The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-10-15
IF WE HAD THE FORCE.

illustrated by some New York police
Saturday over in Brooklyn. Little
Rose, ID, had accused Nathan Math-
las of having tried to assault her.
Whether he had or not, when police
officers arrived a moose had been
placed about Matthias neck and the
other end of the rope attached to a
telegraph pole. The police with drawn
revolvers effected his rescue"
"The foregoing paragraph from the
Springfield Republican is suggestive
If the city of Brooklyn include 20
square miles and have 1000 police
men, that is an average of 100 police
men to the square mile.
"If we could afford one policeman
to the square mile in the state of
South Carolina, which would imply
force of more than 10000 men, lyn-.
chings would perhaps, be prevented
as successfully as in Brooklyn"
Thus readeth the Columbia State.
There is a force more potent than
many policemen which would break
up lynching. 1t is the force of law
enforcement. It has been satisfactory
ly shown, we think, that the courts
in this state, and in other states, are
impotent to enforce the lazy against
lynching. The officers either cannot
find the criminals, or, if some are
found, charged with the crime, the
courts are not able to secure just
judgments.
For this reason, and because we
cannot have a policeman for every
square acre of territory, and be-
cause they would not enforce the law
if We did have them, we favor
national law against lynching. The
constitution of the United States
guarantees to every man the right to
"life, liberty and the pursuit of hap
piness," we believe. The right has
been fagrantly disregarded in many
sections and will be so disregarded
again. There is no adequate remedy
against the violators of the law in
this regard through local trials, and
the right cannot be enforced except
through Federal statutes and the Fed
eral Courts. Therefore, we favor
"goiag in" for something which will
get action.
When the Federal authorities as
sumo charge of the lynching business
there will be, an appreciable fall in the
lynching batting average. 1t will not
be so easy to get bail when charged
with their crime, nor to prove an
alibi, and there will be officers, who
are able to see, ferreting out crime,
and lynchers will be brought to JUS
tice.
Of course there will be those who
will talk about States Rights when
the effort is made to secure Federal
legislation on this subject. But the
state has no right to foster lynching
and to protect the lynchers. Without
intending to do so, that is what
States Rights is doing in this regard.
States Rights has been cloak for
enough wrong-doing. 1t is time that
we dropped theory and got down to
business.
One good officer, bent on enforcing
the law, is worth a whole county full
CT officers who cannot see, and who
VII rot investigate crime because
they are watching me-" We will have
such officers when the Federal gov
ernment gets behind this crime.
Along with Federal statute
against lyMching, there should come
d state enactment, either by constitu-
tional amendment, or by statute,
whichever is necessary, empowering
the Governor to remove officers who
DO not enforce the law, whatever
their excuse for not doing so. In
everything these days we are bound
hand and foot by the issues of pri-