Of remedies for lynching I have none. Of proposed remedies, I have only to say that those which seem in any way practicable might result in unmerited hardship to whites and an increase in rape cases as well. Any hope of escape or mitigation of punishment that even unintentionally may be held out to the criminal serves as a wonderful stimulant to crime. The positive knowledge on the part of those criminally inclined that punishment will be immediate, sure, and adequate, is the best deterrent. The Negro is a creature that lives in the present and even postponement of punishment robs it of much of its force. The law sanctions personal self-defense. The white man in lynching a Negro does it as an indirect act of self-defense against the Negro criminal as a race.
When the abnormally criminal Negro race (partly so, no doubt, because he is not yet
adjusted to his environment) puts himself in harmony with our civilization, if ever, through assimilating our culture and making our ideals its own, then may it be hoped that his crimes will be reduced to normal and lynching will cease, the cause being removed.
FOOTNOTES:
[48:1] Lynchings in the country for the past thirty-two years according to The Chicago Daily Tribune, Dec. 30, 1916:
| 1885 | 184 | 1901 | 130 |
| 1886 | 138 | 1902 | 96 |
| 1887 | 122 | 1903 | 104 |
| 1888 | 142 | 1904 | 87 |
| 1889 | 176 | 1905 | 60 |
| 1890 | 127 | 1906 | 60 |
| 1891 | 191 | 1907 | 65 |
| 1892 | 205 | 1908 | 100 |
| 1893 | 200 | 1909 | 87 |
| 1894 | 190 | 1910 | 74 |
| 1895 | 171 | 1911 | 71 |
| 1896 | 131 | 1912 | 64 |
| 1897 | 106 | 1913 | 48 |
| 1898 | 127 | 1914 | 54 |
| 1899 | 107 | 1915 | 98 |
| 1900 | 115 | 1916 | 58 |
[51:2] It seems fair to count rape, alleged rape, attempted rape, and so on,—all as rape; for it often happens that a Negro commits rape and escapes entirely. As an example, see account of the lynching of Ed. Berry (Baltimore Sun, Aug. 27, 1915). Berry confessed to twelve cases of criminal assault, each victim being a white woman.
[53:3] This argument assumes, of course, that all Negroes who murdered whites in the South were either lynched or legally executed, and that all Negroes caught who committed rape against white women were likewise dealt with. It seems to be about as fair in one case as the other to assume this.
[56:4] Baltimore American, June 15, 1875.