The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1906-12-04
MESSAGE OF
THE PRESIDENT
Annual CommunicationM
to Congress.
DISCUSSES MANY THINGS
Including Lynehins, Railroad Mems
Hours, Capital and Labor and
Corporations.

l'rchldent NooNeNclt III hiH hnuuhl
message again urges the enactment OF
law prohibiting corporations from
contributing to- campaign funds. lie
also urges tie passage OF the measure
comforting upon the government the
right OF appeal In criminal cases on
questions OF law. Continuing. the
president says:
cannot too strongly urge the pas
sage Of the bill In question. A failure
90 pass II will result In seriously liam.
pcring the government In It's enort 20
obtain justice. especially against
wcall.y individuals or corporations
who 10 wrong. and may also prevent
the government from obtaining Justice
for wngrworkcrs who are not them.
selves able effectively 20 contest case
where the judgment OF nm inferior
court has been against them. have
specifically In view recent decision
by district judge leaving railway
employees without remedy for viola
iion OF certain so called labor s'at'te
The Importance OF enaciing hio law
the particular bill In question Is fur.
Their Increased by the fact that tie gov
eminent has now definitely begun n
policy OF rcsortlng 90 the criminal law
In those trust and Interstate commerce
cases whert such course offers rea
sonable chance OF success.
PROPER USE OF INJUNCTIoNS.
Ia my last message suggested the
enactment OF law In connection with
the Issuance OF lnJunctions, attention
having been sharply drawn to the mat.
ter by the demand that the right OF np-
plying inJunctions In labor cases
should be wholly abolished. II Is Mt
least doubtful whether law abolish.
Ing altogether the use OF lnJunctions
In such cases would stand the test OF
the courts I'm which case. OF course, the
legislation would be ineffective. More
over. I believe II would be wrong alto
gether to prohibit the use OF inJunc-
tons. II IL criminal to permit SYM
pathy for criminals TO weaken our
hands In upholdIng the law, and II
men seek to destroy life or property
by mob violence there should be no I'M
pairment OF the power Of the courts to
deal with them In the most summary
and effective way possible But so
far as possible the abuse Of the power
should be provided against by some
such law as I advocated last year.
AGAINST LYNCHING.
I call your attention and the atten-
ton Of the nation to the prevalence 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 another. Each sec
ton, north, south, east or west, has
its own faults. No section can with
wisdom spend its time jeering at the
faults OF another section. IL should be
busy trying to amend It's own short
comings. To deal with the crime OF
corruption 1t Is necessary to have an
awakened public conscience and to
supplement this by whatever lesisla-
ton will add speed and certainty In
the execution Of the law. When we
deal with lynchlng even more Is neces-
sary. A great many white men are
lynched, but the crime liz peculiarly
frequent In respect to black men. The
greatest existing cause Of lynchlng Is
the preparation, especially by black
men, of the hideous crime of rape, the
most abominable in all the category
Of crimes, even worse than murder.
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 lynchlags are not
for rape at all, while considerable
proportion of the individuals lynched
are innocent of all crime.
There is but one safe rule In dealing
with black men as with white men
1t is the same rule that must be APP
piled In dealing with rich men and
poor men-that is, to treat each man,
whatever his color, his creed or his So
cial position, with even handed justice
on his real worth as man. White
people owe it quite as much to them
selves as to the colored race to treat
well the colored man who shows by
his life that he deserves such treatment.
There is no question of social equality
or negro domination involved.
In>my judgment, the crime If rape
should always be punished with death,
as Is the case with murder. Assault
with intent to commit rape should be
made capital crime, at least in the
discretion of the court, end provision
should be made by which the punish
ment. may follow Immediately upon
the heels of the offense.
No more shortslghted policy can be
imagined than in the fancied interest
of one class to prevent the educs ton
of another class. The white man, IL
he is wise, will decline TO allow the
negroes In mass to grow to man
hood and womanhood without educa-
ton.
PREACHERS OF MERE DISCON-
TENT"
In dealing with both labor and CAPT.
ital. with the questions affecting both
corporations and trades unions, there
is one matter more important to re-
member than aught else, and that is