The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-12-09
REAPED WHAT HE SOWED

A few nights ago an old man liv'
ing at Girard, Alabama, was taken
in charge by a band of men and Sc
verely fiogged. A son of the man at
tackled, a boy Of fourteen years,
came to the rescue Of his father and
fired into the crowd engaged in pun
ishing the old man. AS result one
member of the mob is dead and it
said that another is. wounded.
It has been only few months ago
that a man was seized by a party Of
men at his place of business in
Atlanta and taken outside of the city
where he was attacked by them. He
resisted and slew one of the attack
ers.
In each of the above instances it
is said that the party f1ogged or at
tackled was leading an immoral life
and shat the decent element in the
community desired to put stop to
the manner of his living. In the for
mer case it seems the Ku Klux Klan
wa in charge of the fogging and it
was claimed that this organization
was responsible for the occurrence
in Atlanta.
In Texas, in Florida, and in other
places like attacks have been made
and in a good many cases men and
:. women have been severely dealt with.
In most cases the same organization
is alleged to be responsible for the
: occurrences.
It is of course desirable in every
community to get rid of men who
are a menace to good morals. But
there is way provided by law to get
rid of such men. The law fixes a pun
. ishment for adultery, and it is charg-
= ed that the men in the two cases first
cited were living in open adultery.
Why then was resort not had to the
law? The proof could have been
made evident. We suspect that the
men who were bold enough to band
together in the night, mask them
selves perhaps, and attack a man un-
awares and punish him without the
formality of trial were such moral
towards that they were afraid to 60
into the open court and testify against
the parties attacked. Perhaps all the
tar would not have been on one man,
if the trial had been in the open. Be
that as it may, it is not a matter of
regret that the members of the mob
in the two cases cited got what they
deserved. If they were decent men,
they were nevertheless lawless, for
decency is not above the law. If they
were law-abiding men they had no
place in an organization which sits
in judgment at night ON men, in
their absence, and which undertakes
to mete out punishment without trial.
The revelations lately made by the
newspapers with regard to the Ku
Klux Klan regulators would seem to
indicate that some of them, if not
all of them, need regulation them
selves, if not for one offense, then
for another. They are a poor set to
sit in judgment on other men.
The courts are constituted for the
trial of all offenses against the pub
lie and its citizens. Any organiza-
ton which assumes to mete out JUS
tice is menace to law and good
government, however good the in
tentions of its members may be, and
however good, otherwise, it's mem
bers may be. The mob should be met
everywhere by the law. When the
law officers are not present to up
hold the law, every man has the right
to uphold it for himself when he is
attacked. Those who seek to uphold
the law and to have other men obey
the law w~ill succeed best when they
likewise obey the law. Those who
undertake to make law of their
own and enforce it but sow the
wind IN ordar to room fha u,b;r1u,;nJ =