Publication date
9/1/03
Volume
24
Number
17
The WatchTower
Views from the Watch Tower
The Watchtower Magazines
/../literature/watchtower/1903/17/1903-17-1.html
 
 
SepUMBU 
1. 
1903 
ZION'S 
WATCH 
TOWER 
(351-355) 
were 
worshipers 
of 
the 
goddess 
Ashtaroth, 
and 
as 
a. 
memorial 
of 
their 
victory 
Saul's 
armor 
was 
hung 
in 
one 
of 
her 
temples. 
The 
bodies 
of 
Saul 
and 
his 
sons 
were 
fastened 
to 
the 
outside 
wall 
of 
the 
city 
of 
Bethshan 
as 
a 
mark 
of 
special 
indignity, 
but 
they 
were 
soon 
recovered 
by 
men 
from 
t.he 
tribe 
of 
Manas­ 
seh, 
who, 
probably 
to 
prevent 
further 
desecration 
to 
the 
bodies, 
burned 
them, 
and 
subsequently 
buried 
the 
ashes, 
un­ 
consumed 
bones, 
etc. 
The 
Golden 
Text 
is 
worthy 
of 
being 
committed 
to 
memory 
by 
all. 
Its 
lesson 
is 
that 
we 
are 
not 
competent 
to 
guide 
and 
direct 
our 
own 
affairs; 
that 
we 
need 
divine 
counsel. 
Human 
judgment 
would 
be 
unreliable 
even 
if 
supported 
by 
absolute 
knowledge; 
but 
in 
view 
of 
our 
deficiency 
in 
knowledge 
as 
well 
as 
in 
judgment, 
very 
evidently 
to 
man 
many 
ways 
seem 
right. 
and 
wise 
and 
advantageous 
and 
desirable 
which, 
pursued, 
lead 
to 
disappointment 
and 
chagrin 
and 
ultimately 
would 
lead 
to 
death-second 
death. 
The 
wise, 
proper 
course 
for 
all, 
there­ 
fore, 
is 
to 
realize 
and 
acknowledge 
our 
own 
insufficiency, 
un­ 
wisdom, 
and 
to 
look 
to 
our 
great 
Creator 
for 
guidance. 
Happy 
are 
those 
who 
heed 
the 
Scriptural 
injunction, 
"Remember 
now 
thy 
Creator 
in 
the 
days 
of 
thy 
youth." 
The 
earlier 
this 
right 
course 
is 
begun 
the 
better 
will 
be 
the 
results 
every 
way, 
the 
easier 
will 
it 
for 
us 
to 
bend 
our 
wills 
to 
the 
will 
of 
the 
Lord; 
and 
the 
lessons 
and 
satisfaction 
and 
peace 
coming 
to 
us 
through 
the 
Lord's 
guidance 
will 
be 
the 
more 
precious. 
A 
full 
consecration 
of 
the 
heart 
and 
life 
and 
all 
our 
interests 
to 
the 
Lord, 
that 
his 
will 
may 
be 
done 
in 
us 
in 
all 
things, 
is 
the 
consecration 
necessary 
to 
the 
bringing 
of 
every 
justified 
believer 
into 
fellowship 
in 
the 
body 
of 
Christ, 
which 
is 
the 
church. 
VOL. 
XXIV 
ALLEGHENY, 
PA., 
SEPTEMBER 
15, 
1903 
VIEWS 
FROM 
THE 
WATCH 
TOWER 
No. 
18 
LYNOmNGB 
PREOURSORY 
TO 
ANAROHY 
remember 
that 
the 
criminal 
not 
merely 
sins 
against 
humanity 
The 
prevalence 
of 
an 
anarchous 
spirit 
has 
for 
some 
time 
in 
inexpiable 
and 
unpardonable 
fashion, 
but 
sins 
particularly 
past 
been 
manifesting 
itself 
in 
the 
lynching 
of 
reputed 
against 
his 
own 
race, 
and 
does 
them 
a 
wrong 
far 
greater 
than 
criminals. 
The 
law-supporting 
and 
law-defying 
elements 
seem 
any 
white 
man 
can 
possibly 
do 
them 
. 
. 
. 
. 
to 
clash 
in 
some 
men's 
minds, 
and 
the 
lynchers 
merely 
try 
to 
Moreover, 
every 
effort 
should 
be 
made 
under 
the 
law 
to 
gratify 
both 
at 
one 
time. 
They 
gratify 
their 
desire 
to 
violate 
expedite 
the 
proceedings 
of 
justice 
in 
the 
case 
of 
such 
an 
awful 
law 
and 
still 
their 
consciences 
with 
the 
thought 
that 
they 
crime. 
