and threatening evils. I had hoped that
it was possible to secure a nonpartisan inquiry by means of a commission
into evils the existence of which is known to all, and that out of this
might grow legislation from which all thought of partisan advantage
should be eliminated and only the higher thought appear of maintaining
the freedom and purity of the ballot and the equality of the elector,
without the guaranty of which the Government could never have been
formed and without the continuance of which it can not continue to
exist in peace and prosperity.

It is time that mutual charges of unfairness and fraud between the
great parties should cease and that the sincerity of those who profess
a desire for pure and honest elections should be brought to the test of
their willingness to free our legislation and our election methods from
everything that tends to impair the public confidence in the announced
result. The necessity for an inquiry and for legislation by Congress
upon this subject is emphasized by the fact that the tendency of the
legislation in some States in recent years has in some important
particulars been away from and not toward free and fair elections and
equal apportionments. Is it not time that we should come together upon
the high plane of patriotism while we devise methods that shall secure
the right of every man qualified by law to cast a free ballot and give
to every such ballot an equal value in choosing our public officers and
in directing the policy of the Government?

Lawlessness is not less such, but more, where it usurps the functions of
the peace officer and of the courts. The frequent lynching of colored
people accused of crime is without the excuse, which has sometimes been
urged by mobs for a failure to pursue the appointed methods for the
punishment of crime, that the accused have an undue influence over
courts and juries. Such acts are a reproach to the community where
they occur, and so far as they can be made the subject of Federal
jurisdiction the strongest repressive legislation is demanded. A public
sentiment that will sustain the officers of the law in resisting mobs
and in protecting accused persons in their custody should be promoted
by every possible means. The officer who gives his life in the brave
discharge of this duty is worthy of special honor. No lesson needs to
be so urgently impressed upon our people as this, that no worthy end
or cause can be promoted by lawlessness.