Arizona republican., 1921-04-15

last in this case. The remarks of the News are both interesting and instructive. While it does not approve of mob law it finds that the action Of courts and operation of the machinery of the law are often such compel people in self defense to resort to lynch law. Thus it holds the courts responsible for ynching and points to the fact that for fifty years the people of Kentucky have been protecting themselves in this way and no citizen of that state ever convicted of being Der lynching party.
 A reform of and their procedure, the News believes would remove what at present is re- garded a necessary evil.
 Says the News:
 The people did not take the into their hands until the court failed inflct the death pen atty Under the parole system and executive elem freely exercised, this double murderer would all probability have been turned loose society again and that deliberately created the mob senti- ment.
 If criminals punished in Kentucky to the full extent of the law according to the crime com mitted and the people had confidence in the and juries to do ths the mob spirit would soon die An abridgement of the parole system to include only minor feIones, and the abrdgement of the pardoning power of the governor are also necessary this end.
 Give the people justice in the courts and stop this wholesale pardoning of nurderers and it will soon put end to lynchings.
 As proof of this statement, we would cite the public to Great Britain and Canada, where mob violence Is practically unknown, and in these countries the laws are so constructed that crime Is punished it should be and executive clemency is almost unheard of.
 Our jury system needs changing so that panels in murder shall be composed of best, rather than our below the average citizens
 The right of challenging without cause men summoned for jury service ought to be limited that the Commonwealth should be put on equal terms with the accused No criminal should be allowed to escape legal technicalities differ ent public sentiment should incucated so that society should be arraigned against crime until fully realize that every criminal act committed offense against every good citizen.
 We will not escape mobs until the Commonwealth gets justice in the and human life is fully protected by the law by punshing murderers to the extent of the statute.
 The culpability of courts and of those who exer- else the pardoning power sometimes and generally we believe. produces worse effect than the or ganizing of ynching parties. In some places and in most places it removes important defense of society and encourages murderers rather than mobs
 In Arizona. for instance. we have fooled with murderers in way another at different times with the result that homicides have multiplied In forty years believe there been single lynch ing in Arizona and that melted in this com munity two years ago by crime so monstrous that the newspapers could not print the details of it An ordinarily fiendish murder would not have re- suited in a lynching.
 Lynching in Arizona in states provoked by crime of peculiarly horrifying character is without any deterrent effect Punishment legal or otherwise loses much deterrent force unless ie SuAIdi anu SlormS or passion like other storms are always uncertain The murderer may know to what extent of atrocty may go without excit- ing
 In Kentucky. however. where as we, gather from the News, lynching is supplemental of the weakness of courts and pardoning executives we suppose ii has certain deterrent effect on crime though il appears to have had little on the courts or tn. abuse of the pardoning power. But the safety of society is the chief thing how ever it may be secured.