But 
it 
cannot 
be 
necessary 
in 
order 
to 
accomplish 
this 
are 
meting 
out 
justice. 
Doubtless 
the 
same 
mixture 
of 
senti- 
to 
deprive 
any 
citizen 
of 
those 
fundamental 
rights 
to 
be 
heard 
ment 
accompanied 
the 
religious 
stake-burnings 
and 
rackings 
in 
his 
own 
defense 
which 
are 
so 
dear 
to 
us 
all 
and 
lie 
at 
the 
root 
of 
the 
past: 
the 
victims 
were 
declared 
by 
high 
church 
digni- 
of 
our 
liberty. 
It 
certainly 
ought 
to 
be 
possible 
by 
the 
proper 
taries 
to 
be 
"heretics," 
propagators 
of 
"monstrous 
doctrines," 
administration 
of 
the 
laws 
to 
secure 
swift 
vengeance 
upon 
"injurious 
to 
the 
church 
and 
the 
state." 
To 
the 
ignorant 
the 
criminal; 
and 
the 
best 
and 
immediate 
efforts 
of 
all 
these 
charges 
justified 
any 
and 
every 
torture 
in 
their 
destruc- 
legislators, 
judges 
and 
citizens 
should 
be 
addressed 
to 
securing 
tion. 
Doubtless 
there 
would 
again 
be 
danger 
to 
those 
dubbed 
such 
reforms 
in 
our 
legal 
procedure 
as 
to 
leave 
no 
vestige 
of 
"unorthodox" 
were 
it 
not 
for 
the 
Babel 
of 
doctrine 
now 
pre- 
excuse 
for 
those 
misguided 
men 
who 
undertake 
to 
reap 
ven­ 
vailing, 
which 
renders 
it 
difficult 
to 
determine 
where 
the 
lines 
geance 
through 
violent 
measures 
. 
. 
. 
. 
of 
"orthodoxy" 
could 
be 
drawn 
to 
the 
satisfaction 
of 
a 
great 
But 
even 
where 
the 
real 
criminal 
is 
reached, 
the 
wrong 
done 
majority. 
Who 
knows 
that 
in 
the 
near 
future, 
under 
the 
pro- 
by 
the 
mob 
to 
the 
community 
itself 
is 
well 
nigh 
as 
great. 
posed 
consolidation 
of 
Christian 
religions 
(which 
we 
have 
for 
Especially 
is 
this 
true 
where 
the 
lynching 
is 
accompanied 
the 
past 
twenty 
years 
predicted 
from 
the 
Scriptures, 
and 
which 
with 
torture. 
There 
are 
certain 
hideous 
sights 
which 
when 
comes 
closer 
yearly), 
this 
condition 
may 
not 
be 
reached- 
once 
seen 
can 
never 
be 
wholly 
erased 
from 
the 
mental 
retina. 
that 
mobs 
may 
not 
burn 
"heretics" 
T 
The 
Scriptures 
lead 
us 
The 
mere 
fact 
of 
having 
seen 
them 
implies 
degradation. 
This 
to 
expect 
some 
such 
anarchistic 
conditions 
now,-preceding 
the 
is 
a 
thousand 
fold 
stronger 
when 
instead 
of 
merely 
seeing 
establishment 
of 
the 
kingdom. 
the 
deed 
the 
man 
has 
participated 
in 
it. 
Whoever 
in 
any 
THE 
PRESIDENT'S 
VIEWS 
ON 
MOB 
VIOLENOE 
part 
of 
our 
country 
has 
ever 
taken 
part 
in 
lawlessly 
putting 
to 
death 
a 
criminal 
by 
the 
dreadful 
torture 
of 
fire 
must 
Governor 
Durbin 
of 
Indiana 
not 
only 
called 
out 
the 
state 
forever 
after 
have 
the 
awful 
spectacle 
of 
his 
own 
handiwork 
militia 
to 
suppress 
a 
lynchin~, 
but 
under 
his 
commands 
the 
seared 
into 
his 
brain 
and 
soul. 
He 
can 
never 
again 
be 
the 
mob 
was 
scattered 
with 
conSiderable 
loss 
of 
life. 
The 
Presi- 
same 
man. 
dent 
of 
the 
United 
States, 
in 
an 
open 
letter, 
thanked 
him 
for 
This 
matter 
of 
lynching 
would 
be 
a 
terrible 
thing 
even 
his 
vindication 
of 
the 
law. 
