LYNCHING.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4900, 16 October 1901, Page 4

LYNCHING.

There was a remarkable epidemic of lynching in the Southern States of America a few months ago, and h »eemed that no negro convicted of, or even charged, with an offence waß safe fron» the fury of tbe mob. At Ashville, Alabama, the Sheriff and his officers, who were conducting a negro, convicted of assault, to prison, bad to draw their revolvers and fire on tbe crowd in order to get their prisoner safe away. It is not often that tbe police have the courage to adopt these extreme measures. Bus in spite of occasional outbreaks and epidemics, lynching is steadily on the decrease in America In 1892 there was 235 reported cases, and by 1899 the number h;»d fallen to 107. Last year, again, there was a slight decrease. Opposition to this lawlessness in tbe Southern States has grown in recent years, and the anti-Jjnebing movement, it is hoped, will work a complete reform in tho near future. Judges, teachers aud clergymen are in the forefront of the movement, and the Governors of Mississippi, Alabjma, and Georgia have taken vigorous measures to Buppresß the barbarous outbursts of tbe mob. Judge Sbaw made a stroug pronouncement <»v the subject in his address to a jury at Durham, North Carolina. • Many,'" he said, ' give excuses for lynchinge, and say that the law is weak, or that tbe Courts are slow. If this is so, then chtuige the law. Tt is within your power. When a man commits, or attempts to commit, a criminal assualt upon a woman, he iB very often lynched, those engaging in it saying that it is not right to have the woman come before a gaping crowd and relate the dslaiJs of fcbe borribJe crime. Then übauge_your laws iv this respect) even if you have to change the entire State Constitution. If the Courts are slow, then call the Courts to account. Erery man who takes purt in a lynching ie, in tbe eyes of the law, a murd»rer.' A healthier seatiment seems to be growing up in many of the States even while the hatred of tbe negro coutinues, and the pressure of public opinion has in several instances compelled the authorities lo take action against offending mobs.