The Cordova daily times., 1922-07-14
MOB LAW IS TREASON

The wholesale killings at Herrin, Ill., can he described only as cold-blooded, brutal, f;ondish cowardlv massacre Those who at +emnt to palEate or explain the inhuman crime are lacking in moral sense. The men slaught- cred were engaged in an employment that was lawful, however unpopular in the lmmedl- ate locally There was even question as to whether they were violating the laws of the miners organization At any rate most of the working men tied together and shot or beaten +o death after capture were ignorant of any intended offense.
 The anti-lvnching law pending in Congress- opposed by mob sympathizers and constltu- +ional hair splitters, might, if in force, have made the authorities of the county ln which these besta crimes were committed, somewhat more interested in the performance of the duties they were sworn and paid to dlscharge' A heavy and richly justified monetary penalty would have been imposed upon the locall1y in which the law has been suspended by perverted public sentiment under winch mur- der is no crime. The claim is often made that attacks upon lynching are aimed at the oouth' In all the history of Southern lynchlngs partly to be explained by deep rooted raclal preJu- dice, there is no chapter of outlaWry so blacK as that which has just stained the reputation of Illinois and of America as land of law, order, humanity and justice.
 We think sometimes that in this country we are far removed from the possibility of such organized brutality as that winch relShs Ill Russia. Incidents like that at Herrln Ill., have tendency to awaken us to the posslblll- ties of certain kind of education and aglta- ton working upon the minds of ignorant and brutal men. There are organizations ana politicians engaged from Washington and else where in sowing the seeds of class hatred, envy and lust for domination which, Ii they come to their full fruition, will drench the soll of this country with blood, and the Herrn spectacle will become typical of conditions +hroughout this country. This may seem an aarmist statement, but anyone who will take the trouble to look over the inflammatorv literature being sent out by the train load from Washington and other propaganda cen ters will be convinced that 1t is not far fetched prediction.
 Lawlessness in a republic like ours, where laws are the handiwork of the people acting through their duly chosen representatives. IS trcason; treason not only to statutory and ccl- stjtuton:l law, but to all that America stands for Those who engage in mob demcnstra- tions, as Abraham Lincoln said, trample upon institutions which are the hope of humanity for liberty and progress. The man who aro[ ogizes for or condones such lawlessness is lacking in loyalty to the fundamental princi- rles of Americanism.
 As for public officials who have taken up on themselves the solemn and sacred obhga- ton to protect life and property and liberty under the law, but who abdicate that function in fear of the lawess or in order to court their favor,-what words are strong enough to char acterize their weakness and shame? A cour- ageous law enforcement official true to the oath of office he has taken, would be willing to die, and cowardly one would resign, rath- CT than betray his trust. If all those, upon whom the people of this country rely for the maintenance of order and the enforcement of law, were to abandon their obligations as com