We 
make 
liberal 
extracts 
from 
his 
if 
it 
stopped 
with 
the 
lynching 
of 
men 
guilty 
of 
the 
inhuman 
letter 
as 
follows:- 
and 
hideous 
crime 
of 
rape; 
but 
as 
a 
matter 
of 
fact 
lawless- 
My 
Dear 
Governor 
Durbin:- 
ness 
of 
this 
type 
never 
does 
stop 
and 
never 
can 
stop 
in 
Permit 
me 
to 
thank 
you 
as 
an 
American 
citizen 
for 
the 
such 
fashion. 
Every 
violent 
man 
in 
the 
community 
is 
encour­ 
admirable 
way 
in 
which 
you 
have 
vindicated 
the 
majesty 
of 
the 
aged 
by 
every 
case 
of 
lynching 
in 
which 
the 
lynchers 
go 
law 
by 
your 
recent 
action 
in 
reference 
to 
lynching. 
I 
feel, 
my 
unpunished 
to 
himself 
take 
the 
law 
into 
his 
own 
hands 
when­ 
dear 
sir, 
that 
you 
have 
made 
all 
men 
your 
debtors 
who 
believe, 
ever 
it 
suits 
his 
own 
convenience. 
as 
far-seeing 
men 
must, 
that 
the 
well-being, 
indeed 
the 
very 
In 
the 
same 
way 
the 
use 
of 
torture 
by 
the 
mob 
in 
certain 
existence, 
of 
the 
republic 
depends 
upon 
that 
spirit 
of 
orderly 
cases 
is 
sure 
to 
spread 
until 
it 
is 
applied 
more 
or 
less 
indis­ 
liberty 
under 
the 
law 
which 
is 
as 
incompatible 
with 
mob 
criminately 
in 
other 
cases. 
The 
spirit 
of 
lawlessness 
grows 
violence 
as 
with 
any 
form 
of 
despotism. 
Of 
course 
mob 
with 
what 
it 
feeds 
on, 
and 
when 
mobs 
with 
impunity 
lynch 
violence 
is 
simply 
one 
form 
of 
anarchy; 
and 
anarchy 
is 
now, 
criminals 
for 
one 
crime, 
they 
are 
certain 
to 
begin 
to 
lynch 
as 
it 
always 
has 
been, 
the 
handmaid 
and 
forerunner 
of 
tyranny. 
real 
or 
alleged 
criminals 
for 
other 
causes 
. 
. 
. 
. 
I 
feel 
that 
you 
have 
not 
only 
refiected 
honor 
upon 
the 
The 
nation, 
like 
the 
individual, 
cannot 
commit 
a 
crime 
state 
which 
for 
its 
good 
fortune 
has 
you 
for 
its 
chief 
exec- 
with 
impunity. 
If 
we 
are 
guilty 
of 
lawlessness 
and 
brutal 
utive, 
but 
upon 
the 
whole 
nation. 
It 
is 
incumbent 
upon 
every 
violence, 
whether 
our 
guilt 
consists 
in 
active 
participation 
man 
throughout 
this 
country 
not 
only 
to 
hold 
up 
your 
hands 
therein 
or 
in 
mere 
connivance 
and 
encouragement, 
we 
shall 
in 
the 
course 
you 
have 
been 
following, 
but 
to 
show 
his 
reali- 
assuredly 
suffer 
later 
on 
because 
of 
what 
we 
have 
done. 
The 
zation 
that 
the 
matter 
is 
one 
of 
vital 
concern 
to 
us 
all. 
corner 
stonp 
of 
this. 
republic, 
as 
of 
all 
free 
governments, 
is 
All 
thoughtful 
men 
must 
feel 
the 
gravest 
alarm 
over 
respect 
for 
and 
obedience 
to 
the 
law. 
Where 
we 
permit 
the 
the 
growth 
of 
lynching 
in 
this 
country, 
and 
especially 
over 
law 
to 
be 
defied 
or 
evaded, 
whether 
bY' 
rich 
man 
or 
poor 
man, 
the 
peculiarly 
hideous 
forms 
so 
often 
taken 
by 
mob 
vio- 
by 
black 
man 
or 
white, 
we 
are 
by 
Just 
so 
much 
weakening 
lence 
when 
colored 
men 
llre 
the 
victims-on 
which 
occa- 
the 
bonds 
of 
our 
civilization 
and 
increasing 
the 
chances 
of 
its 
sion 
the 
mob 
seems 
to 
lay 
most 
weight, 
not 
on 
the 
crime 
overthrow, 
and 
of 
the 
substitution 
therefor 
of 
a 
system 
in 
but 
on 
the 
color 
of 
the 
criminal. 
