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About The Nebraskan. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1892-1899 | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1894)
m w A Lynch Law in the South, nv c. II. andukss, doank colluok. For more limn u ,mrlor of a century our country 1ms been fico from serious danger. Questions have arisen, U ifl true, which have claimed the attention of the moat thoughtful tilutesninn, qtto llous Involving the moral as well as the financial Interests of our people. Some of these questions still await the coining of a clearer hralu to envelope their solu tion, hut none of them have seriously en dangered our nation's peace, There Is, however a dark cloud ap pearing in our southern sky which can hardly escape the notice of the most careless observer, freighted with retri bution for a down-trodden race, it rises higher and higher, threatening to hide from us the sunshine of peace and to break over our heads In a fearful storm of internal strife. I refer to the system of lynching so prevalent In our southern states today. That a body of American citizens, enjoying the refining inlluences of Christian civill.atiou, could be trans formed into a frenzied mob, looking with a fiendish satisfaction upon the mortal agony of a fellow being, seems impossible. Yet that our people are capable of entertaining such emotions has been proven so often and so conclu sively, we can no longer remain incredu lous The hour is midnight and the usual quiet of a southern city is broken by strange o.i.itemeut. The inky blackness of the sky is lighted up with lurid (lames, and human faces are revealed, dark with angry passion. What is the cause of such strange commotion? What deed of infamy is contemplated begging the dark ness of midnight to cover its shame? Ilo you see that negro crouching in terror at the feet of his captors. lfor him have the fagots been lighted. Upon him are to be poured vials of wrath and indignation almost inhu man. A crime has been committed, a crime of a nature so hen ions as to de serve the severest punishment at the hands of the law. Suspicion has cen tered upon him as the perpetrator of the deed. Conviction of guilt has not been secured. He has been consigned to the city jail for safe keeping. Hut bolted doors and bars of iron are not strong enough to withstand the madness of a frenzied mob. In ruthless haste he is taken from his cell and dragged to the place of death. In vain he protests his innocence. In vain he pleads ""or justice. The mob in its blind passion seeks not justice but vengeance, and his pleading falls on unheeding ears. Merciless hands bind him to the slake, and heap the fire brand around him, and as his life goes out in mortal agony, the dark pall of lawlessness, which is settling like the shades of night over our laud, seems lower and blacker than before, and the mutterings of the approaching storm grow fiercer and more ominous. A body of men have been guilty of a crime more dangerous and far-reaching in its results than was the one which they sought to punish. They have set aside all the principles upon which safe government is based. The constitution of the United States provides that a man shull be confronted in open court by his accusers. They have chosen the midnight hour and the burning stake. Justice presumes innocence until guilt is proven. They huve required their victim to prove his innocence, yet have given him no oppor tunity for so doing. Setting aside all principles of law and order, usurping the prerogatives of government, they have constituted themselves judge, jury und executor, and have entered upon their work in u spirit which allowed no word of entreaty or explanation. They may style themselves the preservers of society, the avengers of outraged, inno cence, but in the eyes of the law they are outlaws and in the sight of God murderers. Their hearts have been hardened, their valuation of human life depreciated to a degree not easily esti mated, and public opinion, by Us silence, lowers its standard of morality and be comes a participant in the crime. The advocates of lynch law, in defense of their position, urge the extreme prov ocation which goads them to deperation. They say, "Whatever characteristics may be ours ns a people, we cherish the safetv and honor of our women. Tue lives of our mothers and sisters are dearer to us than our own, and any at tempt to shroud them in dishonor calls forth our indignation ns can no other crime or combination of crimes." Grant ing the tt.ith of their statement, this fact instead of excusing mob violence but affords another argument against it. With such a public sentiment as exists at the south, the plea that the criminal may escape conviction Is untenable, A jury could not be found who would not convict on the slightest evidence a ne gro charged with such a crime. With wealth, race prejudice and an en raged populace arrayed against him, there Is more danger that the inno cent be "found guilty" than that the ctimiiinl go unpunished. Why then deny him a trial? Why Imperil the sacred Interests of society under such circumstances? The negro feels keenly the injustice of mob law. lie realizes that a white man charged with a similar crime against one of his race, if punished at