Phoenix tribune., 1922-10-21
WHITE SOUTHERNER
ENDORSES THE dyer
BILL


Advancement of Colored People. 10
Fifth Avenue, New York, today made
public statement from Bolton Smith,
of Memphis, Tennessee, president in
1919 of the local Rotary Club, and a
trustee of the University of Tennes-
see, endorsing the Dyer AntiLynch-
ing Bill which is to come TO a vote in
the Senate during the next session of
Congress.
The statement of Mr.. Smith was
said to be especially significant, by
James Weldon Johnson Secretary of
the Advancement Association, in that
Mr.. Smith declared the Bill contained
no special attack upon the South.
Mr.. Smith in his statement declares: /:
"The crime of lynching is, next to
the assassination of a prominent Off
GER of the Nation, one of the greatest
which can be committed. 1t
is crime against the Nation in a
very real sense, and therefore should
be triable by Federal Courts"
Mr.. Smiths statement in full is as
follows:
September 9th, 1922.
Il am in favor of the Dyer Bill,
giving Federal Courts jurisdiction in
connec ton with the crime of lynch
ing under certain cases, because:
Il. l believe that local sentiment
in many places is too strong to permit
local authorities to enforce the law
against mobs.
'2. A trial before jury in a
United States Court is not trial be-
fore an alien tribunal But the jury
Is selected from the people of the en-
tire state or district, and one is as
sured of a more impartial jury-one
not terrorized by that local sentiment
which usually is so blatant after any
mob action. Few officers have the
courage to oppose strong local senti
ment.
SO. There is no special attack on
the South in such a measure. 1t is re-
quired by the progress of the country,
north as well as south. AS common
Negro labor has moved into the North,
Negroes have been lynched by white
mobs there, too.
That some Southern men who sin
cerely oppose lynching should not IA
vor the Dyer Bill is due to misap-
prehension of its effect and purpose.
There is no part of the United States
in which those favoring the due pro-
cess Of law for the punishment of
crime should not be in favor of the
punishment of lynchers by Federal
Courts, whenever local officials fail
to do their duty.
"A. The lynching of Negroes by
white mobs is bad enough, but there
is some danger that we will, before
long, be faced with an even more dan
gerous character of lynching, namely
the lynching of those of one religious
faith by those of another faith. This
would divide America into hostile
camps and produce civil war, and we
need law that will enable the Fed
eral Courts to repress these cases with
the utmost severity.
"5. The crime of lynching is, next
to the assassination of a prominent
officer of the Nation, one Of the great
est which can be committed. This is
especially so where 1t is performed by
one class or race and suffered by an
other, which other race or class re-
CARDS the lynching as an attack
against every one of its members. A
lynching in Georgia tends to disturb
labor conditions not only in the ad-
joining states, but in the entire South,
and is not without its effect in EN-.
bittering race relations in the North
1t cannot be regarded as merely
against the peace and dignity of the
State within whose limits it is COM
mitted Its evil effect spreads far be-
yond those limits. 1t is crime
against the Nation in a very real sense
and therefore should be triable by
Federal Courts.
"6. l do not assume that this law
will Immediately stop lynching; but it
will be one step in that direction.
Above all, it would impress the Off
cials of every state with the determin-
alton of the people at large to stop
this crime. The effect of few trials
in the Federal Courts will be highly
beneficial.
(Signed) BOLTON SMITH"