In 
a 
certain 
proportion 
which 
there 
shall 
be 
violent 
alternations 
of 
anarchy 
and 
of 
these 
cases 
the 
man 
lynched 
has 
been 
guilty 
of 
a 
crime 
tyranny. 
Sincerely 
yours, 
horrible 
beyond 
description; 
a 
crime 
so 
horrible 
that 
as 
THEODORE 
ROOSEVELT. 
far 
as 
he 
himself 
is 
concerned 
he 
has 
forfeited 
the 
right 
to 
LAWLESSNESS 
ON 
THE 
INCREASE 
any 
kind 
of 
sympathy 
whatsoever. 
On 
this 
subject 
the 
Jewish 
Exponent 
says:- 
The 
feeling 
of 
all 
good 
citizens 
that 
such 
a 
hideous 
crime 
'''The 
earth 
was 
filled 
with 
violence.' 
(Gen. 
6: 
11 
) 
Are 
shall 
not 
be 
hideously 
punished 
by 
mob 
violence 
is 
due 
not 
these 
words 
less 
true 
today 
than 
they 
were 
in 
the 
days 
of 
in 
the 
least 
to 
sympathy 
for 
the 
criminal, 
but 
to 
a 
very 
which 
the 
Bible 
speaks? 
Mob 
violence, 
race 
hatred, 
the 
sub­ 
lively 
sense 
of 
the 
train 
of 
dreadful 
consequences 
which 
follow 
jugation 
of 
weaker 
nations-these 
things 
are 
accepted 
almost 
thl; 
course 
taken 
by 
the 
mob 
in 
exacting 
inhuman 
vengeance 
as 
matters 
of 
course 
by 
a 
large 
section 
of 
humanity. 
Each 
for 
an 
inhuman 
wrong. 
In 
such 
cases, 
moreover, 
it 
is 
well 
to 
outbreak 
of 
lawless 
violence 
furnishes 
the 
fuel 
to 
kindle 
anew 
[324:1] 
Serrgempgre 1, 1903 were worshipers of the goddess Ashtaroth, and as a memorial of their victory Saul’s armor was hung in one of her temples. The bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened to the outside wall of the city of Bethshan as a mark of special indignity, but they were soon recovered by men from the tribe of Manasseh, who, probably to prevent further desecration to the bodies, burned them, and subsequently buried the ashes, unconsumed bones, ete. The Golden Text is worthy of being committed to memory by all. Its lesson is that we are not competent to guide and direct our own affairs; that we need divine counsel. Human judgment would be unreliable even if supported by absolute knowledge; but in view of our deficiency in knowledge as well as in judgment, very evidently to man many ways seem right and wise and advantageous and desirable which, pursued, lead ZION’S WATCH TOWER (351-355) to disappointment and chagrin and ultimately would lead to death—second death. The wise, proper course for all, therefore, is to realize and acknowledge our own insufficiency, unwisdom, and to look to our great Creator for guidance. Happy are those who heed the Scriptural injunction, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” The earlier this right course is begun the better will be the results every way, the easier will it for us to bend our wills to the will of the Lord; and the lessons and satisfaction and peace coming to us through the Lord’s guidance will be the more precious. A full consecration of the heart and life and all our interests to the Lord, that his will may be done in us in all things, is the consecration necessary to the bringing of every justified believer into fellowship in the body of Christ, which is the church. Vou. XXIV ALLEGHENY, PA., SEPTEMBER 15, 1903 No. 18 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER LYNCHINGS PRECURSORY TO ANARCHY The prevalence of an anarchous spirit has for some time past been manifesting itself in the lynching of reputed criminals. The law-supporting and law-defying elements seem to clash in some men’s minds, and the lynchers merely try to gratify both at one time. They gratify their desire to violate law and still their consciences with the thought that they are meting out justice. Doubtless the same mixture of sentiment accompanied the religious stake-burnings and rackings of the past: the victims were declared by high church dignitaries to be “heretics,” propagators of “monstrous doctrines,” “injurious to the church and the state.” To the ignorant these charges justified any and every torture in their destruction. Doubtless there would again be danger to those dubbed “unorthodox” were it not for the Babel of doctrine now prevailing, which renders it difficult to determine where the lines of “orthodoxy” could be drawn to the satisfaction of a great majority. Who knows that in the near future, under the proposed consolidation of Christian religions (which we have for the past twenty years predicted from the Scriptures, and which comes closer yearly), this condition may not be reached— that mobs may not burn “heretics”? The Scriptures lead us to expect some such anarchistic conditions now,—preceding the establishment of the kingdom. THE PRESIDENT’S VIEWS ON MOB VIOLENCE Governor Durbin of Indiana not only called out the state militia to suppress a lynching, but under his commands the mob was scattered with considerable loss of life. ‘The Fresident of the United States, in an open letter, thanked him for his vindication of the law. We make liberal extracts from his letter as follows:— My Dear Governor Durbin :— Permit me to thank you as an American citizen for the admirable way in which you have vindicated the majesty of the law by your recent action in reference to lynching. I feel, my dear sir, that you have made all men your debtors who believe, as far-seeing men must, that