Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/648

* LYNCH LAW. 574 LYNN. opinion and was practiced after the Revolution with the result, it is said, that many suits were before the courts in 1792 for inflicting lynch law in the region south of the James Kiver. In Eng- land lyncli law was early known by the name of Lydford law; in Scotland it was often called Cowpcr law. Except in the earlj' settlement of California before civil government had been establislied, the practice of lyncliing in the United (States was seldom resorted to inilil after the Civil War. In the disorders incident to the emancipation of the slaves and the enforcement of the reconstruction acts, bands of white men under the name of the Ku-Klux Klan (q.v. ) fre- quently resorted to lynch law to gel rid of objec- tionable colored men. The demoralization and disregard of the majesty of the law which the influences of the time created in tlic minds of the white race did not disappear with llie rcslnration of white supremacy in the South. With the increasing amount of crime among the black race went an increase in the number of lynehings. Presently it became an unwritten law that no colored ofl'ender charged with rape u|)on a white woman shouhl be allowed the privilege of trial before a court of law. The method of puni.sh- ment by lynching is not now restricted to the offense of rajie, as the statistics quoted below will show, iloreuver, it is not wholly cunlined to any particular section of the country, although more general in the South than in other parts of the country. It is also resorted to more frequently in the newly settled West than in the older North and East. Reliable statistics gathered for the year lSf)2 show that 241 persons were executed in the United States by lynching during that year. All of thfse cases except 3S occui-red in the former slave-holding States of the South, Louisiana heading the list with 29, Tennessee following with 2S, Arkansas with 25, Alabama with 22, and Jlississippi with 10. Of the 241 victims of lyncli law IGO were negroes. While the offense cliarged was in 57 cases rape or at- tempt at rape, in 58 cases it was murder: in 18 eases the ofl'ense was equally divided l)etween race prejudice, robbery, and incendiarism ; in four instances it was suspected robbery, and in two cases the charge was insulting women. During the year 1002 the number of lynehings reported was but sliglitly more than 100. which was 21 less than the number reported during the previous year. Nine of these cases occurred in the north- ern section of the country — one each in South Dakota, Colorado. A"yoming, Michigan. Oregon, Indiana, and Kansas, and two in Illinois. Under the Constitution the National Government has little or no power which can be emplo3'ed to check the barbarous practice of lyncliing. The administration of the criminal law, except in a few cases, is left to the individual States, and the punishment of those who are guilty of taking part in the business of lynching is the duty of the States. Nevertheless, whenever the subject of a foreign government is lynched by an Ameri- can mob, the United States is held responsible and has on several occasions been called upon to pay an indemnity to the families of vic- tims of lynch law. This happened twice in the case of several Chinese subjects who were lynched hy mobs in Wyoming and California, and twice in the case of Italians l^mched in Louisiana and California. The total amount of llie indemnity paid in these cases exceeded .$250,000. Recently there has been a marked increase in the activity of the State governments in several quarters with a view to checking the growth of mob law. Several of the present executives of States where the practice of lynching is most frequent have made earnest appeals to the legislatures of their respective commonwealths to enact extraordinary measures to meet the situation, and they have, in a number of cases, foiled the attempts of lynching mobs by prompt use of the militia. Several States, notably Ohio and South Caro- lina, have enacted laws making the county in which a lynching occurs responsible in pecuniary damages to the family or heirs of the person lynched, while in Indiana and Kansas laws have been passed which provide for the suspension from office of sheriffs who fail to protect citizens of their respective counties from the violence of mob law. These measures have not proved to be adequate. The remedy most generally advo- cated for the suppression of lynch law is the just, prompt, and eihcient activity of the courts in bringing to speedy justice persons guilty of the offenses for which lynching is usually resorted to. But public sentiment in those parts where lynehings are most frequent is too strong against ])ublicity of trial where the honor of a woman is involved to allow the courts to inflict the punishment which the olTendcr is believed to de- serve. Moreover, the recent action of mobs in several instances in lynching criminals who had been duly convicted by the courts and sentenced to death shows that the remedy suggested will scarcely be effective. The conviction and pun- ishment of persons guilty of taking jiart in lyneh- ings is of the rarest occurrence, owing to the sympathy of the juries with the guilty parties. LYNDHUE.ST, llnd'herst, Lord. A British lawyer and statesman. See Copley, John SiNGLETOX. LYNDSAY, lin'zi, Sir David. A Scottish poet. See Likdsay. LYNEDOCH, Thomas Graham, Lord (174S- 1843). A British general, born in Balgowan, Perthshire, where he was trained by private tutors, preparatory to a brief course at Christ Church, Oxford. In 1703 he volunteered in the army, and was elected to Parliament. He com- pleted the siege of Valctta in 1800; served under Sir .John Moore in Portugal in 1808-09; and in 181 1 gained the brilliant victory of Barossa over the French. He took part in the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812), in 1813 fought at Vit- toria and Toloso. was unsuccessful in his assault on Saint Sebastian, and commanded the British force which settled in October on French terri- tory. In 1814 he was again fighting at Merxem and Bergen-op-Zoom, and was made a Iiaron with an annual pension of £2000, which he refused. Consult Graham's biography (Edinburgh, 2d ed., 1877), and that by Delavo'ge (London, 1880). LYNN, lin. An important manufacturing city in Essex County, Mass., 12 miles n(irthen>t of Boston; on jMassaehusetts B.ay. and on the Boston and Maine and the Boston. Revere Beai^h and Lynn (narrow gauge) railroads (Map: Massachusetts, F 3). The city, II 1-3 square miles in extent, is near several .seaside resorts. It has a shore line of about three miles and a safe, though shallow, harbor. There are a fine City Hall, a children's home, Lynn Home for Aged Women, Lynn Hospital, a public library