Punishmentfor the Crimeof Lynching

HEARING
BEFORE

SUBCOMMIITEE
OFTHE

COMMITTEE
ONT~
ICIARY
~ UNITED
sJtY.NAT
E
" .. .. . STA.TES
,;. .
.

' :.

SEVENTY-FOURTH OONGRESS
FI.RS+

SESSION
ON

s. 24
A BILL TO ASSURE TO PERSONS WITHIN 'EHE JURISDIC~
TION OF EVERY STATE THE EQUAL PROTECTION OF
THE LAWS BY DISCOURAGING, PREVENTING, AND
PUNISHING THE CRIME OF LYNCHING

FEBRUARY

i4, 1935

Priuted for the use of the Committee

116'2:l5

ou the Judiciary

UNITED ST3.TES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING . OFFICE
WASHINGTON: 193.5

PVNISHMENT

FOR THE

CRIME

OF LYNCHING

23

STATEMENTOF H. L. MENCKEN,EDITOR,ESSAYIST, AND CRITIC,

BALTIMORE,MD.
Mr. MENCKEN.Mr. Chairman, shall I read this statement or just
fik~?
Senator VAN NuYS. No; we would prefer to have you read it,
if you will.
Mr. MENCKEN.I shall read it. It i very short .
The problem before
ongt
i.: the simple on
f proYiding
legi lati-ve mea res to exe ut the fourtee .nth amendment.
It i too manifest to need argument that every lynching ae~ri ves
it victim of Ju life withou due process of law and den:ies him an
~ual protection o:f the law. The Stat.e! are charCTed with punishing all such invasions n the common ri(Yht- of the citizens, but
-some o:f them have fail cl in their effort t clo o. and others have
not honestly tried. Meanwhile, lynchings continue ', and thoi1gh they
do not increase in number, they show ome tenrlen y to increase in
.savagery .
.
To larie numbers o:f American citizens life in certain parts o:f
tbe count ry become intolerably hazardous. They may be seized
on anv pretext, however flimsy, and put to death with horrible
tortures.
No government pretending to b cfrilized can o-o on condoning
such atrocities.
Either it must make ,ery p ssible e:ffort to put
them down or it must suffer the scorn and con mpt. of hristend m.
That Congress has aspired o adopt necessary legi lati n eems to
be agreed by all law eJ:s, thotl"h they diffe_r omewhat ns to the
wisdom and the con titutionality o:f th bill no" before th "enate .
On th is point I can ffer no opinion but I bope I may at least
sagge t tl1at the b t phm will be to make a heginning: by enacting
that bill and then waiting for the proper ourt to adYi se upon it .
If delec s a.re und in it however. wbe her legal or pra ti cal, th y
mo.y be remedied. But nothing can be accompli h d until an actua l
Even if the w-or comes to the wor t
'C:\."])erime.nt undertaken.
nnd we find that preventing lvnching is actually impossible, that
djscovery will at least be something.
uena r V A.l.~ NUY . Thank you very much, Mr. Mencken, and
I am sure Senator Costigan, the author o:f the bill, agrees with m~
that you have been very helpful in bringing about a :favorable
-consideration.
Mr. MENCKEN.Thank you, Senator.
Senator VAN NUYs. Of this bill through your writings.
Mr. MENCKEN.Thank you.
Senator VAN NUYs. Do you have any further observations, Mr.
Mencken1
nator.
Mr. MENCKEN.I have not, unle s ou hav e ome quest.ion.
Senator VAN NUYs. You :feel like fr. W oodward from your
knowledge and activitie , that thi i. not II
ctional matter and
that in all parts of the ni eel t.a.tes th better cla of citizenship
favors this legisb.bon isn t tha.t true?
Mr. ~'.IBNClillN. I think o. I know o:f no civilized man who is
in favor: o:f lynching. There are differences of opinion as to whether
this bill will achieve the end that it seeks.

24

PUNISHMENT

FOR THE

CRIME

OF LYNCIDNG

There a.s been ome discussi on here earlier - toda especially , wheri
Senator Wagner was on the tan<l as to whether the provision levy inO"a line on the community would work. I am not prepared toar!!lle that that a i tands j completely defendab)e . My opinion
is that that provision as it sto..nd probably offer a ground :for argu ment again st the bill that might be disposed of by leaving out the
pr ovision which does not seem to be necessary a all .
The chief vir ue of this bill as I see it is tha it doe not fry
to -et up l mching as a new crime and J?rovide new penalties for it .
It presume - lynching i murder which is pr eci ely. wl1at it is . and
it punishes it as such . The onJ-y new crime it sets up is the crime
of connivin~ at lynchlng. That i probably not sufficiently covered
by our existing law, and that part of the bill needs no defen e. The
part tha provides for penaltie
a I have said, on the tmvn is at
least controver ial . There are unquestionably cases in which the
hea,iest burden would fall on the most innocent people; the tax payers in a. lynchi no- th well to do and educated people very
seldom in favor of lyn chino-. They may tind i imp . s.ible for various rea ons to prote t again t it but I have ne ver beard of man
of them being in favor of it .
At the time of the lyuchino- in Maryla .nd the d>c nt people of
the Ea tern hore were against it . They could do nothing becau e
after all they ha.d to live there. They needed help from outside
their own area. The Governor of Maryland at the time tried to give
them that help but it turned out under our constitutional law .fil
Maryland it wa_ impossible to make that a.id efficacious.
Are there any other que tio
sir?
Se.na or V.A~ N"GY. We had .everal of the citizeps of Maryland
at our former public hearing .