the well-being, indeed the very existence, of the republic depends upon that spirit of orderly liberty under the law which is as incompatible with mob violence as with any form of despotism. Of course mob violence is simply one form of anarchy; and anarchy is now, as it always has been, the handmaid and forerunner of tyranny. I feel that you have not only reflected honor upon the state which for its good fortune has you for its chief executive, but upon the whole nation. It is incumbent upon every man throughout this country not only to hold up your hands in the course you have been following, but to show his realization that the matter is one of vital concern to us all. All thoughtful men must feel the gravest alarm over the growth of lynching in this country, and especially over the peculiarly hideous forms so often taken by mob violence when colored men are the victims—on which occasion the mob seems to lay most weight, not on the crime but on the color of the criminal. In a certain proportion of these cases the man lynched has been guilty of « crime horrible beyond description; a crime so horrible that as far as he himself is concerned he has forfeited the right to any kind of sympathy whatsoever. The feeling of all good citizens that such a hideous crime shall not be hideously punished by mob violence is due not in the least to sympathy for the criminal, but to a very lively sense of the train of dreadful consequences which follow the course taken by the mob in exacting inhuman vengeance for an inhuman wrong. In such cases, moreover, it is well to remember that the criminal not merely sins against humanity in inexpiable and unpardonable fashion, but sins particularly against his own race, and does them a wrong far greater than any white man can possibly do them... . Moreover, every effort should be made under the law to expedite the proceedings of justice in the case of such an awful crime. But it cannot be necessary in order to accomplish this to deprive any citizen of those fundamental rights to be heard in his own defense which are so dear to us all and lie at the root of our liberty. It certainly ought to be possible by the proper administration of the laws to secure swift vengeance upon the criminal; and the best and immediate efforts of all legislators, judges and citizens should be addressed to securing such reforms in our legal procedure as to leave no vestige of excuse for those misguided men who undertake to reap vengeance through violent measures. .. . But even where the real criminal is reached, the wrong done by the mob to the community itself is well nigh as great. Especially is this true where the lynching is accompanied with torture. There are certain hideous sights which when once seen can never be wholly erased from the mental retina. The mere fact of having seen them implies degradation. This is a thousand fold stronger when instead of merely seeing the deed the man has participated in it. Whoever in any part of our country has ever taken part in lawlessly putting to death a criminal by the dreadful torture of fire must forever after have the awful spectacle of his own handiwork seared into his brain and soul. He can never again be the same man. This matter of lynching would be a terrible thing even if it stopped with the lynching of men guilty of the inhuman and hideous crime of rape; but as a matter of fact lawlessness of this type never does stop and never can stop in such fashion. Every violent man in the community is encouraged by every case of lynching in which the lynchers go unpunished to himself take the law into his own hands whenever it suits his own convenience. In the same way the use of torture by the mob in certain cases is sure to spread until it is applied more or less indiscriminately in other cases. The spirit of lawlessness grows with what it feeds on, and when mobs with impunity lynch criminals for one crime, they are certain to begin to lynch real or alleged criminals for other causes. . The nation, like the individual, cannot commit a crime with impunity. If we are guilty of lawlessness and brutal violence, whether our guilt consists in active participation therein or in mere connivance and encouragement, we shall assuredly suffer later on because of what we have done. The corner stone of this republic, as of all free governments, is respect for and obedience to the law. Where we permit the law to be defied or evaded, whether by rich man or poor man, by black man or white, we are by just so much weakening the bonds of our civilization and increasing the chances of its overthrow, and of the substitution therefor of a system in which there shall be violent alternations of anarchy and tyranny. Sincerely yours, THEODORE ROOSEVELT. LAWLESSNESS ON THE INCREASE On this subject the Jewish Exponent says :— “*The earth was filled with violence.’ (Gen. 6:11) Are these words less true today than they were in the days of which the Bible speaks? Mob violence, race hatred, the subjugation of weaker nations—-these things are accepted almost ag matters of course by a large section of humanity. Each outbreak of lawless violence furnishes the fuel to kindle anew (3241)

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