all, would at least be given a fair tr'al. Although sub missive under great persecution the negro is not a coward. Do we forget the nssault on Port Wagner? Yottder, ad vancing beneath the btortn that hurst in fury from the clouds, moves one solitary brigade against the fort, now grim and silent but soon to blaze with the fires of hell. I.ook! revealed by the play of the lightning see that regiment that leads the column moving on to death. Heboid the gleam of swarthy faces lit by the fire of manhood's courage, "Let my men lead the charge'1 was the request of the gallant colonel. For to that regiment of slaves this battle meant more than to face the storm of iron, more than to pour out their life-blood on the field of carnage. It meant the vindication of their man hood. Behind them two hundred years of slavery. llcfore them the shining dreams of glorious liberty for their peo ple. And under the storm of Sumpter's guns and Wagner's shot and shell, be neath the roll of the thunder und the gleam of the lightning, in the sights of the nation and of omnipotent God, they wrote the vindication of their manhood in deeds whose memory shall never die. Shall we find their courage less when with the God-born love of justice stirred within them, they shall fight again; not for the white man but against him, not to bear aloft the sky-born flag we honor as the emblem of freedom, equality, fra ternity, but to trample it in the dust as the symbol to them of slavery, oot raok, MURDER? But injustice is not the only evil aris ing out of this system of mob law. The breach between the two races is con stantly widening. Each administration of lynch law renders race prejudice more bitter. Both races are becoming so per vaded with the spirit of vengeance tint civilization is in a measure yielding to barbarism. It is our duty and privilege as a race to teach the negro obedience to law. but can this be done by deeds of outlawry? lie. should be taught a higher valuation of human life, but can this be done by the atrocities of mob violence? The answer is obvious. The white man and the negro must learn the divine les son that they are alike, the handiwork of God, that their difference in color is in accordance with His will, and that they owe to each other that love which the Son of Man sought to inculcate. The one maddened by outrages perpe trated against the helpless the other enraged, yea brutalized by the red handed injustice administered in retalia tion the smoldering, muttering Vesuv ius of unrighted wrongs will one day burst forth in au eruption whose horrors no words can describe and whose shock will imperil the foundations of all government. Where, then, lies the satisfactojy solution of this problem? By what treatment of the negro shull past crime be punished and future crime be lessened? Shull there be further re sort to processes ns barbarous as those of savage tribes? Rather let every criminal feel the strong arm of the law. Let him be made to realize thut his is a crime against the government as well as against society, and that to government as the protector of society must he pay the pen alty. Let the punishment be mude as severe as you will, only let it be legal and inflicted after legal conviction of guilt. No one can doubt the uplifting influ ence of intellectual and moral teaching. They are silent but resistless forces that move on to victory, when bayonets and cannon are powerless to achieve it. They have set in motion those mighty passions and ideals without which Homer had never sung and Shakespeare's voice been silent as the tomb, Greece had been by name and England only an island in the sea. These forces can re form the negro. Wherever the school- house stands by the roadside, there is a present safeguard of society and a proph ecy of higher life for the future. Where ver the church spires rise heavenwArd und the Sabbath bells ring with solemn melody the call to worship, there is the promise of lurger, sweeter life for the nation and the world. The march of mind is ever onward and upward and the ntlll small voice of conscience ever whispers to the soul of its Divine Creator. When those conditions pre vail, that crime which moves an Indig nant people to deeds of violence will be come a thing of the past, Tile negro and the while will look with equal hor ror at the deeds which today are of such common occurrence. Hut the abolition of lynching need not await the removal of provocation. Both facts must be weighed in the golden balance of justice. Both arc evil f 1 and as such must be elim inated, but the lynching must go, though the provocation remain, for by its use the removal of provocutlou is rendered more and more difficult of consumma tion, Lynching is in itself a violation of all law and a menace to all government. Though Its victim be guilty beyond ques tion, it can but bring about evil results. It tears down all respect for authority, tramples upon all rights of the individ ual, and sets up as its motto, "Let crime punish crime " Such a principle is op posed lc all organized society, and leads to anarchy. The negro cries for justice in dealing with social crime. He asks not that the guilty go unpunished but that the supposed criminal be given au opportunity to prove his innocence be fore a court of justice. If