The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1911-12-26

horses and followed him. Half Of them
had no idea OF what they were apou.
to do, but by the time they nau
reached the house where the wounoeo
man had been taken, they were itcnlns
10 pull at rope. In just such care
less, trivial ways the mob spirit Is
born.
The mob spirit does not necessarily
vent itself in murder. Here are some
typical instances of mob emotion that
occur in everyday life.
A baseball crowd when the home
team is winning in grand closing raj
ly when the game seemed lost.
A football crowd, when some hail.
back breaks loose from a tangle OF
players and electriAes the stands by
an eighty-yard run down the field.
The intense excitement that accom-
panies some of the great revival meet
ings where thousands are under the
spell Of an emotional orator.
The frenzied ovations that are some
times given a presidential candidate
after a long week of the excitement
of a national political convention
The sudden blaze of excitement that
follows any war scare is the nantes
tation of a national mob spirit 1t Is
electrical in its effect on the great
crowds that form in such periods.
Spellbinders of the political cam
paigns are past masters In the art OF
stirring up mob emotions. They are
valued according to their ability to
stir the crowds into yelling, screech-
ing enthusiasms.
stop thief" Is another cry that
starts the mob emotion, makes every
man drop whatever he is about to do
and turns him into a hunter of the
hunted
What would your defense be If you
were brought into court charged with
being a member of a mob? Is there
any defense that could be made as
laws stand now? In the past the man
charged with icing a member of such
an avenging band has always relied
upon technicalities and the power OF
public sentiment to help him go free.
Now the alienists and psychologists
have found new loophole.
They assert that mob members are
under the diabolic sway of the mag.
netism of the mob
That he is not responsible for any
acts that he may have committed
while in that strange, trance-like state
of excitement that glazes mems eyes
and turns the gentlest soul into a crea
ture : vengeance is their opinion
III actions while under this ne
c>lliar mob-hypnosis are at utter va
rance with everything that he has
ever done in all his life before
He has hypnotized himself and 9th
ers at the same time with ideas o.
vengeance
According to the men who peer into
our motives and dissect our thought.
these are the real reasons why W,
appeal to Judge Lynch" The low
percentage of convictions in assaults
murders and the whole catalogue O
outrages have had to do with OIL
readiness to carry tie case into tn
tribunal of that Judge who works II
the dark and who always convicts ant
never grants rehearing Race preiu
dice helps the mob to appeal from tn
courts of the state to this mythica
court that has hanged, burned an
shot nearly 400 victims since 1885.
Lynching is not becoming less fire
quent. The average holds nearly un
form one year after another State
that never knew the vengeance of
| mob before have recently bee
: shocked and Mortified by outbreak
! of this spirit within their boundarie.
The custom Of appealing to that grill
, t"judge" is spreading. and thus tar n
? means have ever been devised ths
! will stamp it out. 1t lies too deepl
In the emotions