The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-04-23
AN UNPERFORMED DUTY.

cab wherein the negro victims of the
Birmingham aid of last year OBJ
tained a judgment Of s25. 200 against
the members of the mob. whom they
sued in the United States court for
civil damages, ought to please every
body who has the slightest regard for
the principles of law and the integrity |
OF justice. says the Courier-Journal.
The raid in question was fragrant !
example Of rabid lawlessness. The
of the victims had moth !
ing to do with the merits of the case.
Most of the outrages perpetrated by
night riders in the past two years
were inflicted upon whites. The
whites were entitled to protection,
which they did not get. In like man
ner, the negroes around Birmingham
we're entitled to protection, which
they did not get. They we're. instead,
the prey of a gang of criminals who
OVERRIDE the law, made themselves
instruments Of oppression, killed and
MANNED and burned. OF course, the
victims should have recompense from
those who so prosecuted them
lrecompense which. in whatever sum
It may come or through whatever
medium II may be gained, can never
lwipe out the black stain which the
raid itself has fixed upon the records
of the state.
The judgment should not. under
ANY circumstances, be allowed to
lapse. The guilty raiders should be
made to pay for their diabolic frolic
of last spring. 1t will be good not
only for their spirit but for the spirit
OF all others who have engaged in
i the sinister festivities OF night riding
or who may feel an impulse so TO
engage in future. The men who par
, ticipated in the Birmingham raid I'M
doubtedly have today a higher re-
spect for the law they defied than
they did last week. They now realize
that, after all. law is not quite so
huge a joke as they thought it, not
so negligible a quantity as they sus-
pected. They are in a mood, doubt
less, TO give to their nelghbors and
friends such advice as: ''When you
are tempted to transform yourself
into a mob, that is the time not TO
do So" 1t Is questionable whether
the defendants got $25. 900 worth Of
fun out Of their lawlessness.
II is a great thing for any group OF
the population 10 learn. after having
loose ideas on the subject. that law
is a serious proposition, that govern
ment actually means something and |
that In our land men are not sup
posed to have the freedom TO muir /
der, terrorize, main and destroy at !
WILL The judgment in Paducah will
help to spread in the public mind a
realization Of the truth. OF course,
the delusion some persons harbored-
and still harbor-that everything else /
violent and atroclous Is against The /
law except night riding in its divers |
forms had its origin and derived sup |
port from the inactivity OF certain /
local officers of the state government. /
So many outrages were committed /
with impugnity that the notion that |
night rider could do no wrong be-
came rather prevalent. In some cases
the state government has succeeded
In correcting the mistake, but not in |
sufficient number OF cases. The /
judgment for the Birmingham ne
groes will prove a valuable educa-
tional medium, even though the court
was not a state tribunal, but fed
eral one.
Meanwhile, one case stands out
lconspicuously to condemn the agents
OF the law In eKntucky.
In Nicholas county one night over
a year ago Hiram Hedges, a tobacco |
planter, was killed in cold blood be-
fore the very eyes of his family by a |
band of night riders endeavoring to
coerce him into doing their bidding /
instead of doing his own, as he had /
right to do under the constitution.
Not in the history Of the state was
there ever crime more brutal. cow
ardly and malicious. Yet. for all
that. his muTderers are free. They
have not been hunted out or touched
by any agent Of the law. They did
their deed Of blood with as suave and
free a manner and as decided an Inn
munity from punishment as II they
had simply INDUCED in the light
some pastime of a pink tea.
Now, the powers or law in Ken
lucky have yet duty to do. They
have yet to address themselves TO
the capture and punishment of the
assassins Of Hiram Hedges, with all