Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-06-17
ians a. asmeans Of showing their dis
satisfaction with things IN general.
we need expect no enlightenment.
THE DULUTH LYNCHING.

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THE DULUTH LYNCHING.
1t goes without saying that the Duss
luth lynchin5 was a disgrace to :thSl
city, the police force and the persons
who participated In it. Lynching has
been described and ccnsured 50 often
that it seems that there remains moth.
ing to be said in ~denuncsation Of it.
IT is a crime against. civilization.
The police Of the city were An,
charge Of persons who had been ar
rested on suspicion Of having been.
implicated In diabolical crime. They
may have been guilty. They may
have been innocent. A disorderiyi
mob is not the proper body to deter;
mine the guilt or innocence of an ac-
cused person. 1t has not the means
or the ability to ascertain the facts
The prisoners were held awaiting ex-
animation. TheA officials of the city
were responsible for them. 1t was
the. business of those officials to keep
them even at the cost Of their own
lives. They failed in that duty. They
made a show of resistance, but it was
resistance which involved no possibil-
ity of hurting anybody. BY the means
they employed to hold the mob back
had nothing to fear beyond a .wetting,
and the body Of police. officers. with
all the advantage of position, and
with weapons in their possession, per-
mitted a disorderly mob to- riot for
hours, to wreck the building and to
capture and kill the prisoners.
One reaso why lynchings occur is
that the expectation exists hat there
is to be nc effective resistance by the
~offtcerslof the law. That expectation
is founded on experience. There are
honorable. exceptions, of course but
the rule appears to be to make a mere
show Of resistance, and to be very
careful not to hurt anybody. Hence.
when a crowd gathers for the purpose
of taking a prisoner from the custody
of the officers in. whose hands he is,
the men who compose that .crewd
feel quite certain thae they are run.
ming no serious risk. If the crowd
knew that the police would shoot
shoot to kill, and keep on shooting az
long as they had ammunition and
were able to pull the trigger, there
would be mighty little lynching.
The officers who permit a prison.
er to be taken from them without
making the most effective resistance
within their power fail signa1ly II
their duty. But how about the com
munities by which police officers ar,
employed? Do the people of our CON
mpnities really disapprove of this sor
of mob violence strongly enough t,
stand squarely behind the officers VIII,
will put it down, no matter what tn,
cost? Or is there, after all, a stron,
latent sentiment which tolerate
lynching? OF course there are expires
sions of horror and indignation from
conspicuous people, but how abou
the ran and file, the people, whom
one meets casually on the street? &
Suppose the Duluth policemen ha,
gone at the job of u%pholding the. dig
nifty of the state of Minnesota as j
they meant business. Suppose tina
when a rush on the Jail was threaten
ed they had displayed guns as il the
intended to use them. Suppose tha
the crowd, undeterred, had started it
rusht9 and been met with a volley o
bullets. and that several people ha
BEEN killed. Suppose that the rus
had continued and the police, had kep
up h fire until the of ar
preach were filled with killed an
wounded, while the crowd, becomin
more and more Infatuated, continue
its attack. Suppose all this, with tn
embellishments that anyone can ad
Tor himself-what would have bee
the attitude of the community? woul
, street sentiment have praised the &c
lice for doing their duty, or would
l have condemned them for shootin
down decent people in defense {
I brutes who should be strung up an,
3 way? .r.