Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-05

elements of moral character I'm q judge
are an earnest desire to reach a Just
conclusion and courage to enforce It.
In so far as fear of public comment
does not affect the courage of a judge,
but only spurs him on to search his
conscience and TO reach the result
which approves itself to his inmost
heart, such comment serves q useful
purpose. There are few men, whether
they are judges for life or for a shorter
term, who do not prefer to earn and
hold the respect of all, and who can
not be reached and made to pause ana
deliberate by hostile public criticism.
In the case of judges having q life
tenure, indeed, their very independence
makes the right freely to comment
on their decisions of greater impor-
tance, because Il Is the only practical
and available instrument i'm the hands
Of free people to keep such judges
alive to the reasonable demands Of
those they serve.
Trust to the People
"On the other hand, the danger of
destroying the proper influence of ju-
dicial decisions by creating unfounded
prejudices against the courts justifies
and requires that unjust attacks shall
be met and answered Courts must
ultimately rest their defense upon the
deliver as the ground for their con-
cluslons and must trust to the calm
and deliberate judgment of all the peo-
pie as their best vindication."
There is one consideration which
should be taken into account by the
good people who carry a sound propo-
sition to an excess in objecting to any
criticism of a judges decision. The
instinct of the American people as
whole is sound in this matter. They
will not subscribe to the doctrine that
any public servant is to be above all
criticism. If the best citizens, those
most competent to express their judg-
ment in such matters, and above all
those belonging to the great and hon
orable profession of the bar, so pro-
foundly influential in American life,
take the position that there shall be
no criticism of a Judge under any cir
cumstances, their view will not be
accepted by the American people as a
whole. In such event the people will
turn to, and tend to accept as justi-
fable, the intemperate and improper
criticism uttered by unworthy agita-
tors. Surely 1t is a misfortune to leave
to such critics a function, right in it
self, which they are certain to abuse.
Just and temperate criticism, when
necessary, is a safeguard against the
acceptance by the people as a whole
of that intemperate antagonism toward
the judiciary which must be combated
by every right-thinking man, and
which, If 1t became widespread among
the people at large, would constitute
dire menace to the republic.
Mob Violence
In connection with the delays of the
law 1 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 vio-
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 it's 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-
tion will add speed and certainty in
the execution of the law. When we
deal with lynching even more is neceS-
sary. A great many white men are
lynched, but the crime is peculiarly
frequent in respect to black men. The
greatest existing cause of lynching is
the perpetration, 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 commis-
sion of this crime by themselves tor
turing to death the man committing
it; thus avenging in bestial fashion
a bestial deed, and reducing them
selves TO level with the criminal.
Feeds on LawIessness
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
dler of Georgia stated on one occasion
some years ago: Il can say of verify
that l have, within the last month,
saved the lives of half dozen inno-
cent negroes who were pursued by the
mob and brought them to trial in a
court of law in which they were ac-
quilted" AS Bishop Galloway of Miss
issippi has finely said: when the rule
of a mob obtains, that which distin-
guishes a high civilization is surren-
dered. The mob which lynches a ne
gro charged with rape will in a little
while lynch 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 in
tegrity of this republic" Governor
Jelks of Alabama has recently spoken
as follows: 1.-THE lynching of any per-
son for whatever crime is inexcusable
anywhere-it is a defiance of orderly
government; but the killing of inno-
cent people under any proVocation is
infinitely more horrible; and yet inno-
cent people are likely to die when a
mob's terrible lust is once aroused.
The lesson is this: No good citizen can
afford to countenance a defiance of the
statutes, no matter what the provoca-
tion. The innocent frequently suffer,
and, it is my observation, more usually
suffer than the guilty. The white peo-
pie of the south indict the whole col
ored race on the ground that even the
better elements lend no assistance
whatever in ferreting out criminals OF
their own color. The respectable coll
ored people must learn not to harbor
their criminals, but to assist the Off
GERS 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 understanding on
the part Of both to make common cause
with the law-abiding against criminals