The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1906-10-11

Men whom the lust of once does not
kill: =r
Men whom the spoils Of once cannot
buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will:
Men who have honor-men who will
not lie;
Men who can stand before a dema-
And scorn his treacherous batteries
| without. winking;
Tall men sun-crowned. who live above
the fog
In public duty and in private thinking"
| Another cause of mob law is idle
ness. The old. proverb that an idle
| brain Is the DEVILS workship," II as
true as the Gospel. An idle man Is OF
| no value to society, and as rule he
| is curse to community. The idfer
is apt to be found in a mob.
When we have discovered the cause
of an evil 1t Is not dificult to find
remedy for 1t. Remove the cause and
you have disposed of the evil.
Mob law may be remedied. in the
| first place by preventing. as far as pos
sible, the crime that produces 1t. This
| may be done, In part at least. by bet
| ter understanding between the better
| classes Of the two races. 1t is unfair,
unchristian. to condemn all negroes be-
| cause Of the wicked conduct of some of
| the race. The better class of negroes
| condemn in the strongest possible terms
| the conduct Of the criminal class among
them. They are ready to cooperate
with the law -abiding white people in
every possible way. They do not be-
| lieve in harboring the criminal and idle
| classes.
| Last Thursday at noon a large num-
Der of the most prominent negro citi-
zens Of Mobile held meeting at the
Franklin Street Baptist Church for the
purpose of expressing their condemns
ton Of the brutal crimes recently COM
mitted in our city by two members OF
their race. 1t was my privilege to be
| present at that meeting, and I was
deeply impressed with the spirit man
| ifested. The audience was composed
Of intelligent and earnest men who are
| the leaders of their race in Mobile.
They felt that all Of theiy race were
in danger o; suffering from the law
| less spirit manifested by the hoodlum
| element OF both races Let us cultivate
the better acquaintance with the intel
ligent. law-abiding negro and accept
OF the cooperation he readily offers for
the suppression of crime In our COM
munity. He can and will render us
valuable assistance.
1t Is universally conceded that
speedy trials Of those who assault our
girls and women would be an effectual
remedy for mob law. and yet our legis-
lators have, given us no relief in this
respect. The time has come for the
people to demand in no uncertain
terms a change in some OF our laws.
Let the Judge Of a criminal court be
given authority to call a special grand
Jury at any time. Make the penalty OF
an attempted assault on female the
same Is that of a successful assault.
and reduce the time allowed such
l al -
death from thirty days to not more
than. ten days. Let him be speedily
executed. The sooner they are exc
cuted after they are sentenced the bet
ter for the welfare of the community
If such changes are made in our laws
much will be done to remedy mob law.
have no sympathy for the demand of
be made public. I cannot UNDERSTAND
such morbid curiosity. 1t displays
brutal nature. was once offered a
ticket to witness the execution OF a
criminal. The sheriff meant the offer
as a compliment, but 1t was resuisive
to me.
Another thing that will help us to
remedy the mob law is the strict en-
forcement of all our laws for seven
days in every week and fifty-two
weeks in every year. Let no quarters
be given to the criminal class, white
or black. That the violation of some
OF our laws has been winked at by our
city and county officials there Is no
doubt in the minds of our people. Con-
suit the proceedings of the recorder
court for Mondays as compared witt
other days of the week. and you will
get some information about the OBJ
servance of the law requiring saloons
to close on Sunday. Everybody knows
that our officers can enforce these laws
IL they will. The organization of a
law and order club or league is COLI
fession that our city authorities are
ir efficient 1 believe that they are re-
sponsible in no small measure for the
present condition of affairs in our com
munity. l have been told of severa
instances of appeals to policemen to
enforce the Sunday law in certain
communities. and they confessed that
they were powerlesk I heard of on
good woman who appealed to a po-
liceman to prevent rowdyism in bar
room near her home on Sunday. and
she was told that II she did not like
the neighborhood to move elsewhere
In the name OF all that is good and
toly. in the name of the best Interests
of the community, let us demand
better enforcement of all our laws. w:
are remaining inactive while the YAM
r,rs of lawlessness Is tearing out oui
vitals.
What efforts were made by our cit,
and county authorities to suppress tho
mob that assembled last wee? None
| so far as l know. The mob passed
through the streets uhdisguised. firing
pistols as they went, and were undis
turbed. If our city and county ON
r GERS are afraid to do their sworn dut!
at such a time. then let them resign
I that their places may be filled b,
drawer men. The best interests of tn,
city demand that the mob spirit b
: suppressed at any cost. Any man whit
: becomes a part of a mob is law
breaker, an enemy to his community
and he should be treated as a crimi
> nal.
: May the Lord deliver us from COW
ardly and unrghteous rulers!
9 "Wante d-men
Not systems fit and wise.
e Nor faiths with rigid eyes.
\ Not wealth in mountain piles.
: Not with gracious smiles,
Not even the potent pen,