Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-09
PRESS COMMENT.


The thanks of the country are due to
the encouragement OF the United
States for his outspokcn Remuneration
of the mob spirit and of lynching IN his
address To the executive committee oil
the American Bar Association. We
have been hoping for weeks past Tor
| such an utterance from the White House
| itself, but in vain. To delegations and to
private appeals for some ringing chat-
| actcrization of the horrible crimes which
! have been disgracng this country, notably
/ in Tennessee, the President has not replied
| publicly. In six years he has found no
| opportunity to protest against the mob,
| save ut Buffalo last fall Hence Mr.. Greg
ory's words take ON greater significance
| than would otherwise be the case, pre-
| csely ms they are reinforced by the fnct
| that he is himself u native OF the south.
| No one can charge him with being hos-
| tile to that section when he declares
| that TO tolerate lynching Is to do the
same thing we are eondemning III the
| Germans, Lynching, he asserts, IL
"the most cowardly of crimes, and he
added truthfully that "at this time,
above all others, i, creates an extreme
w dangerous condition.
More thnn that, MIR Gregory assert
ed that mo greater wrong can lie done
to our soldiers IN France than that OF
lynching Germans in America. IRE
cisclv ~ has the Evening Post, he
warns the country that such acts as the
lyncbng of Robert Praegcr IN Illinois
Twill I've seized upon Ivy our enemies as
justifying severe reprisals ON our sol
dicrs in the prison camps His dee
laration that tho STORY OF the death of
that German in Illinois is being con
sidered in Germany today found ex-
traordiuary confirmation In "a dispatch
from Berlin on the same page OF last
nights Evening Post which contained
tho attorney generals speech. THIS
reports tho influential Xeitung am Nit
tag calling upon the Wilhelnstrmse T."
remind Washington Of it's ability 10
make reprisals upon IFS numerous Amer
Ican prisoners $50 rs 10 prevent the
lvnching of Germans in America from
becoming fashionable sport What
could be palmer proof of the correct
ness Of MIR Gregory's position, ur 81 the
weakening Of the moral position of
America in this war every time the mob
kills Negro or white man ~ homer
Mr. Gregory does well, too. 70 make
his protest against what he calls the
"excted and drunken mind VI those
who. being fed with all sorts OF rnpossl-
hle stories, declare that the government
is not Safeguarding the country, and
therefore seek 90 take the law into
their own hands lie has perslstentlv
stood against the prevailing hysterla
conscious OF the fact that he his al
ready sent no leas than 5000 men and
women Ia prison for opposing the war
or the Draft law More than that. he
summary dismissed his first assistant
when he found that that oilirlal he'd
drafted The bill to turn over all espion-
agc or 81 aft cases 60 courts-martial an
act which President Wilson declared
would have reduced US to tho level OF the
PrIssians Mir Gregory has also gone
ont of his way 20 calm the country by
showing that not a single fire III any
plant has been traced to an cnct y alien
during the wear We have been ~ war
In other words. the Encouragement
Is reinforcing the position taken hV the
President himself when he wrote thus
to Or William r Pohn 1t dlstrosScs
me heyOud measure that susplcIon
should attach 60 those who do not de
serve ~ and that acts ot injustice and
even ,iolcurr should lie hasCd up0n that
Suspicion New York Evening Post