Torture and the Sanctity of Rights

International Religious Liberty Association · Chicago · Jun 21, 1900

FromThe American Sentinel, The Sentinel of Liberty, Vol. 15, No. 24.

Torture and the Sanctity of Rights

The recent torture of a negro in a Southern State to extort from him a confession of the crime for which so many of his race have paid the penalty of their lives, is startling in its significance. Torturing a suspected man with fire to compel him to confess is worse, if possible, than burning one known to be guilty. A confession extorted by torture could be of no possible value. It could not even ease in the slightest degree the consciences of those participating in securing it. Such lapses into savagery are startling because they show by how slight a tenure we hold our most sacred rights.