Wisconsin herald, and Grant County advertiser. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1844-1845, 1845-11-08
Ear TIE Wisconsin Herald.
Concerning Unwritten Law, jus.
Iice &c. in the Mines.


hing 10 Israel, and no law in Wisconsin,
Abou, The year 1920 5, every man did as he
pleased. Some old miners become eloquent
in painting this delightful period when the laws
of Nature assumed their ancient sway. II is
an Oasis 10 The desert. The intervening prai-
rie is cold and rayless. but far behind The ira
weller sees the island grove basking in flood
Of sunshine-Eden is lhere-,he rapid glance
of angel wings flashes upon his sight. So the
old settler reverts 10 the time when every man
made his own law and executed it, defended
his own rights and avenged his own wrongs
This was the genuine millennium, the ideal Of
perfection in human society, while the dreamy
Fourierist looks for it in the Wis. Phalanx.
IF one digger jumped anoiher's claim. each col
lected his friends. and dared the ,caeer of bat
tie according TO the old common law. Then
the delicate. ffarfully wrought human frame
wiihs,ood poundings. pel,ings. bruises and bat.
ieries such as would have kneaded iron. bnt
soon the tug of war ceased-the JOYOUS ing
passed round-hearts obdurae as mineral MEL
ted like wax before The blow pipe--rights We're
defined and an involabe league entered into.
"There were giants in the earth" in those DAYS
who hired out their valor for "fghing INFER.
EST" in lead. Crime no sooner reared its
head than il was casiigaied No; far from the
site of Plateville. the people, the prompt exc
cutors Of the law. put man to death for the
violation Of one Of the Commandments-ihe
seventh think it was. The seeerest self.de-
MIA. the pioneers had TO undergo was the alb
sence of woman. Without this balance wheel
the social machine moves by spasms and jerks.
II is said that during the dearl of feminine
charms. some gallants went ten OF dozen
miles 10 see sun bonnet-o,hers would gel
stocking and wear il round their necks as an
amulet, but the living creature herself came at
last. aud the Badger came forth from his hole
and rubbed his eyes, taste for society revived.
and ere long jovial wife and children whose
eyes sparkled more wihningly than mineral.
cheered his solitude. Nigh, mention that be.
fore this time The few husbands that lived in
the diggins found it more difficult TO defend
their marital rights than their mineral; hence
they were compelled to kill a digger or two,
to teach propriety to the others.
THE PREsENT-Ofthe establishment Of ,crit-
ten la,v and Courts IN the Mines.--Afer while,
say in 1927 law came. and so far he has terri.
fed no body. Law takes burglar or homicide
into his custody. but owing to the ireachery or
nsuficiency of his ministers. the Williams es-
cape. He escapes by the way of the jury. or
hole in The Indictment, or the sheriff goes 10
sleep. Law is like hound in pursuit Of
rabbit. The hound gains as long as the race
is in right line. but suddenly the rabbit bolt.
to the right or left, while the dog is thrown
straight forward by this momentum. So by
some qnick or Sudden turn. the william general.
" escapes The stiff mechanical pursnit Of law.
Law has been indicting, accusing. imprisoning
and chasing scoundrels in the Territory these
ten years-paying sheriffs and prosecutors. and
building iails, but his gate is too unwiedly.-
True. he has hung two murderers. but these
were poor loafers for whom no body cared. and
there is danger that he will next convict and
execute an innocent man just out of spite.
Nevertheless it may be asserted that our
morals have been improving in al least geome-
,rical progression. The adherents of the old
order Of things who resisted the Introduction
of law have been dispersed | suppose every
body believes the doctrine ofiransubstantiation
so far as to indeutify Rum and Sa,an--Satan
is not used 10 this form TO as great an excess
as formerly. Horse racing is becoming rife
which we may regard as certain indication
of the advance of morals. Indeed none of our
citizens engage 10, or counienance these races
to win money. or crafty the depraved appe-
lite Of the gambler, but for the sole benevolent
purpose of elevatng the breed of horses, and
it is obvious, whatever elevates horses elevate
men. race always assemblies four or FIVE
hundred OF our most industrious, pious citizens.
who In their zeal to do good, destroy great
deal Of whiskey and thus lessen the means of
intoxicaiion. They are also delivered of d.
vers blasphemous expressions. and the mind
should be delivered of superdous bile as well
as the body, They do this 10 The spirit Of the.
atrical performers IN order 10 render vice revolt
ing to the young. 10 this view of the subject,
il is no wonder that horse racing has the favor
of some of our most public spirited citizens
whose sole obiec, is the public good; not the
lining Of their purses from their neighbors
I