The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-08-31

and upon society is even deeper and more
chastity The fragrant violation and open
definance of law involved in the prac-
tice, sets all law and authority at naught.
1t degrades the courts, debases the ad.
ministration of justice, brings judges
jures and lawyers into contempt, and
strikes at the very roots of all social
order.
One of the most deplorable results OF
such open and violent attractions of the
law is their baleful educational inf1u-
ence. Apart from their evil influence upor
the formation of the character of the
youth of the country, apart from the fact
that men who have participated In such
an execution have now stained their
hands with human blood and will be ali
the more ready to share in other execu-
lions of the same kind, these men who
have done this and escaped punishment
and even heard themselves applauded for
1t, are apt to think that If they have In
this case administered justice so much
better than the courts. they are able to
do equally as we'll in all other cases, and
that courts of justice are mere useless
survivals of an effete and decadent civil
ization, which may as well be abolished
or at least entirely ignored. Thus the road
to anarchy is opened wide, with the
gaunt, grim figure of the red specter grim
ming in the distance
Not Effective to Prevent Crime.
In view of the utter fiendishness of the
crime, some of us might be willing to
waive even these potent objections TO
lynch law, If it were effective to prevent
the crime, but it is not. Experience has
clearly demonstrated that 1t has abso-
lutely no deterrent effect.
Any remedy for lynching, to be effec-
tive must remove all excuse for 1t, other
wise it wiz be merely a remedy for symp-
toms of the malady, and foredoomed to
ignominious failure. The proof of certain
brutal facts, now requited by law, must
be Dispensed with, and the attempt,
accompanied by actual personal violence,
must constitute the crime In the case
of any pure and modest woman, the out
rage to her feelings is completed by such
an attempt, and the crime should also be
held to be then completed. The testi-
mony of witnesses should be taken in
camera in the presence of the accused
and counsel such persons only as the
judge may admit to the hearing. The
testimony, when taken, should be held
inviolate, as is now done in certain d.
vorce cases in some of the states The
publication of sensational reports of the
proceedings in court should be prohibited
by law. The trial should be speedy, and
there should be no appeal. 1.-THE Judgment
of the court should be instantly executed
Where a verdict of guilty without capital
punishment is rendered, the judge should
have a large discretion in the imposition
of the penalty in order that he may be
able to make the punishment fit the crime
But where the verdict is guilty with CAPT.
tai punishment, swift and memorable
death. in horrid form, should be the in
evtable penalty.
Cannot Be Endured.
Laws II. III and w are not so widely
recognized and enforced as law l. but
they are recognized and oboyed to an ex-
tent sufficient to make them extremely
dangerous both to individuals and to So
ciety. While their enforcement is not
ususally attended with the multiplied hor-
rors of lynching, yet they are amenable
to all the other potent objections to that
bloody custom and to some others pecu-
liarly their own. The corpus deficit Is
frequently lacking In cases of adultery
seduction and Islander. When we add to
this grave defect in the proof of capital
crime. the many powerful motives to
falsely charge these offences in justihca-
ton of homicide prompted by other mo-
tives 1t becomes evident that no civilized
state cannot long endure them, and that
they must be abrogated. They all prob
ably have for their raison d. etre the abb
surdely inadequate remedy provided by
law.
Laws V and VI apply to both forms OF
the duel. But the street duel Is so dead
ly both to participants and bystanders
so utterly destructive of all peace and
good order, that some means should be
found instantly to suppress 1t. The ques-
ton of a remedy Is most difficult The
plea of self defense is always at hand
the proof easy. and contradiction in most
cases impossible Much good might pos
sibly be accomplished by making the use
of concealed weapon where death re-
suits highly criminal per Sc. despite the
establishment of self defence. A law OF
this kind properly enforced. would I'M
doubtedly materially decrease the num-
Der of street duels. because there would
be no defence for the survivor, IL he used
a concealed weapon
Lawless law VII makes the lie direct
and certain other mortal insults equal to
the first blow that justifies the immedi-
ate punishment of the offender. This
doctrine is more in harmony with COM
mon sense and right reason. and should
be legitimatized and incorporated in the
law of the land. OF course, legal safe
guards should be provided to prevent
abuse.
is usually caught in possession of the
stolen animal, and the burden of proof
is properly imposed upon him.
Are Uniformly Enforced.
Laws TX and X are quite uniformly
enforced by juries everywhere in the
United States. They always give the
unnatural person the advantage of the
corporation, and the latter must make
out the strongest possible case to es-
cape an adverse verdict The man in
need of daily bread sees vast useless for
tunes In the hands of individuals. cor
porations and syndicates ever growing
greater while his struggles for the neces.
saries of life constantly grow harder and
more desperate. When the average man
is called to decide between the two, we
need not be surprised that he undertakes
to restore the economic equilibrium. as
it were. to the extent of his power, ano
favors the living, breathing man against
the soulless corporation and the under