The Cordova daily times., 1923-02-12
NO APOLOGY FOR MOB LAW

The Washington officials of the American Federation of Labor have issued a statement demanding tie impeachment of the Governor of Arkansas because of his failure to lna'n
 tain order at Harrison, Arkansas Tntre { so- called "Committee of One Thousand" ha: recently taken the law into its hands follow Ing acts of violence accredited to railway strikers
 with the result that one man was langen
 after an encounter, several including loca
 no]ice officials accused of failure to enforce
 the law, have been driven from the town and
 others have been jailed, some after admitting participation in the recent burning of t:rec railway bridges The lawlcssness of the mob which took possession of Harrison, was ln'ly as reprehensible as the crimes which were made the excuse for lynch law. When people take the law into their own hands, and pro ceed to burn bridges or lynch men accused of burning bridges civilization has broken down. Lawlessness by one crowd or group lnvtc reprisal by some other gang or clique. The people of this country, rich and poor, cn'- blower and employe, must~turn thelr faces ooainst 1awlessness, no matter by whom com mitted Ire laws and the courts stand De- tween all citizens and the complete overthrow of those rights of person and property whch are essential to the maintenance Ot clVll'Za- tion. Iawlessness redresses no wrong; It oil! commits a new wrong. Leaders of any ele- ment in society who defend lawlessness when it is done in the supposed interests ot some cause tlev advocate, and attack laWlessness only when it is directed against their own lac +ion should he driven from places of influence.
 This is the anniversary of Abraham Ln-
 l>o or,,n,.ot otpG better way than by repeating Lncoln,s m dictment Of iawlessness. His words of 'hat period have peculiar significance and appll- cation to conditions in this country today. II" said:
 q hone am not over-wary; but if l am not, ther, is even now something Of Ill omen amongst us. I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country-the grow ing disposition to substitute the Wlld a1'l furious passions in lieu of sober judgment o1 courts and the worse than savage mobS for the executive ministers of justice Accounts of ou!rages committed by mobs form the every day news of the times The question recnrs: 'How shall we fortify against lt?' The an swer is simple. Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to 'lls postetitv swear by the blood of the Revou- ton never to violate in the least particular the laws of the country, and never to tolerate their violation by others.
 "When SC pressingly urge strict obser- vance of all the laws, let me not be under stood as saying that there are no bad laws, or that grievances may not arise for tue redress of which no legal provisions have been made mean to say that although bad laws if they exist, should be repealed as soon as possible, still, while they continue in force, for the sake of example, they should be re- ligiously observed. So also in unprovlded cases If such arise let proper legal prov1slons be made for them with the least possible delay, but then let them, if not too intolerablc, be borne with. There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.'