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OJITODT FGHCS IT*.) REVIEV F?id«Jr, D«ti*aiber 11. 1931
Some ten days or two weekk ago a colored man was lynched in-TSal- | isbury, Md., for taking the life of the man who had provided him with employment for ten years. Following this unexpected agair there was no end of criticism aimed at the people in the vicinity of the unfortunate affair. Governor Ritchie was quick to give out a sta.tamgrrt-' ¦ ia. ...which he declared that he would place >at the disposal of the law enforcement officers the solid support of Maryland, to the end, that those guilty would be made to suffer for their sins. Not only the Governor, but several ministers in Baltimore and elsewhere condemned the lynching in severe language. All of this led the general public to believe that Maryland had a Governor who would not rest until the law had been fully vindicated. This, however, made no impression on at least one citizen of that State, as under date of December 5th, he penned the following lines to one of the Baltimore newspapers which is self explanatory:
"If the Governor of Maryland takes the oath of office and, among other things, swears to uphold the constitution of the United States, and then says there is one particular portion of the constitution of which he does not approve and as chief executive of the State refuses to lend State aid in enforcing that portion, why should the individuals composing the Salisbury m'ob be condemned if they do not approve the process of certain State laws? Should the sheriff be M'iticised for his failure to enforce the State law? Does he not have an example in higher places? And maybe the excitement of the "mob was idue to the failure of the State to aid in enforcing Federal laws. Is there such a thing as a sober mob? And, again, maybe they were only exercising their personal liberty."
This all goes to show that a public official must at least be consistent if he hopes to escape criticism. There are a great many things about Governor Ritchie that we admire, but it is fair to state that he was in error when he protested vigorously against the lynching of an individual and remained silent regarding the violation of the eighteenth -amendment. The chief executive of Maryland, as an individual, is entitled to hold to the views of his own choosing, but when he takes an oath to uphold the constitution and the laws of his State and the nation, it does no. become him to wink at one law violation and condemn another group for taking the law in their hands. But Governor Ritchie is not the only inconsistent public official in this country, as we notice that the chief executive of Virginia has of late come in for a great deal of criticism. Not long ago the latter was a bit caustic in condemning t'.re practice of transporting voters to the i polls on election days. He insinuated that this was a species of bribery that should not be tolerated, but few agreed with him. The fact is, the Newport News Press, a friend of the complainant, dissented and in so doing had the following to say:
"The resentment of the voters of
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