The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-10-23
Reign Of the Mob. B..

ing q certain crime, says:
eff a young lady should, while
travelling along a.l}publie road or
pathway, happen 10 be bitten by y
snake or mad dog, when the alarm
Is given the snake or dog is, If
caught; Immediately dipatched with
out further ceremony. If black
negro brute meets young lady or
female child on a lonely road and as
saults her, he is taken in charge by
army officers Of the law and pro-
tected from harm. If he has money
he can procure counsel and have his
trial continued from time to time and
then II convicted is only given 4
term in prison, of If hanged he is
allowed to profess conversion and get
up on the gallows and tell his hear
ers that he Is on the road to heav-
en-. This law should be changed.
When a case Of this kind takes place
in community, the wretch, white OF
black, should be outlawed immediac-
,ly, and shot or dispatched in some
way, by the first ones who catch him
and they should receive a reward for
it besides, that is, when certain that
they have the right man, and If one
is tried and convicted he should 1oJ
be allowed to make any statement
in regard to being on the road ito
heaven. Simply let him confess and
then pull the trigger without fur
ther cermony."
When we are brought face to face
with such dastardly crimes as was
recently attempted at Greer's and at
Spartanburg, and was actually accom-
plished over in North Carolina, we
almost agree with the Easley Pro-
gress. But when we consider the
terrible effects of mob law on our
civilization we most emphatically
dissend from the reign of mob law
in any form. If the mob could be
used to stamp out the crime of which
the Progress refers and no other,
it might be tolerated. But the
trouble is, many times the mob does
not stop to ascertain the guilt or
innocence Of one charged with crime
before it strings him up or shoots
him to death. Many an innocent man
has been executed by a mob,
while possibly the guilty scoundrel
looked on, feling that, as some one
looked on, feeling that, as some one
else had been put to death for his
crime, be was secure from even sus-
picion.
The Progress says when ease
of this kind takes place in a COM
munity, the wretch, white or black,
should be outlawed Immediately and
shot or dispatched in some way by
the first ones who catch him AMI
they. should receive a reward fof
it besides, that is, when certain they
have the right man." There is the
rub. Who can control a mob until
it finds out whether 1t has the right
man or not? Mob law simply sets
aside all restraint and makes every
man who happens to be in the MOB
a. law unto himself. A mob is an
awful thing, and should mob law
become the rule and not the excep-
tion, no man would care to live In
q community where it is practicei.
as no mans life would be safe.
When q fiend commits an assault
on woman his guilt should be de-
termined as speedily as possible and
tie fiend executed at once, but let
us be sure that we are executing
the real iend. This mob law does
not always do this before it makes
vengeance on a supposed criminal.
Then again if we sanction mob law
for one crime and it is. practiced
with the consent of the law, 1t would
have a most demoralizing effect on
us as a people. 1t would. not he
long before we would take another
step and call in the mob to avenge
C0o oCluC SASAHSA ~
other citizen ,and so it would go.
Only some few days ago some ne
groes over in Alabama lynched i
negro because he attempted to steal
a bale Of cotton from a gin. once
the reign of mob law Is begun no
one can tell where it will end. II
a fiend who assaults woman is
caught in nine times out Of ten
cases he will be summarily eXecute1
then and there, but it won't do for
the law to sanction such action on
the part of a mob, as the Progress
proposes. The one thing that made
Rome the ruler of the world was tae
absolute obedience Of her citizen
ship to law, and that is what our
people must do if they want to pre-
serve their civilization.
Trying to Beat Bryan.