ime to the present the
slogan of every campaign, the rallying cry of every battle, has been
justice in some form or other. And yet, in the alleged interest of
innocence, justice, in certain localities, is often outraged, law
dethroned, and mob rule exalted.

Whether or not the Negro charged with crime is justly dealt with in
the courts of the South can only be answered relatively, for in some
localities fair trials are granted even to Negroes charged with the
commission of crime. But for the most part, it must be admitted that
Negroes brought into the courts of the South accused of crime against
white people are not accorded a fair trial.

The reason of this unjust dealing with the Negro in the courts of the
South is not far to seek; he is looked upon as an alien; then, too,
the doctrine that he has no rights which a white man is bound to
respect is exploded in certain localities only in theory, for in
practice it is still unmistakably prevalent.

The crying need of the times is a wholesome respect for law and order,
and a righteous condemnation of mob rule everywhere. Every pulpit
North and South should speak out against mob rule and lynch law. The
eloquent divine in Greenville, Miss., who recently denounced with
righteous indignation the damnable outrages of mob violence in that
state, was as a voice crying in the wilderness. For some reason his
brethren of the cloth have not seen fit to join him in a crusade
against this abominable sin. If the Southern clergy could only be
induced to preach against this evil occasionally, there would soon be
created throughout the sin-ridden districts such a healthy public
sentiment and respect for law and order that these crimes against the
state would soon become things of the past; nor could there be found
throughout our broad land a miscreant, who, under the influence of the
spirit of lawlessness, would take the life of our Chief Magistrate;
nor would there be anywhere such an illiberal public sentiment as
would openly criticise our Chief Executive for dining a representative
member of the race whose feasts even Jupiter did not disdain to grace.

But let us consider the alleged crime for which lynching is attempted
to be justified. L. H. Perkins, Esq., of the Kansas Bar Association,
in an address to its annual meeting, in July, 1901, said:

"Lord Coke observes: 'There are crimes that are not so much as to be
named among Christians.' It is difficult for us in Kansas to believ