The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1854-12-20

Gently, abstained from interference with polite:
and sectional disputes, in an article headed tht
growing rccklessness Of human life, = remark:
/ that:
In these northern States we had hoped to have be
come comparatively free from terrible moral ant
social evil seeing that not exposed tothe same
murderous influences unhappily preraHin tie south
ern States whose distinguished institution il 80 bane
fal In It's operation upon the value and security
human life, save in the most mercenary or the mos
bestial point of view But in the dcgeneracy of TIL
times which fallen, the character Of our 50
ciety Is fearfuy deteriorating; and if the evil be
checked-if something be not done, promply-w.
shaN be reduce that respect, to the southern
lcrel.
This is about as fair specimen Of complacen
and pharisaical self-righteousness as We hay'
ever seen. Reduced to the southern level.
Why, reverend sir, you might be proud ane
happy ifyou were capable ofreaching the south
ern level We should as soon think of an oys
ter, ut the bottom ofthe gulf of Mexico, labor
ing under an apprehension that another delug.
might ''reduce it to the leyel' OF the shells cas-
by the first deluge on the tops ofthe mountains
as for a New York diyine-editor, in city whose
very aldermen and police are under the inau
ence of low rufians, trembling lest the north
should sink to the level of southern society
! This preacher editor knows no more of wha
be is talking about than the man in the moon
I There is no country in the world in which life
and property are more secure than in the south
ern States. Throughout the greater part ofthe
south, the people never think of fastening thei,
doors, or their windows, when they go to bed
| Take that solitary fact and reconcile it, if you
can, with the alleged insecurity Of life in the
southern States, and with the constant appre-
tensions of tumult and disturbance which you
state to be hanging forever, like a nightmare,
over the minds of our people. Contrast it with
the locks and bolts and bars which the north
erners are compelled to fortify themselves with
at night. We candidly admit the recklessness
of human life which prevails throughout the
whole United States. We see something Of it
in tie south, in the occasional resort to astreet
fight Or the duel; now, however, going out of
vogue, and rarely resorted to until every posi-
bic effort for peaceable adjustment has failed;
and We deeply deplore the practice Of men 60
ing armed with revolvers and bowie knives,
and rejoice to perceive thatitis being daily dis
countenanced by all gentlemen. But we see
infinitely more Of it at the north, where, to save
time and money, railroad and steamboat COM
panies VIGOROUSLY omit precautions which are
essential to the security of travellers, and con
sequently offer up every week smoking sacri-
fees of human beings upon the altar of public
Impotence and cupidity. What but this same
recklessness of human life, in running steamers
at full speed through dense fogs and on shoal
water led to the melancholy catastrophe of the
Arctic? More men, women and children are
slai in every month by this ssrecklessness of HUI
man life'' at the north, than perish by violence
at the south in year. Then as to the she'd
ding of human blood by man. Rencontres, it
is true, occur in the south, and sometimes hor-
rid murders are perpetrated from revenge
But we venture to affirm that they are few in
number, compared with the bloodshed in the
northern States. The characteristic of south
ern killing is this: that it is done under no.
ton, which we grant to be false one, of wound
ed honor; but it is done in broad daylight
man to man, and face to face. We rarely hear
of a murder in the south perpetrated in the
night, or for the purpose of obtaining money
This is about the only killing that prevails in
the section which this Pharisee fears will sink
to the southern levcl.'' The papers of his
own city declare that the streets of New York
cannot be walked in safety at night, and their
prisons are filled with murderers, who, under
the shadows ofdarkness, have slaughtered help
less or sleeping victims, for the sake of a little
pelf. There are at least twenty cases
Of this kind at the north to one in the SOUTH
In the very paper which expresses the fear that
the north will soon sink to the southern level''
in recklessness and bloodguiltiness, is para
graph, reading thus: ''Terrible explosion at
Earl'$ hotel; another internal machine; diabol-
cal outrage; murder in Broadway; coroner's
inquest; verdict of the jury; supposed murder
of a sailor; stabbed his wife; desperate attempt
at murder and highway robbery; man stab
bed, and another shot in Brooklyn; another
murderous assault in Brooklyn. All this has
been the work of little more than twenty-four
hours; and the list of crimes has been almost
daily added TO. Within the last few days, as
many more cases have occurred, cases of stab
bing, desperate fighting, and one of desperate
murder, as given below. Within the last day
OF two, another horrible murderous case has
occurred in this city. A woman, out of re-
venge against the inmates of the house where
she boarded, Gin Church street, put pack
age of arsenic into the kettle of coffee prepar-
ing for breakfast Five Or six persons partook
oft, all of whom were seriously affected, and
two have since died.
Well, sir, we should think you we're getting
down to the southern levcl' pretty fast. Pos
sibly you have already got little below it
All Louisiana, for "a whole year, could not match
the crimes Of a week recorded in that one para