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PAGE TEN
National and World Movements
LYNCHING WILL BE DANGEROUS
When the Federal Courts Ar© Given
Power to Punish It.
Last week Watson’s Weekly Jeffer
sonian made reference to a recent de
cision by Judge Tom Jones, of the
Federal district court in Alabama, that
lynching a prisoner is a violation of
the constitutional rights of a citizen
and is cognizable and punishable by a
United States court. On that decision
The Washington Herald makes the fol
lowing comments:
Flanking Judge Lynch.
“Judge Thomas G. Jones, of the Ala
bama Federal bench, has just rendered
a decision concerning lynching that
will, if affirmed by the Supreme Court
of the United States, go far toward
solving one of the most vexing prob
lems this country has ever had to face.
“Judge Jones holds that a person
who forcibly takes from the custody
of any official, state or otherwise, a
prisoner accused of crime, and, after
such taking, lynches, helps to lynch,
or attempts to lynch the said prisoner,
is guilty of violence to the provisions
of the Constitution of the United
States, and that it is the duty of the
officers of the United States to take
cognizance of the same and assume
jurisdiction to punish the offender.
Judge Jones bases his decision, of
course, upon the thirteenth and four
teenth amendments to the Constitu
tion.
“The attorneys for the defendant,
one Powell, have appealed to the Su
preme Court of the United States,
where this principle will either be firm
ly established, or rendered null and
of no effect. It is to be hoped the
finding will be affirmed. It would at
once put the matter of lynching upon
an entirely different footing from that
upon which it now stands. Those who
have lived in sections where lynching
is common know that the better ele
ment of society in all such sections
deprecates the crime and deplores its
every appearance. At the same time,
local environment being considered, it
is extremely difficult to secure convic
tions because of the almost impossible
task of securing evidence against the
lynchers. In the hands of the Federal
courts it would be quite a different
matter. * |
“There is no- principle of ‘state J
rights’ in this case which ought toj
weigh with any right-thinking person!
so far as concerns the
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WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
of the ultimate great good to come of
the application of the principle laid
down. The lyncher—who, nine times
out of ten, is an arrant coward at
heart —will desist from his crime just
as soon as he finds that his own worth
less neck is endangered. The grip of
the Federal courts, with their rights
and powers to change the place of
trial, especially in jurisdictions cover
ing sparsely settled sections, from the
immediate county of the crime to some
point, perhaps a hundred miles away,
would put the lyncher face to face
with a condition of affairs that would
give him considerable pause.
“The decision seems founded on
good law and sound reasoning. It
will help wonderfully if it be sustain
ed.”
THE THIRD TERM HERESY.
The Democrats Denounced and Defeat
ed It in 1875.
Concerning the third term in the
presidency, The Washington Herald
mentions some interesting history, but
ignores the fact that President Andrew
Johnson was the first incumbent of the
office to recommend to Congress that
the President should be elected for six
years instead of four and thereafter
be ineligible for re-election.
The article from the Washington
newspaper is as follows:
“In Eighteen Seventy-Five.
“Thirty-two years ago the House of
Representatives, then overwhelmingly
Democratic, put itself on record by
formal resolution as opposed to a third
term. At the White House last week
this interesting fact was called to the
attention of friends of the administra
tion. The resolution referred to was
introduced by the late William M.
Springer, of Illinois, then one of the
leading Democrats of the country. It
declared that a third term for any
President would be ‘unwise, unpa
triotic, and dangerous to our free in
stitutions.’ Every Democratic member
' of the House voted for it, and so prom
inent a Republican as James A. Gar
field did, too. Its chief purpose at the
.time was to head off the candidacy of
[[General Grant, whose ‘second elective’
[term was nearing its close. It is said
jto be the opinion at the White House
/that the resolution did more than any
thing else to stop the third term move
pent for Grant in 1876, and even to
Jmake it impossible when four years
Slater it was renewed.
“Moreover, the White House has
called attention to the fact that George
Washington did not serve two full
terms, though he regarded his first
somewhat abbreviated service in the
Chief Magistracy as his first term.
The Father of His Country was first
inaugurated on April 30, instead of
March 4, and thus his first term was
nearly two months short of ‘full.’ Pres
ident Roosevelt’s first term was only
a little more than five months short of
Washington’s.
“Several Presidents have advocated
a one-term policy. Mr. Cleveland did
this in his letter accepting the first
nomination. Mr. Bryan did the same
thing. In his first inaugural address
President Hayes recommended the one
term principle, but would extend the
time from four to six years.”
FATE OF SOCIALISM IN JAPAN.
Greatness in nations —the power to
do things and preserve the regard of
the world —chiefly implies a respect
for law, obedience to authority, and
the maintenance of public order. In
making the most of these attributes
Japan has been singularly fortunate.
Possibly alone among the nations of
the world, her advancement has chief
ly been brought about by concessions
made by those in power working
downward and not by revolutionary
movements from below. No “Reign
of Terror” forced the Emperor to part
with his traditionally God-given leg
islative powers, or coerced the nobles
to surrender their patents of nobility.
What happens, therefore, when a body
of Japanese inspired by the exalted
aims of Occidental Socialism break
laws, defy authority, and turn to de
stroy life and property in order to en
force their ideas that wealth, labor,
and authority are inadequately di
vided? The rebellion at the Ashio
Copper Mines, near Nikko, serves as
an eloquent answer.
These mines, the property of the
Furukawa family, were equipped with
the best modern machinery and gave
employment to about 10,000 men. All
known modern appliances, physical
and mental, were employed to pre
serve the health and lives of the op
erators and to make them happy in
their work. Wages were regulated ac
cording to profits. Grievances of all
sorts were adjusted by a committee
of managers representing the prop
erty owners and of delegates elected
by the men. Justice and tranquillity
seemed permanently established at
the Ashio Mines when operators from
the Occident began to introduce the
insidious doctries of immature So
cialism —the proletariat must organize
and by force obtain a larger percent
age of the profits; it must organize
as a guarantee of its future suprem
acy.
The reply of the Furukawa family
is memorable: They could permit no
organization of employes which at
any time might be used to ruin the
business any more than the national
government could permit the pres
ence of a rebel army ready to bring
about a revolution the moment things
did not go to suit it —neither an in
dustrial concern nor a government
could tolerate a condition of armed
neutrality on the part of its employee
or citizens.
Then it was that socialism deter
mined to adopt a policy of force. The
mining plant, the property of the Fur
ukawa family, representing many mill
ions, was blown up, the homes of the
officials were destroyed, and members
of their families murdered or driven
into the mountains. Soon the prole
tariat was left in full possession of the
ruins. The Socialistic organization
suddenly found itself dissolved into a
band of individuals each striving for
individual mastery. Those few days
witnessed Japanese civilization revert
ing to its primary elements.
At length the government took a
hand. Troops were sent. Law, author
ity, and public order were enforced
by bullets and at the point of the bay
onet. Arbitration was not even hinted
at. When these things had been done,
the troops repaired as best they could
the damage, and the plant was restor
ed out of the Furukawas’ reserve
fund.
The Ashio Copper Mine is again
ready to be operated, but —and this is
the most potent lesson of the whole
matter —wages, reckoned, as formerly,
on a percentage of the profits, will be
about 40 per cent lower than they
were, and the Furukawas still main
tain their right to conduct their busi
ness under the law, insist on obe
dience to authority, and the mainten
ance of public order.
PROSPERITY THE LODESTONE.
(The New York American.)
The stories of the prosperity of this
continent which are attracting Euro
peans by the thousands daily and caus
ing an aggregate arrival of more than
1,000,000 a year, are not exaggerated.
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