Anarchy and Lynch Law

DENUNCIATIONS of anarchy and the discussion of plans for reaching it by law are heard in all parts of the United States and in the capitals of Europe. It is confidently expected that Congress will adopt measures for its extermination next winter. President Roosevelt is studying the subject from the immigration standpoint, and it is quite possible that he will find a way to prevent anarchists from entering the country in the future. Members of Congress, school-teachers, preachers and editors are fully alive to the gravity of the situation, and are doing what they can to destroy the spirit of lawlessness. The drift of public sentiment is in the direction of Congressional action that will make it unlawful for anarchists to hold meetings. One of their number has declared that severe treatment will only cause them to increase the faster. They seem to thrive on “persecution,” and this fact must be taken into consideration in whatever plan is adopted. A cablegram from Copenhagen states that the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the German Imperial Chancellor at their recent meetings agreed upon common measures to be taken [1251][1252] against anarchists, and that they are now communicating with the Powers on the subject.
     Lynch law is closely related to anarchy in spirit, and is also engaging the attention of the thoughtful men and women of the United States. In his address to the jury, Judge Lewis, one of the counsel for the assassin of McKinley, declared that he believed lynch law was more to be feared than anarchy. Said he: “When mob law becomes sufficiently prevalent in this country, if it ever does, our institutions will be set aside and overthrown, and, if we are not misinformed as to the state of mind of some people in some parts of our country, the time is fast approaching when men charged with crime will not be permitted to come into court and submit to a calm and dignified trial, but will be strung up to a tree on the bare suspicion that some one may hold that they have committed some crime.” Public sentiment has associated the two evils, and it is reasonable to expect that the effort to exterminate anarchy will operate powerfully in the suppression of lynch law.