As to the effect that this remedial legislation has had on the practice of lynching, opinions may differ, but it is difficult to point out in what way these laws have brought about a decrease in the number of lynchings.[[309]] It is true that not nearly so many lynchings occurred in the years 1901, 1902, 1903, as occurred in the years 1891, 1892, 1893, but it is also true that a marked decline in the number of lynchings per year began several years before the greater number of the anti-lynching laws were enacted. It is likewise true that the number of lynchings per year, in States other than those possessing anti-lynching statutes has declined in recent years. The truth would seem to be, therefore, if it be assumed that the number of crimes or offenses which occasion lynchings has been fairly uniform from year to year, that the same causes which led to the enactment of the laws also brought about the decline in the number of lynchings, namely, public discussion and condemnation of the practice of lynching, a stronger public sentiment against it, a deeper realization of the seriousness of the lynching problem in the United States.
That the measures adopted in South Carolina for the prevention of lynching, even though upheld and strongly indorsed by the supreme court, have not been altogether effective becomes apparent from a special message sent to the General Assembly of South Carolina, on January 20, 1904. Governor Heyward wrote as follows: “In my annual message to your honorable body reference was made to lawlessness in our State, the frequent occurrence of lynchings being dealt with particularly. You, the lawmakers, had not been assembled here a week when another evidence of this lawless spirit is given in the lynching at Reevesville. The Governor is popularly credited with the power to prevent or punish these outrages against the State. In reality he is practically powerless. When the crime has been committed his hands are practically tied. The meager rewards he has been empowered to offer out of his contingent fund have proved ineffectual, and this is as far as he is permitted to go. In the meantime the spirit of lawlessness is unchecked.
“Any band of men may feel secure in taking the life of a fellow-being on almost any pretext. This deplorable condition ought to be remedied. To compel the proper respect for the majesty of the law I recommend the enactment of special legislation in reference to lynching, that the great responsibility of officials directly charged with enforcing the law be brought home to them, and that more effectual measures be taken for the apprehension of persons who take the law in their own hands. In lieu of some such legislation, I suggest that the Governor be provided with an adequate fund for the purpose of suppressing lynching.”[[310]]
On March 7, 1904, Richard Dixon, a negro, was taken from the jail and lynched at Springfield, Ohio. This occurred in Clark County which adjoins Champaign County on the south. In at least two other instances lynchings would have taken place in Ohio, since the decision of the supreme court which established the validity of the law holding counties liable in damages, had it not been for the vigilance and prompt action of the sheriffs. The possibility of an increase in the rate of taxation does not seem as yet to have had any restraining influence on the actions of people in Ohio when occasion has arisen for a lynching.
It is only within the last three or four years that determined efforts have been put forth to arrest and punish persons who have participated in lynchings, but these efforts have not been confined to the States which have special laws against lynching. Lynchers may be punished through statutory provisions defining homicide, manslaughter, murder, conspiracy, riot, malicious mischief, assault, and the like.
In November, 1903, eleven persons were indicted in St. Clair County, Illinois, for participating in the lynching of a negro school teacher the preceding June.[[311]]
More than twenty persons were indicted in Vermilion County, Illinois, for participation in the lynching of a negro at Danville on July 25, 1903, and verdicts of guilty of engaging in an attack on the county jail were found against eleven men and one woman, the penalty being an indeterminate sentence in the penitentiary.[[312]]
In January, 1903, twenty-eight white citizens of Attala County, Mississippi, were indicted for the lynching of two negroes.[[313]]
In Alabama, in 1902, some men were given a term in the penitentiary for lynching a negro, they being “the first like offenders,” according to Governor Jelks, “to serve the state since the great war. No man had heretofore gone to the penitentiary for lynching a negro.”[[314]]
On June 4, 1903, Samuel Mitchell, white, who led the mob that lynched Thomas Gilyard, a negro, at Joplin, Missouri, on April 15, preceding, was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment in the penitentiary, and two other men were still to be tried for their part in the burning of negro houses following the lynching.[[315]]