The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-12-28
FRIDAY. DECEMBER .. 1906.
Mobs and the Courts.


No great Importance can be claimed for
the recent decision Of the Supreme Court
of the United States in the Chattanooga
lynching case. As we interpret that opin-
ion. the highest judicial authority in the
land merely has reafirmed the we'll
established principle that when an .ndi-
vidual or a community disregards the
order of a court the offense of contempt
is committed.
In the case at bar, Associate Justice
Harlan had issued stay of execution on
the application of the lawyer Of the negro
who became the victim Of mob violence.
The stay was issued on the theory that
some constitutional right of the negro had
been violated by the courts Of Tennessee.
in which he had been convicted of a
felony and sentenced 10 be hanged A
few hours after the news OF Justice Har-
lan's action reached Chattanooga a mob
st0rmed the Jail. seized Sheriff Shipp
locked him in room of the jail, and then
proceeded TO drag the convicted negro
from his cell and lynch him. In its de
cision the other day, the Supreme Court
holds that not only twenty-six members
of the mob who are alleged 70 have been
Identified committed the grave offense Of
contempt, but that also the IuckIess sher-
if is equally guilty of that offense. The
punishment of these persons has not vet
been adjudged by the court. though that
il viii be severe we have no doubt
That the Supreme Courts action will
have a deterrent effect upon the fierce
spirit Of mob violence we cannot see. In
most cases-perhaps nine out of ten-mobs
do their work before their victims are
brought under the regular forms Of the
law. There has never been any doubt of
the double nature of the crime when a
mob has taken its victim from the keeping
OF the officers Of the law and lynched him.
Nor can It be claimed that the opinion Of
the Supreme Court Of the United States
was needed to declare mobs to be I'm con-
tempt OF court when a prisoner. convicted
or awaiting trial after indictment, is forci-
bly, taken from his place Of confinement
and slain Rare, indeed, are the instances
ia which after a stay Of execution by the
Supreme Court has been Issued a con-
victed felon is lynched.
Obviously the remedy for mob violence
in the United States has not yet been
found. Although lynching in various parts
OF the country is Of frequent occurrence.
the spirit which incites this form of disre-
gard Of law is not as rife as formerly. In
every section of the nation there is a
more wholesome respect for law and or
DERBY procedure than ever before. The
mandates Of the court are obeyed with
better grace than used 10 be the case.
Mob violence is not the result of disre-
spect Of the law or want Of confidence in
the proper action of the courts. II is
merely the expression OF the Impotence
OF an element Of the community with the
prospect Of delay in having punishment
meted out 10 the perpetrators Of crimes
OF a particularly heinOus character. II
goes without saying, of course. that in
most instances dangerous and Iawless ele-
ments constitute the greater portion of
the mobs, and it is also indisputable that
IN some cases these irresponsible elements
STAY with blind and infatuated fury. But
court DEGREES, even those of the august
tribunal in Washington. cannot. unhap-
PLY, stay this sort of fury.