Omaha daily bee., 1919-10-06

tcHtlOH. he "DETAILS NccQ NOT DC
recited; they are like terrible
nightmare to all of us. A mob at
first of handful of boys and young
men gathered at our court house,
demanding the life of negro who
it is alleged had committed helm
Gus crime. This handful was soon
surrounded by thousands of on
lockers and as the cover of darkness
settled over the scene out of this
vast throng came the fotsam and
jetsam of great city, the hoodlums,
the buns, the thugs, the radicals
whose hands are against every man
and whose only desire is to destroy
the existing order of things in the
hope that out of the ruin may rise
omething better for themselves.
They sacked and burned our splen-
did court house and at last after the
most determined resistance by the
authorities they secured their victim,
hung aim to a corner post, riddled
his body with bullets, dragged it
through the streets, burned it as far
as possible and afterwards dragged
the cnarred remains through the
downtown district.
Cowardly Assault.
All Of this is terrible enough, but
The thing that touches this congrega-
ton the most deeply is that in the
progress of this short reign of terror
a cowardly, uncalled for, brutal at
tempt was made upon the life of our
good friend and fellow member of
this congregation, Mayor Ed P.
Smith, for no other cause than that
CT standing out unfinchingly and I'M
waveringly in the very face of immi-
oent death, like man, for the en-
forcement of law and order and for
the protection of all citizens from
mob violence until they shall be tried
by due process of law and found
guilty and sentenced TO receive the
penalty decided upon by the people
through their representatives as en-
bodied in the laws of the state.
We need not remind you that the
daily press of the country from one
end of it to the other are singing
the praises of this modest. unassum-
ing friend, neighbor and brother Of
ours for his courage. patriotism, 10y
atty ard fidelity in this hour of test
ing that came so near ending fatally.
We vino know him are not surprised
in the least; it is just what we ex-
pectei of him and we were not dis
appointed We knew he would rath-
CIR lose his life than to willingly and
knowingly consent to wrong and in
justice or fail in the hour when duty
called.
Man of High Ideals.
We desire to go on record as
congregation in expressing our I'M
bounded faith in Mayor Smith as a
man of the highest ideals, the noblest
purposes and as a man of unswerv-
ing fidelity to his God, his country,
his city, his home, his church, his
friends and to the brotherhood of
man. We desire likewise to go on
record with MIN as being utterly op-
posed to any sort of crime or mis-
demeanor against the public good,
the public morals and the public
safety; but we wish likewise to go on
record with him as being absolutely
opposed tc any kind and every kind
OF mob rule or violence and we
pledge him and the city our utmost
support in every possible way to
maintain law and order and to con-
serve to Our citizens the rights guar
anteed by the constitution of the
United States, and by the laws of the
nation, the state and the community.
We also pledge ourselves to exert
every effort within the pale of our
rights as citizens to rid our city of
every insiduous influence that tends
to breed contempt of law and order
and to incite riot and violence.
Deepest Sympathy.
We wish, one and all, to express
to Mayor Smith our abiding love
and our deepest sympathy in his
passing physical affection and our
immeasurable and inexpressible
of his courage, his
manhood and his fidelity to the trust
delivered unto him. We join with
his family in deep gratitude for that
Care that seemed to
be round about him even in the hour
of darkness and peril and we re-
joice that in his deliverance a kind
and loving father and husband has
been spared to the home. a worthy
executive has been spared to the
city, noble and manly man has
been spared to the world, depend
able citizen has been spared to this
nation and a brother and friend.
trusted and beloved has been spared
to this church. May his noble and
example inspire us all to do
our duty in our hour of testing as
faithfully as he did his is the prayer
of all our hearts.