The Washington herald., 1906-12-05
LYNCHING.

In connection with the delays OF the
law. I call your attention and the at
tention Of the nation to the prevalence Of
crime among US. and above all to the epi-
demic of lynching and mob violence that
springs up, now in one part of our coun~
try, now in another 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 sec
ton; il should be busy trying to amend
its own shortcomings. To deal with the
crime Of corruption II is necessary U
have an awakened public conscience. and
to supplement This by whatever legisla-
ton will add speed and certainty in the
execution Of the law. When we deal
with lynchiug 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 lynchiug is the perpetration, es-
pecially by black men, of the hideous
crime of rspe-the most abominable in sl+
the category of crimes, even worse than
murder. Mobs frequently avenge the com
mission of this crime by themselves tor
turing to death the man committing It;
thus avenging in bestial fashion a bestial
deed, and reducing themselves to a 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 rpnsidova bIa ,,roDov4foy of ho s,,dgr.fd
uals lynched are innocent of all crime.
Gov. Gambler, of Georgia, stated on one
occasion some years ag0: Il can say of
a verify that / have within the last
month. saved the lives of half a dozen
innocent negroes who were pursued by
the mob, and brought them to trial in
court OF law in which they were ac-
Quilted AS Bishop Galloway. Of Mis-
sissippi, has finely said: When the rule
Of mob obtains, that which distinguish
es a high civilization is surrendered. The
mob which lynches a negro charged with
rape will in a little while lynch a white
man suspected OF crime. Every Christian
patriot in America needs 10 lift up his
voice in loud and eternal protest against
the mob spirit that is threatening the
integrity of this republic" Gov. Jelks,
Of Alabama, has recently spoken as foi-
lows; The lynching Of any person for
whatever crime is inexcusable anywhere
1t is a defiance of orderly government:
but the killing Of innocent people under
any prOvOcation is infinitely more hor-
rible; and yet innocent people are likely
70 die when a mob's terrible lust is once
aroused. The lesson is this: No good cit
izen can afford to cOuntenance a defiance
Of the statutes, no matter what the prov
ocation. The innocent frequently suffer,
and, 1t is my observation, more usually
suffer than the guilty. The white peo-
pie of South indict the whole colored
race on the ground that even the better
elements lend no assistance whatever in
ferreting out criminals Of their own col
or. The respectable colored people must
learn not to haTbOr their criminals. but
to assist the officers in bringing them to
justice. This is the larger crime, and it
provokes such atrocious offenses as the
one at Atlanta. The two races can nev-
er get on until there is an understanding