That some of the carpet-bag governments were absolutely corrupt goes without saying. “Get all you can in any way you can” seemed to be the idea. Justice was for sale. In some instances, it is said, the criminal elements knew that any one could commit crime and escape punishment for a money consideration. A few examples may be of interest:[42:14] A man who was accused of outrageously murdering a woman, although caught and imprisoned, was released, it is said, without even a trial, for $800. Moreover, a Negro who had been sentenced by a court to the penitentiary was released and returned home on the same train as the sheriff who took him there. Indeed, the accusation was made that a certain carpet-bag governor, in order to help the Republican Party, connived at the killing of a number of Negroes in such a way that the blame might fall on the Southern whites. At one place,[43:15] a court in passing judgment on a convicted Negro rapist merely sent him to the penitentiary, which so enraged the people of the community that they took him from jail and hanged him near the place of his crime. In order that one may the better understand the reason for the development of the lynching spirit in the South the following quotations are given: I. “New Iberia, La., Sept. 13, the Parish of Vermillon for years has been infested with cattle thieves. The people have been unable to obtain redress by process of law and last month they organized a vigilant committee as a last resort. A large number of thieves and their confederates were given notice to leave within a specified time but instead of doing so armed themselves and threatened to destroy the town of Abbeville. The Vigilantes pressed them and they scattered. It is reported that three of the band were hung on Friday. . . . All kinds of vague rumors are afloat concerning the number executed.”[43:16] II. “The right of a robbed people to revolt against robbery. . . . In Edgefield, S. C., a few days ago the country was startled by a resolution adopted at a meeting of the citizens of the county, which declared that, ‘Parties black or white who may be caught in the act of firing any house in this county shall be dealt with in accordance with the precedents of Lynch law, which is a part of the unwritten law of America.’ “Edgefield people present a statement of facts which while not justifying resort to Lynch law shows a strong provocation for it. Just before the November election, the most prominent _white Radical_ of the county is said to have advised the Negroes to burn the houses of the whites; and that this advice was not lost on them seems to be proved by the fact that thirteen citizens were burned out of their homes by incendiaries between the 7th and 19th of December. The Radicals have a large majority and they have used their power without mercy.