tion is the temporary uprising of a mob, called into being by the commission of some terrible crime, the perpetrator of which it seeks to punish.
Barbarity of Savage Torture
"It is well to look the matter fairly in the face. Many good men join in these uprisings, horrified at the atrocity of the crime and eager for swift and summary punishment. Of course, they violate the law themselves, but rely on the public sentiment behind them for escape from punishment. Many of these lynchings are accompanied by the horrible barbarities of savage torture, and all that can be said in palliation is the atrocity of the offences which led up to them. For a time they were confined largely to the South, but that section of the country no longer has a monopoly. The chief oft'ence which causes these lynchings has been the rape of white women by colored men. No words can be found too strong to describe the atrocity of such a crime. It is no wonder that the community is excited. Men would disgrace their manhood if they were not. And if a few lynchings had put a stop to the offence, society might have condoned such breaches of its law; but the fact is, if we may credit the reports, the crime, instead of diminishing, is on the increase. The black beast (for only a beast would be guilty of such an offence) seems to be not deterred thereby. More than that, as might be expected, lynching for such atrocious crimes is no longer confined to them, but is being resorted to for other offences.
"That lynching is a blot on our civilization no one questions, and European nations are pointing to it as evidence of a lower civilization. Shall we let this go on and thus practically admit that, in many respects, this is no longer a government of laws, but partly one of mobs? We seldom hear of lynchings across the waters; somehow or other it is an epidemic which prevails in America, but not in Europe. We all know that punishment of crime justly and promptly admin-
