If sudden, sharp retribution were inflicted upon absolute proof, only for this one cause, it is doubtful whether much effective opposition could be enlisted.

Yet wiser men have seen defiance of law fail to stop crime, have seen mobs act upon suspicions afterward proved groundless, have seen mob action widely extended, and have seen the growth of a spirit of lawlessness.

Where one mob has had its way, another is always more easily aroused, and soon the administration of the law becomes a farce.

In some years hardly a third of the victims of this summary process have been charged with rape or intent to commit rape.

As a consequence the sentiment that the law should take its course in every case is steadily growing.[1] [Footnote 1: The statistics on lynching do not always agree.