lvir. MENcKEN . Yes si1.. I remember them, including one of the

be t public officia ls we ever had in the State of Maryland, Attorney
General La.ne.
Senator VAN NuYS. I took occasion to compliment him on h.i fear
le sness as a public official.
Mr . }.lfaN' KEX. He is a fearle s and an honest man .
enator V aN Nurs. You were fairly familiar with that lynching .
in a general way .
Mr . ~ENCKEN.
In a general way ye', sir . ' I do not know a much
about 1 n.sAttorn y General Lane .
enator VAN NUYs. Has that added to th e. support of this ort of
legislation in Maryland 1 or are Jou advised on it Mr . Mencken i
Mr . ~ f.ENcKEs. I am not advi ed. I would not undertake to
answer that . My impre ssion is that th e decent people of the tate
of Maryland in the lynching ar ea are heartily ashamed of the lynching and one of the curiou..: e.-idences of it is the vote that Governor
Ritchie got in tl at area. last election, althouo-h there was a very
violent feelin(I' again _t him imm ediately after the lynching.
I am in cont?-ct with very many of the better peopl of the Ea tern
Shore . and I think it is safe to ay not one of them is in favor of
the lynchings , hic.h took place there . They were carried on by the
very Jow orders and the most the upper sort of people did was do
nothing and the reason they did nothing was simply because they
faced a sequel situation which could not be dealt with effectually .
1

Sell,!1,torV,AN.,Nm;s . T.p.t li?b;ue .in ,iost of these lynchings ,, as

relates to county authorities t
,
}fr. MENc~. ,I think so. A~
al), these people have got t<?go
-on livip.g :ip .that J?..e~ghl:>orhc;>od.
. _
.
.
,Senator VAN, N UYs. Yes.
.
Mi:.'MENOKEN. i\.n:d the . a-me.iiiob : that lynches a prisoner is quite
.a.pt t-0.shoot them from ambush, or pll,t.Il
their house or do something
of .the sort, an,d. tht3y h!l,ve !I- ~at~aL fe~r for them elves and their
families.
.
Senator Cos.TIGAN ..- Mr . Mencken, how do you account for the
sheriff in Tennesse -~ .recently res.isti.ng) . ~ob eelcing to take a prisoner from his custody~
Mi;. :M".:E
....
~c;KEN. I t.liink tliat could be accounted for quite easily
'"'enator. Every now ~nd then you "get a good sheriff. Any sheriii
could do the same . But I ho:ee we do no .have to offer any evidence
thf!,t th~ sheriffs -in ~ica
do 11.~t colllDlonly come from the lead ing class of citizen . They are focal politicos of a rather inferior
ty}le, and hence not much co.uld be .expecte l of them .
Senator 'CosnGAN. In you.r ju dgmeu if heriffs vrnre waited on
by the leadinu people of the community and were mged to protect
a prisoner by means of aving
tai-payer expense, do you think
that shei;ills ordinarily would . be. 'rci;ponsiye to such requests and
would be mor diligent in the protection of prisoners i
Mr. MENoKEN.
-I think they would in most cases provided it
would not be dang erous to the life an.d limbs of the taxpayers to
approach them :in the face of the .mob. They would have to fight
their way through the mob to get to the . beriff probably.
. Usually ucl;t action is taken in advance of the
enator CosT,CGAN
g-afuering of the mob, and while .i-umors are current that a mob is
oru.ngformed for the purpose. .
Mi . MENCKEN. Usually there is som effort made to stop them
down on the Eastern Shore. In one. instance the sheriff made some
effort to stop it. They di i:egru:ded .it. The sheriff had the fear of
his life, and he allowed them to uo in order to ave his own life .
Senator Cosr:rrG.aN.Ordinarily an alert sheriff can mo e the pris oner to some other place .
Mr. MENCKEN~ He could nine times out of ten .
Senator V A..'f Nur. Any further . questions~
Senator CosTIGAN. No.
enator VAN Nun. Thank you v.ery .much }fr. Mencken.
We ha.ve two other witnesses to be heard. The next is Dean
harles H.. Rous .ton, Dean of Howa.i:d Unive rsit y. We ball be ver
glad to hear from D ~an Houston at this time.

the