Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-12-04
EPIDEMIC OF LYNCHING.
Rule of Mob Represents LOOsening of
Bands of Civilization.

In connection with the delays of the
law | call your attention and the at
tention of the nation TO the prevalence
of crime among us, and, above all, to
the epidemic of lynching and mob VIC
lence that springs up, now in one part
of our country, 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 section. 1t should
be busy trying to amend its own short
comingS. TO deal with the crime of
corruption it is necessary to 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 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 eX-
listing cause of lynching is the perpe-
tration, especially by black men, of
the hideous crime of rape, the most
abominable in all the category of
crimes, even worse than murder. Mobs
frequently avenge the commission of
lllS ny luGiuSClNcS u
death the man committing it, thus
avenging in bestial fashion Il 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 considerable pro-
portion of the individuals lynched are
innocent of all crime. Governor Can
der of Georgia stated on one occasion
some years ago, Il can say of a verify
that have within the last month saw
ed the lives of half dozen innocent
negroes who were pursued by the mob
and brought them to trial in court of
law in which they were acquitted"
AS Bishop Galloway of Mississippi has
finely said: when the rule of Il mob
obtains, that which distinguishes
high civilization is surrendered. The
mob which lynches negro charged
with rape will in n little while lynch n
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 integrity of this re-
public" Governor Jelks of Alabama
has recently spoken as follows: 1.-THE
lynching of any person for whatever
crime is ineXcusable anywhere 1t is Il
defiance of orderly government. But
the killing of innocent people under
any provocation is infinitely more hor-
rible, and yet innocent people are like
ly to die when mob's terrible lust is
once aroused. The lesson is this: No
good citizen can afford to countenance
defiance of the statutes, no matter
what the provocation. The innocent
frequently suffer and, it is my obser-
walton, more usually suffer than the
guilty. The white people of the south
indict the whole colored race on the
ground that even the better elements
lend no assistance whatever in ferret
ing out criminals of their own color
The respectable colored people must
learn not to harbor 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 never get on until there is an I'M
Outstanding on the part of both to