DL. XI.
Offtot
APRIL 25th, 1930
No. 27
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Editorials
JUSTICE IN ONTARIO� SPEEDY AND SURE
Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath
UWthv of highest commendation and widest publicity is the forth-:ht :uul unequivocal decision recently handed down by Sir William ulock, chief justice -of Ontario, in sentencing William A. Phillips, a Klux Kbnsman of Hamilton, Ontario, to three months' imprisonment, :er Phillips had appealed the fifty dollar fine imposed by a lower court. irelv have we had the pleasure of reading a more clear and unambiguous itement which reads in part as follows: "There is no substantial dispute to wh.n are the facts in this case. A mob of men (italics our own) ap-ared ;u the residence of Mrs, Sault. Amongst the occupants of this house is a Lrirl named Jones, One of the mob . . . requested the girl to come a car in front of the house. She complied. She saw the mob and being lueiial to get into the car, she did so. No physical ' force was used, t ... she acquiesced because of being intimidated by the large body of en, sonu fifty or seventy-five ... disguised with hoods extending from
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die head to the knees, . . These facts show illegal interference iherty. The motive of the accused and his companions is im-The accused and his companions took it into their own hands . with her rights. In doing so they not only committed an cgal oft-nse as regards to her, but also a crime, against the majesty -of t lan\ . . It (the la,w) is the supreme dominant authority controlling of everyone and no person however exalted or high his power do with impunity what that lawless mob did. The attack of and his companions upon the rights of this girl was an at-throw the law of the land, and in its place to set up mob law, :�> substitute lawlessness for law enforcement which obtains in :n tries, . . Mob law, such as is disclosed in this case, is a step -non, and, like a venemous serpent, whenever its horrid head -/ he killed, not merely scotched. �. . We are therefore of the the monetary fine imposed by the magistrate was a wholly .unishment, a travesty of justice, and we substitute therefore / for the term of three months. This being the first case of fiat has come before the court, we have dealt with the offense fuency and the sentence here imposed is not to-be regarded as in the event of a repetition of such an offense^*' > a magnificent verdict indeed, and one deserving of being m the very housetops as a glowing example of the sure and nsation of justice in the Province of Ontario. Scarcely two - passed since the day this dastardly deed was perpetrated, >;n that short space of time the case passed from the lower ' courts, and called forth such a frank and outspoken decision. Mulock and his colleagues are deserving of our unmitigated long as such sturdy and fearless champions of the law remain hes there is naught to fear.
>ure, Mr. Phillips has now assumed the role of the afflicted ^�d martyr. SriD prostituting the name of the Nazarcne and
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the religion of his followers, this leader of the "lawless mob" maintains that he is "happy to serve a term in prison for such a worthy cause," and like all true and noble Klansmen, he is willing to "sacrifice freedqm for Christianity and Countr\." His Country has already repudiated this brand of patriotism; it now remains for his Church, through ist official spokesmen, to voice, in no uncertain language, this 'Perversion of its lofty ethical teachings.
There is one sense,1 however, in which Phillips actually is a martyr� or at least a scape goat. Between fifty and seventy-five men composed that mob which took the law into its own hands. Two others, in fact, were actually brought to trial in the magistrate's court, and were dismissed on the specious and flabby technicality that they were not masked at the moment that they were apprehended, though there wa? not the slightest doubt as to their participation in this "crime against the majesty of the law." Throughout the stirring decision of the Appclate Court, Justice Mulock has used the phrase "the accused and- his companions" Three times it occurs: "The motive of the accused and his companions is immaterial. Their action was unlawful;" "the attack of the accused and his companions took it (the law) into their own hands;" "the attack of the accused and Ms companions . . . was an attempt to overthrow the law of this land." This is strong language. The inference is unmistakable. The "accused and his companions" were equally guilty of "lese majeste." They were all accomplices in the selfsame crime. Two of them were actually brought to judgment and were allowed to go scot free. The rest, whose identity could easily be ascertained, were not everTcensufed. Surely if the inadequate fine originally imposed on Phillips was a "traversy on justice," this imprisonment of a single man out of a mob of over fifty is likewise a miscarriage of the law. It is a pity indeed that such a ringing judgment as was read by Sir Mulock was not passed upon all the accessories to the deed.
It is small wonder then that the Klan, still audacious and not in the least humbled, at a mass meeting held following the Chief Justice's decision, has the consummate insolence to say that "an innocent man, standing up for Christianity . . . and fighting immorality- in its worst form, i� compelled to suffer imprisonment." And impudently it inquires, "Is the court in this particular case upholding immorality and vice and suppressing Christianity?" Surely this is "contempt of court" in its most literal connotation!
We anticipate that it will not be long before Chief Justice Mulock will be among those favored with an epistle from the Imperial Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Canada; as will Mr. Justice Middleton who sharply reminded Phillips for upholding the purity of his motives that "hell likewise was paved with good intentions." If the Klan is to be "not merely scotched^ but killed" to quote the Chief Justice again, not merely PhQlips, but "his companions" likewise ought be punished and thus this ardent knight errant of Nordic supremacy be rescued from his "happy martyrdom."
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