Evening star., 1935-12-31
kidnapping and Lynching
Blacken Americas Record

To the Editor of The Star:
Two editorials in The Star stress the
Importance which you place upon the de-
parture of Lindbergh and his family for
England to escape the Vaccinations OF
the kidnaperS Small wonder that he
fees from the land of his birth for fear
that the same wicked fate will be visited
upon his infant son which befell his first
born. The approaching execution of
Bruno Hauptmann and the revival of the
heart-rending incidents of the tragedy
and trial serve to revive a cruel memory
and to waken afreSh the wounds which
only time and oblivion can aSSuage. In
England he hopes to find not only greater
respect and reverence for law but also a
more assuring and tranquil atmosphere.
Things have come to a pretty pass
when Americas most distinguished and
beloved son must seek security and relief
from harassment by flight to a foreign
land. On account of this unhappy Incl
dent the fair name of the land of the
free and the home of the brave has suf-
fered and will suffer in the estimation of
the civilized world.
Lynching and kidnapping are twin in
iquities of which our country enjoys all
but monopoly. These extreme forms of
criminal manifestation cannot be isolated
and dealt with apart from the general
equation of crime of which they are COM
mon factors. America is the richest and
the wickedeSt civilized nation on earth.
1t takes the lead in every form of meas
ured crime. New York and Chicago have
20 times the murder rate of London and
Paris. Lynching and kidnapping, two
mountain peaks of atrocity, are but spe-
cial emergenceS from a common criminal
background. While they spring from a
common criminal instinct yet they apply
to opposite poles of society. The mob
seeks for its victim the poor, the under
privileged and the defenSeleSS; on the
other hand. the gangster visits his das-
tardly deeds upon the elite, the rich and
the mighty. The mob is coWardly because
it anticipates impunity; the kidnaper,
with daredevil reckleSSnesS, takes his life
in his own hands.
There have been over 1000 lynchings
during the past so years The frequency
of the horrid happening has so dulled
the public conscience that it responds but
feebly to each fresh occurrence.
The relative infrequency of kidnapping
causes a greater shock to our SenSibili-
IltS. lie Inherent Social Status OF Cne
lynched and the kidnapped also serves to
accentuate the difference in public atti-
tude. But the lesson is clear, the infer
ence from the Lindbergh incident is i'm
perative, life at no level is safe and Sc
cure unless life at all levels is held sacred.
Four thousand lynchings have not re-
suited in effective legislation, State or
Federal, to cope with the evil. A single
case of kidnapping, on the other hand,
precipitated a Federal kidnapping
law. In the one case constitutional bar
rierS are alleged to stand in the way; in
the other such technicalitieS are swept
aside by the aroused purpose to cope with
the evil. Legislation, by itself, without
supporting public sentiment, is no cure
for any form of crime.
Statutes against crime. in any of its
forms, will be of little effect unless the
American people evince a regard for the
sacredness Of life in rich and poor alike,
and assert the determined purpose to up
hold and defend the law as the basis of
ordered society. Then. and not till then.
we shall have government Of laws, and
not of mobS and gangsterS.
KELLY MILLER.