost lost sight of, and he becomes
the object Of morbid pity. popular
delunciation falls on the heads Of
those who participated in his sum-
mary execution.
Had the wretch expiated his offence
by the ordinary process Of the civil
courts, his trial, conviction and exc
cution, attended with all the solemn
ty Of judicial proceedings, would
have appeased the righteous indigna-
ton Of the community, would have
vindicated the majesty Of the law, and
would have served as a terror and
salutary warning to evil-doers.
II. indeed, the illegal and violent
infection Of the death penalty on GRIM
inals had a deterrent effect on other
evil-disposed persons, and acted as a
warning to them, that cirmustance,
while not justifying Lynch Law,
might at least offer some excuse or
palliation for its exercise. But ex-
perience shows that it rather increas-
es instead Of diminishing the calen-
dar Of crime. Far from terrorizing
he colored race who are the usual
sufferers from hasty executions, It in
flames them with indignation, and in
cites them to perpetrate deeds Of vio-
ence on the weaker sex as much from
a spirit Of revenge, and from a tri-
umph In the humiliation OF their vic
tins, as from a desire to crafty their
animal passions.
Let us now examine into the prin-
cipal grounds Of excuse for the ex-
ercise OF Lynch Law, and suggest a
remedy for this social evil.
One Of the causes Of hasty and vio-
ent executions without the forms of
aw is the needless and often irritat-
ng delay in bringing a notorious
riminal to the bar Of justice, and the
inhiction Of punishment inadeC, cite
to the enormity Of the offence.
An Infamous Negro, named George
White. violated and then butchered
almost beyond recognition a young
lady In Delaware. A prompt trial
Of the self-accused malefactor was
reasonably expected to appease the
public, exasperated as they were by
the horrible outrage. But they were
grievously disappointed by the an
nouncement that the culprit would
not be tried for three months, and
the result was a summary execution
attended with the most revolving cir
cumstances.
It appears that this same White
had been twice before convicted for
rape in Pennsylvania. II he had re-
ceived due measure OF penalty for his
former transgressions, he would not
have been lie loose to prey like a wolf
on o'her folds land, II he had been
accorded a speedy trial in Delaware.
the community would have been
spared the awful scenes which &C.
CURED when he was burned at the
stake.