Of late, however, several revolting instances of lynching of Negroes in its most dreadful form: burning at the stake, have occurred in regions where hitherto such forms of barbarous punishment have been unknown; and the time appears to be ripe for some efficient concert of action, to eradicate what is recognized by cool heads as a blot on our good name and a serious menace to our civilization.
In discussing the means to put an end to this barbarity, the first essential is that the matter shall be clearly and thoroughly understood.
The ignorance shown by much of the discussion that has grown out of these lynchings would appear to justify plain speaking.
All thoughtful men know that respect for law is the basic principle of civilization, and are agreed as to the evil of any overriding of the law. All reasonable men know that the overriding of law readily creates a spirit of lawlessness, under which progress is retarded and civilization suffers and dwindles. This is as clearly recognized at the South as at the North. To overcome this conviction and stir up rational men to a pitch where the law is trampled under foot, the officers of the law are attacked, and their prisoners taken from them and executed, there must be some imperative cause.
And yet the record of such overriding of law in the past has been a terrible one.
The Chicago Tribune has for some time been collecting statistics on the subject of lynching, and the following table taken from that paper, showing the number of lynchings for a series of years, is assumed to be fairly accurate:
| 1885 | 184 | 1895 | 171 |
| 1886 | 138 | 1896 | 131 |
| 1887 | 122 | 1897 | 166 |
| 1888 | 142 | 1898 | 127 |
| 1889 | 176 | 1899 | 107 |
| 1890 | 127 | 1900 | 115 |
| 1891 | 192 | 1901 | 135 |
| 1892 | 235 | 1902 | 96 |
| 1893 | 200 | 1903 | 104 |
| 1894 | 190 | 1904 (to Oct. 27) | 86 |
| Total lynchings. | Whites. | Negroes. | In the | In the | |
| South. | North. | ||||
| 1900 | 115 | 8 | 107 | 107 | 8 |
| 1901 | 135 | 26 | 107 | 121 | 14 |
| 1902 | 96 | 9 | 86 | 87 | 9 |
| 1903 to Sept. 14) | 76 | 13 | 63 | 66 | 10 |
Causes Assigned.
| 1900. | 1901.[40] | 1902.[41] | 1903. | |
| Murder | 39 | 39 | 37 | 32 |
| Rape | 18 | 19 | 19 | 8 |
| Attempted rape | 13 | 9 | 11 | 5 |
| Race prejudice | 10 | 9 | 2 | 3 |
| Assaulting whites | 6 | — | 3 | 3 |
| Threats to kill | 5 | — | 1 | — |
| Burglary | 4 | 1 | — | — |
| Attempt to murder | 4 | 9 | 4 | 6 |
| Informing | 2 | — | — | — |
| Robbery (theft) | 2 | 12 | 1 | — |
| Complicity in murder | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 |
| Rape and murder | — | — | — | 1 |
| Suspicion of murder | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Suspicion of robbery | 1 | — | — | — |
| No offence | 1 | — | — | — |
| Arson | 2 | 4 | — | — |
| Suspicion of arson | 1 | — | — | — |
| Aiding escape of murderer | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| Insulting a white woman | — | 1 | — | — |
| Cattle and horse stealing | — | 7 | 1 | — |
| Quarrel over profit-sharing | — | 5 | — | — |
| Suspicion of rape | — | 1 | — | — |
| Suspicion of rape and murder | — | 1 | — | — |
| Unknown offences | 2 | 6 | — | 4 |
| Mistaken identity | — | 1 | 1 | 3 |