An Epidemic of Lynching
By L. A. S.
FIGURES given in an article contributed to The Independent of September 29, by George P. Upton, show that since the year 1885 there have been in this country 2,875 lynchings. In only five States of the Union have there been no lynchings during this period. Mr. Upton, who is a recognized authority on this subject, makes many noteworthy statements in his article, of which we quote a few:— Analyzing the results by geographical divisions, lynchings have taken place as follows: South, 2,499; West, 302; Pacific slope, 63; East 11. It will be seen by these figures that notwithstanding the South has more than six times as many lynchings as the rest of the country, the evil is not local nor sectional. . . . The cross-roads and back settlements of Mississippi and Georgia have witnessed no worse barbarity than was inflicted upon victims by mobs at Pittsburg, Kan.; at Belleville and Danville, Ill., or at Wilmington, Del. To this extent lynching is not merely the disgrace of the South. It is a blot upon6American civilization — a national, not a sectional, evil. Not all of these 2,875 lynchings have been for the “usual crime,” or for any one crime. Many have been for serious offenses, and many also for comparatively trifling causes. In quite a number of cases there was no crime at all. “Seventeen persons have been lynched merely because they were unpopular in their neighborhoods. Ten were found to be innocent when it was too late.” In the list are also ninety-four who were lynched “on account of race prejudice,” and “one hundred and thirty-four unknown persons lynched for unknown reasons.” Whenever a negro is lynched for criminal assault, the Southern newspaper, and sometimes the Northern, will headline its “story” or its editorial comment, “Lynched for the Usual Cause.” This glaring misstatement is unjust to the negro race. Criminal assault is not the “usual cause.” Persons lynched for this crime since 1885 numbered 564, while 1,099 have been lynched for murder. . . . The claim, therefore, that lynching is the summary punishment for a single crime is not only misleading, but dishonest. If any crime can be called “usual,” it is murder. Startling as it may seem, statistics will show that murder is the national crime. How insidious this evil is, how rapidly, when not opposed, it tends to barbarize, is also shown by the exceptionally cruel lynchings which have occurred in Northern communities during the last two years. This shows, as Bishop Candler, of Georgia, recently declared, that “lynching is due to race hatred, and not to any horror over any particular crime,” and that unless it is checked, it may involve anarchy; “for men will go from lynching persons on account of color to lynching other persons on account of their religion, or their politics, or their business relations.” The record already begins to show cases of this kind. Mr. Upton believes, notwithstanding these facts and figures, that lynchings are on the decrease, and that “the outlook is hopeful.” There has indeed come a reaction in many places where mob violence has been most prevalent; for thoughtful minds have seen civil government in those places fast degenerating into anarchy, and have become alarmed at the prospect. In some places there has been a decrease in the number of lynchings, with a corresponding increase in the number of legal executions. It remains for time to show to what extent the present reaction may be effective in restoring orderly government. It would be pleasant indeed if Mr. Upton’s hopeful anticipations could be fully realized. We know, however, that the restraining power of the Spirit of God is less and less seen in the lives of men in these days; that faith in the Word of God, and with it Christianity, is on a general decline, for which there seems to be no remedy. We know that of these times the prophetic declaration is that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,” and that as it was in the days of Noah, when “the earth was filled with violence,” so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man. The true hope at this time is not in a return of lawless men to the ways of peace and justice, but in the return of Christ to receive the kingdoms of this world, and set up his own everlasting kingdom of righteousness.