Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1915-08-20
MOB RULE MUST CEASE.

In the sober aftermath of Georgia's
tragedy and shame, one conviction
towers in the mind of all thinking cit
liens, in the conscience of all upright
citizens, and in the purpose of all au-
thorities who respect their office and
honor their state; and this conviction
is that at any cost and any hazard
mob rule in Georgia must be put down
once and forever.
We stand at fateful parting of the
ways. We must choose between gov
eminent and anarchy, between civil
ization and savagery, between the
blackness of Hayti and the hope of
our Angle-Saxon heritage. We must
choose now the safe and righteous
course, or henceforth go the path of
deepening peril and disgrace. The
unspeakably cruel and horrible crime
that has been perpetrated by band
of law-defying men sweeps immeasur-
ably further than the issue of the
Frank case; it sweeps to the very base
of our governmental institutions and
challenges the very existence of our
social order. The mob that wrested
this prisoner from the State peniten-
tiary, where he was serving a lifetime
sentence, and boldly drove him across
the State and murdered him in lawless
revenge, and then exulted in its
deed-this mob has done far more than
vent its fury on victim, it has out
ragged and endangered a Common
wealth, it has assassinated the charac-
| ter of a law-abiding State.
If this mad spirit goes unpublished
and unchecked, what becomes of the
power of law and the security of prop
erty and life? If this lynching, which
, by the way is the ninth that has oc-
Cured in Georgia within the last eight
months, is condoned by responsible
authorities, who can say how frequent
and swift will be the lynchings &c
| follow? Let us face the stark and ter.
rible issue now, let us settle it now, OF
resign our State to the unbridled in
stincts of the jungle.
y The mob that committed this crimf
does rot represent the decency anJ
intelligence of Georgia any more thar
any mob represents the decency and
intelligence of any State. But this
mob does represent a savage, anarch.
istic impulse that will wax hydrahead.
ed and uncomfortable unless it is
| crushed. Lawless people are no more
numerous in Georgia than elsewhere
! but they have been tolerated to such
an extent that they have become al
defiant. The individuals guilty of this
outrage must be brought to justice
and made an everlasting example
| They must be dealt with ACCORDING
to the soberest and sternest and speed
lest process of law Otherwise, we
had as well confess that there is no
virtue in our institutions.
AS the chief custodian of the States
honor and law, it is the Governor S
solemn duty to probe this crime to it's
blacklist bottom and to exhaust every
resource at his command to see that
the guilty are punished and the States
integrity indicated. If Governor Har-
ris does nothing else during his entire
administration but does this in just
completion, he will have rendered his
State immortal service and will go in
to history among the bravest and
greatest men of his time.
Furthermore, in this truly sacred
task the Governor should be sustained
by every official and by all the thought
full, upright people of Georgia. There
are enough conscience, enough intel