Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1909-11-25
THAT CAIRO MOB
''Northward the Criminal Negro Problem
' Makes Its Way"
CONTEMPT FOR THE LAW


Affair, Thing That Has Never
Yet Occurred i'm the South and
I. Never Will.
In discussing that Cairo lynchine
in Its editorial columns the Augusta
Chronicle says apart from one novel
ty, hereafter TO be mentioned, the
recent ebullition of mob violence
in Illinois was the same old typical
American lynching. Same getting
mad all together; same rush for the
prisoner; same slaughter OF the
shrieking wretch by hanging, shoot
ing and burning; same theatrical
hurrying to the spot Of troops, who
never get there In time, and If by
some miracle they ever do so. take
a vote not to shoot, as they did the
other day.
IA The only novelty was the active
participation of women in the affair
ij5+-a thing that has never yet occurred
In the South and never will.
- The excuse for the lynching Itself
is, the same old excuse---distrust of
the law. But the real underlying
cause sis---contempt for the law. The
mob itself is, for the time being
a lawless aggregation Of madmen ;
no matter how much each member
OF 1t individually may. in his calmer
moments pretend to respect the law,
he Is an outlaw, pure and simple.
when he takes the law into his own
hands as was done in Cairo. And
this Is true whether it occurs in
n In, Illinois or in Georgia or Missis-
sippi.
And. yet. II would not be entirely
fair to say that the courts. as a
whole. administer justice as certainly
and with as even a hand as they
should. II has been contended more
than once. that in matters between
man and man. as the ownership OF
property for istancc, our courts. gen
orally are trustworthy. but that when
1t comes to crime, they are not alto
gether effective instruments for the
protection of the community. This
lis true only in sense and IL is
generally speaking, true only in the
sence that juries sometimes fail to
/, do their duty.
p We have seen something of this
Z in this very community within the
past few weeks. where more than
one prisoner. charged with heinous
Hcrime-and as guilty as any that ever
faced a eourt-were summariiy turn
ed loose by the trial jury. But,
surely, this fault can not be laid al
the door of the court itself, when
1t Is seen that 1t is with the people.
after ali. that lies the right anc
power to enforce the law as 1t should
s1be enforced. Perhaps 1t is. in {
measure, true that IL they would
sadminister Justice in the jury box
\ more often than they do, they woulo
not find 1t necessary. or, rather. pos
sible,l to administer 1t as members
! of a wild, savage mob.
v There is still another thought,
sShowever, On connection with this
Cairo lynching. II has again beer
: proved--as II was in the Springfield
sriDts--that human nature Is prett!
! much the same there as in Georgi:
or South Carolina or Mississippi
It only needs sufficient provocatioI
to assert Itself. The influx of q GER
tain class of negroes into the North
We say certain class OF negroes.
because we refuse TO place all ne
groes in the category OF criminals
Is furnishing this provocation III
Illinois as 1t has furnished 1t il
the South since the war.
For some years past the negr
problem has been moving north
ward. Springfield and Cairo furnish
ed unmistakable mile-stones of 1t
progress. Unfortunately the "negr
problem" carries with it the problem
OF coping with certain forms
crime, such as murder aud rape
And II is inevitable. perhaps-how
evgr tnexeusable 1t may be-that th'
method of dealing with such crime
Is the same in the North as In the
South, hOS .uo
Yet. we would sympathize with
rather than condemn. the North 70
the problem which confornts 1t. Il
! is a problem not OF its own making :,
; any more than the same problem was
of the south's making. Therefore.
we refrain from referring to this
Cairo affair as another Northern
j outrage" even though we have. &c
azcften. seen similar affairs in the
South referred 10 as another South
,1erra outrs6e." Perhaps our kindred
troubles are rapidly bringing US all
to "a better understanding on this
point; certainly. neither section haf
any cause to throw stones at the
other in connection with II. They
I'd are both. now, simply confronted
~ith5a similar problem. or problems;
the terminal negro" problem-and
the problem OF putting down moi
violence. without respect to provo.
|, . cation or persons--and at any price