his cry be heard, reason will have conquered pas sion, und thirst for vengeance will cease to transform human beings into murder ous fiends. If his request be denied, this nation must suffer the penalty of its wrong doing. Shall it be by the slow and deadly decay of moral fibre long abused, or torn with contending factious will it sink into insignificance while Freedom spreads her wings and flies to some fairer land, and the names of Ply mouth Rock and Faueuil Hull fade into the land of dreams and shadows? Or shall we wake some day and start to hear again the roar of Sumpter's guns and see the black columns, not slaves but men, moving ugaiust a nation at whose hands they have suffered unutter able wrong? There is one who knows. To-night He sits upon the throne of His power. "With Him is no variableness neither shadow of turning." "He shall not fall nor be discouraged till II hath set judgment." What to Him were the blotting out of a nation to the establish ment of the everlasting Justice! The plumber came down like a wolf on the fold, His pocket well crammed full of solder and gold, Five hours and a half he made love to the cook, And sixty five dollars he charged in his book. Ex. The car-horse old and weary, went toil ing up the hill, He saw the motor broken and the cable standing still, He murmured as he braced his feet and gave a tired out ynwn, "My name may not be lightning, but I'll get there before dawn." The Deliau New Members' program is arranged for Friday evening, March 30. The young women of the University Y. W. C. A. will give an entertainment in chapel on Saturday evening, March 24. They will render in pantomimic burlesque "Old Muids Made Over to Or der," "Girls' Gymnasium," "The Old Time Spelling Class," and other scenes from real and unreal life. Excellent vo cal and instrumental music bus been provided. The Y. W. C. A. "Belle Chorus" will take a prominent part and Miss Blair will also assist with a vocal selection. An admission of 15c will be charged for the purpose of ruisiug funds to provide for the expenses of their del egute to the Luke Geneva Bible school next summer. Miss Gardener 'o7 has been confined to her room 011 account of illness this week. Hermuny friends will be glad to hear of her improved condition. She will be able to attend classes again in 11 few days. SUBSCRIBE FOR The NEBRASKAN REMAINDER OF THE COLhEOE YEAR FOR 26 GRNTS ! Subscriptions repeived. by Whltmore & Horneg. SUBSCRIBER HIGH CLASS WORK A SPECIALTY, SPECIAL INDUCEMENTS TO STU DINTS THE Herzog Tailoring Company 12(1 North Eleventh Street, Richards Block. LINCOLN, - NEBRASKA. Fine Baked Goods High Grade Confections Ice Cream and Ices NEW YORK BA Telephone 753. 130 SOUTH TWELFTH ST. Wliy Do 3'ou buy reacfy made clothing when you can have a suit to order for the same money? SEE Wanamakor & Brown's Samples AT L A. BUMSTEAD'S Lindell Hotel Block. 1236 M Street. Call and see list of Student Customers. K. H. GLEKSON. Teas, Coffees and Spices. 1234 O STREET. Twice a Week. J-XVLy. 04. First National Bank, LINCOLN. NEBRASKA. CAPITAL $100,000.00 SURPLUS 100,000.00 OFKICKUS: N. S. HA It WOOD, President. OIIAS. A. IIANNA, Vice President. P. M.COOK, ambler. C.S Lll'I'lNCOTT.uml J. S. FKKK.MAN, Ass't Cashiers DlltKCTOHS: N. S. Hurwood .1. 1). MiieParlunii W. M. Clnrko T. M. Muriiiotlo Cluis. H. Milium John II. Ames John Pltzurenild H. K. Moore I). W. Cook O. T. Hows KM. Cook J. L. Cursoit A. H. Clark .!. H. WrlKht. P. K. Johnson. J. H. McCla.v President. Vlce-Predent. Cashier. John A. Ames, Ass't Cash. She : Columbia NATIONAL BANK LINCOLN, nkb. CAPITAL 250,000. DlltKCTOHS CIiiih. West. Tho. A. S. ituynmnd Cochrane. Boiled Oil 55 cents, Strictly St. Louis Lead $5.50. B. O. KOSTKA, Druggist and Painters' Supplies 1224 O STREET. I ' 1 ' ' I'm CHAS. B GREGORY (U. OK N, Mil.) AL SHLLS j 5X At 1100 0 Street. fc -PHONE 343- JiiaHUfjcluclfrs? DETROIT, MICH. SHIRTS! SHIRTS I A.KRONER MuiiufuuturoN blw wii Shir s. Thoy lit tlio form and (douse the eye. A I'UI.I, LlN'K 01' . . . Men's FurnishingGoods HATS, CAPS, ETC. Oil' RlilrlsKodlreet from the nmnufucturcr to t ho eonsnmor. No middlemen's proilts. Ten pi-r win tllpcotiut to bIuiIuiiIh. 1)3!) 0 Street, Haseinent Slate National Hunk Building. Hutchins & Hyatt MAKE A SPECIALTY OF 5Ca lion City, Rock Springs, Pennsylvania Anthracite Ml Kinds oi COAL & WOOD on Hand 1004 O St. Telephone 225. YOU ran have the DAILY WORLD-HERALD delivered at your room for 15 cent? per week, seven days in the week. DROP A POSTAL or leave your order at 1045 O St. .PANTS. PANTS TO ORDER $4 $5 TO $10. Largest line of Woolens in the Htntu. Inspection Solicited. Lincoln Pants Co. 1223 O STREET. B R E E C H E S TROUSERS. TKLI-U'llONK (IS.'. C. A. SHOEMAKER, M. D. LINCOLN, NhU. Olll ce. No Ii:il L Street, Ground Floor. Hours to 9 ii. in.; l to :i, and 7 to 8 p. in We earnestly Invite all Stu dents to visit our store before making any purchases In the line of Dry Goods, Cloaks, Ladles' Furnishing Goods and Men's Furnishing Goods. Our stocks are especially attractive. We refer new students to any of the professorsor any old stu dent in the University as to our manner of doing business. Very respectfully, MILLER & PAINE. 133 to 135 South Eleventh St. Tiw ii"nr Jkwy-VW' MPwmMmMm liilmmuniil BEST LINE TO ST. LOUIS AND HICAGO