The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-06-19
LYNCHINGS AND THEIR CAUSE

Henry Kendall and his son, the two
men who turned states evidence in the
lypching case in WadesborO, have left
their homes, the presumption being
that they were afraid to stay in the
neighborhOOd Of the men against whom
they had testified. The Wadesboro Mes
senger and Intelligencer of last week
says: - ~
Messrs. Henry d. Kendall and Henry
d. Kendall, Jr., the persons who turn
ed states evidence in the Johnson
Iynching cases, passed through Wades-I
boro Sunday, June 3rd. They had al
double barrel gun in their buggy and!
were going in the direction of Monroe,
and later were seen at both Monroe
and Wingate.
No one paid much attention to the
fact that Mr.. Kendall had left home
as he was not considered in any dam
ger-untiI Monday, when Mrs. Kendall
phoned persons in town that he had.
gone away and hat she did not know
whether she would ever see him again
or not.
Mr.. Kendall, the M and 1. learns,
was somewhere in huntsville town
ship as late as Sunday, but as to his
present Whereabouts this paper has
no information. -
1t is to be hoped that they were not
forced to leave their homes through
any well-grounded fear of bodily harm
because Of their testimony before the
Judge in the preliminary investigation
or by threats to prevent them from tes-
tifying at the trial in the superior
court.
The special court to try the men will
convene in Monroe July 10th. The two
KendalIs are very important witnesses
for the state and it may be that they
think it best to keep out Of the locality
until the trial is over.
1t would be a great outrage if these.
men have been forced to give up their
homes and fee to save their lives. The
authorities of Arson county should see
to it that every states witness in that
case has protection. 1t will be a dis
grace to the county if this is not done
and the men guilty Of the lynching OF
johnson go unpublished because no wit
nesses will dare to appear and testify
against them.
That trial will attract. greater atten-
ton throughout the state than any
which has occurred in many years. In
fact it will be watched with great inter-
est in all sections of the country. The
public will want to know whether a
North Carolina jury will convict men
of the crime of lynching in a case
where it has positive proof of the guilt
of the defendants. This will be a test
case on this point. If all the defend
ants are acquitted the special statute
furnishing lynching may as well be re-
pealed and the legal definition of muir
der be changed so as to except lynch
ings.
Some persons attempt to excuse
l~ynchings by putting the blame on the
courts. They say the failure of the
courts to punish men h commit
murders causes the people to take the
law into their w hands. II this be
true, with whom lies the failure? Not
with the judges or with the solicitors,
but with4the juries-thes people ofthe
counties who are called te~sit on the
cases and declare the defendants guilty
or innocent according to the evidence
placed before them. The juries often
refuse to convict in the p~lainest eases
or make a compromise with the muir
derers by bringing in a verdict of homi-
eide in a less degree. II
If the officers of the counties do not
do their duty in experimenting murder
ers, but let them go at large the people
should turn them out of Office and elect
men in their places who will do their
duty. .<f =
Where the people of a county proper
ly appreciate the sacredness of life and
are determined that men who commit
murder shall suffer punishment at the
hands of the law then you will have
few bomicides and the men who COM
nit them will be punished. Arson
%county's homicide record, we are sorry
to say, does not show that her people
as a whole are of this kind, as III fol-
lowing record of murders in the coun-
ty sent to the. Charlotte News by its.
Wadesbcro correspondent shows:
M. G.. Smith was brutally murdered
in Arson by two negroes and they
were sentenced to a term in the peni-
Tertiary, Both ~haye- escaped.
John Murray was killed byzone eagle
not long ago. eagle was acquitted.
John Pratt, colored, was killed by