LYNCH LAW
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] Stn,—I send you the following information concerning lynch- ings for the year 1938. I find, according to the records compiled in the Department of Records and Research of the Tuskegee Institute, that there were 6 persons lynched in 1938. This is 2 fewer than the number 8 for each of the years 1937 and 1936; and 14 fewer than the number 20 for 1935. No one of the persons lynched was in the hands of the law; the bodies of two of the victims were burned.
There were 42 instances in which officers of the law pre- vented lynchings. Three of these were in Northern States and 39 in Southern States. In 41 of the instances, the prisoners were removed or the guards augmented or other precautions taken. In the other instance, armed force was used to repel the would-be lynchers. A total of 53 persons, 3 white men, 49 Negro men, and 1 Negro woman, were thus saved from death at the hands of mobs.
Of the six persons lynched, all were Negroes. The offences charged were : rape, I; murder, 3; failure to complete payment on funeral bill, I; insulting remarks to woman, I.
The States in which lynchings occurred and the number in each State are as follows: Florida, 1; Georgia, 1; Louisiana, 1; and Mississippi, 3.—Very truly yours, Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. President. F. D. PATITRSON,
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