Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1906-12-07
THE PRESIDENTS ANNUAL MESSAGE
Many Needed Laws Are Suggested to
the Peoples Representatives

providing something to the effect
that:
No judgment shall be set aside OF
new trial granted in any case, civil
or criminal, on the ground of misdi-
rection of the jury or the improper
admission or rejection of evidence, or
for error as to any matter of plead
ing or procedure unless, in the opin
ion of the court to which the appli-
cation is made, after an examina-
ton of the entire cause, it shall affir
matively appear that the error COM
planned of has resulted In a miscar-
riage of justice.
Injunctions.
In my last message I suggested the
enactment of law In connection with
the issuance of injunctions, attention
having been sharply drawn to the
matter by the demand that the right
of applying injunctions in labor cases
should be wholly abolished. 1t is at
least doubtful whether law abolish
ing altogether the use of injunctions
in such cases would stand the test of
the courts; in which case of course
the legislation would be ineffective.
Moreover, l believe it would be wrong
altogether to prohibit the use of in
functions. 1t is criminal to permit
sympathy for criminals to weaken
our hands in upholding the law; and
if men seek to destroy life or property
by mob violence there should be no
impairment Of the power of the courts
to deal with them in the most sum
mary and effective way possible. But
so far as possible the abuse of the
power should be provided against b.
some such law as / advocated last
year.
In this matter of injunetions there
is lodged In the hands of the Judiciary
a necessary power which is neverthe
| less subject to the possibility of grave
abuse. 1t is power that should be ex
eIcised with extreme care and should
be subject to the jealous scrutiny of
all men, and condemnation should be
meted out as much to the judge who
fails to use it boldly when necessary
as to the judge who uses it wantonly
or oppressively. Of course a judge
strong enough to be fit for his Office
will enjoin any resort to violence or
intimidation, especially by conspir-
acy, no matter what his opinion may
be of the rights of the original quar-
rel There must be no hesitation i'll
dealing with disorder. But there
must likewise be no such abuse Of the
injunctive power as is implied in for
bidding laboring men to strive for
their own betterment In peaceful ana
lawful ways; nor must the injunction
be used merely to aid some big cor
poration in carrying out schemes for
its own ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
Lynching.
In connection with the delays Of
the law, call your attention and the
attention of the nation to the pre-
valence of crime among us, and above
all to the epidemic of lynching and
mob violence that springs up, now in
one part of our country, now in an
other. Each section, North, South,
East, or West, has its own faults; no
section can with wisdom spend its
time jeering at the faults of another
section; it should be busy trying to
amend its own shortcomings. To
deal with the crime of corruption it
is necessary to have an awakened
public conscience, and to supplement
this by whatever legislation will add
speed and certainty in the execution
of the law. When we deal with
lynching even more is necessary. A
great many white men are lynched,
but the crime is peculiarly frequent in
respect to black men. The greatest
existing cause of lynching is the per-
petration, especially by black men,
of the hideous crime of rape-the
most abomipable In all the category
of crimes, ever worse than murder.
Mobs frequently avenge the commits
sion of this crime by themselves tor
turing to death the man committing
1t; thus avenging in bestile fashion a
bestlle deed, and reducing themselves
to level with the criminal.
Lawlessness grows by what it feeds
upon; and when mobs begin to lynch
for rape they speedily extend the
sphere of their operations and lynch
for many other kinds of crimes, so
that two-thirds of the lynchings are
not for rape at all; while a consider
able proportion of the individuals
lynehed are innocent of all crime.
Governor Gambler, of Georgia, stated
on one occasion some years ago: ~
can say of a varity that ] have, with
in the last month, saved the lives of
half dozen innocent negroes who
were pursued by the mob, and
brought them to trial in a court of "a
law in which they were acquitted. "
As Bishop Galloway, of Mississippi,
has finely said: "When the rule of
mob obtains, that which distin-
cuisines a high civilization is rurrend-
cred. The mob which lynches a negro
charged with rape will in a little
while lynch white man suspected of
crime. Every Christian patriot in
America needs to lift up his voice in
loud and eternal protest against the
mob spirit that is threatening the in
tegrity Of this Republic. Governor
jerks, of Alabama, has recently spok-
en- as follows: "The lynching of any
person for whatever crime is mex.