EXCUSING MOBS AND LYNCHINGS.
By T.
THE earnest seriousness with which mob violence and lynchings are defended by many intelligent people to-day is a striking sign of our times. In speaking of the mob who killed the colored postmaster in South Carolina recently, the Columbia Register says:— That deeds similar to that of last Monday night are not sporadic outbursts of savagery or outlawry, but are really a reflex of the prevailing sentiment among the people of this locality, is demonstrated beyond a peradventure by the impossibility of inducing juries to inflict punishment upon the participants in such affairs. And in a similar strain the Indianapolis News talks about the lynching of robbers in Indiana a few months since. An effort is being made to bring the mob that did the lynching to justice. And the News says of the affair:— “You cannot try a whole community. . . . The people approve the act, believe it was a good thing for the community, that the mob deserves their thanks for ridding them of a gang of robbers and ruffians, and they propose to defend the members of the mob by all means within their power. If perjury is necessary, they will “perjure themselves like gentlemen.” It is a fact that mob executions are becoming much more numerous. And it is also a fact that there is an increasing number of persons who lay claim to intelligence and respectability, that are openly advocating the idea that mobs and lynchings under existing circumstances are necessary and proper. No matter from what standpoint you view the subject, the presentation is appalling. If you look at it in the light that defiant and unpunished robbery, murder, and general criminality is so flagrant that the mob and lynching in reality, as these gentlemen say, is excusable, what a dark picture of the world it presents! And, on the other hand, if the element that is looked upon as the better class in society is severe and lawless in these mobbing and lynching expeditions, the picture is darker still. And if there is a combination of both of these elements, so that the base and bold lawlessness of the criminal class is driving the better element of society to the lawlessness of mobs and lynchings, what worse state of affairs could be conceived? “Coming events cast their shadows before.” And the “shadows” have appeared in very clear though dark outlines, showing that a reign of universal violence is right upon us. The infallible Book tells us that Noah’s time was made conspicuous by the fact that “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Gen. 6:11. And the same Book also tells us that “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Luke 17:26. In the light that these Scriptures throw upon the situation about us to-day, who can doubt that “the days of the Son of man” are here? For surely the earth is being “filled with violence,” and everything is pointing us to the necessity of preparing to meet the Saviour at His coming. The thought of the second coming of the Master is the one bright gleam above the dark horizon. Let none be discouraged, but pass the good news along that Jesus is coming soon. T.