Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1857-12-01

ABEL AcQurrTKD-Our Memphis exchanges
inform us Of the a~cquittal Of Abel, charged
with murder. The case was looked upon, BY
many, as high-handed and eold-blooded. Much
has been said Of it in the papers. From what
we have learned Of the case, VIZ have no doubt
Of the fact that a guilty man has been acquit-
ted, and turned loose upon the community,
with his crimes endorsed by the laws OF the
country. But, unlike many, Wa do not charge
this upon the courts, nor the lawyers, nor the
jurors. We think it ebaTgeabie 10 the
papers. Prompted by the best Of motives, but
a~etuated by a mistaken aud misdirected zeal,
from the day Of Abels arrest, until that Of bis
aequittsl, some of the Memphis papers, as
Stunning the place Of the regular officers Of the
law, have prosecuted him until their good In
tentions, and good works, have been con-
stTucted, by many good and charitable people,
into PsTseeHti0H. Prominent among these pros
eeuting newspapers has been our valued
eotemporary, the Eagle and Enquirer. The
result like that of the Ward case, prosecuted
by The Louisville Democrat and the Louisville
Courier, has been the sequit.al OF a guilty
man.
Every editor has tie right TO pursue exactly
such a course as be pieases, in regard TO any
question which is, or which he eoneeives to
Be, Of sufficient public Importance to demand
bis attention. But, as a matter OF taste, or as
a matter Of policy, We do not approve OF pros
eeuting a man., charged with a crime which lie
punishable by law, through the columns Of a
newspaper. There are laws, and law-ofieers
whose duty Il Is TO prosecute offenders against
the laws. This duty is laborlOus and %onerons,
and, to us, distssteful and, as we do not re-
eeive the e~moluments Of Prosecuting Attorney,
we prefer to leave the duties Of that Office to
him who does. It is bad policy for a news
paper to prosecute a criminal, because intelli-
gent people know that there are law officers
whose duty it is to max such prosecutions ;
and any attempt, by a Newspaper, to procure
the conviction Of ore charged with crime, is
apt to be regarded as the applying of an out
side pressure, for the purpose Of exercising an
undue. and i'm proper influence upon the carts
Of the country. This inevitably creates a sym
patty for the accused, and the law officers iue
extremely fortunate, II, under such ciIcuIn-
stances, they can make any kind Of q convic-
ton.
It is the province Of the newspaper press to
denounce crime, and contend manfully for a
faithful and A strict execution of the laws.
Law officers should be held responsible for the
least neglect or derelietion Of duty whereby
criminals escape punishment and, VIXEN nee
essary or deserving, courts and juries should
not be spared the lash but we do insist that,
in the discharge of this duty, an editor should
take higher than any mere personal grounds ;
and we still think, as we always have thought,
that the editor who lends his columns to the
PfobcChLtOu OF a case pehuluS DtlOTc lnr COuIls
of the country, does an act not required If him
as a public duty, and reduces the dignity OF the
press below its legitimate standard.
We have alluded to this subject in no unkind
feeling towards our MeHphis contemporaries,
for we hold them in the highest regard but,
as we think they have made a mistake by which
a public offender has escaped-by which a muir
derer has had bis murder endorsed BY the legal
tribunals Of the country, we would not be true
to them, nor to ourself, il we did not allude to
their errors in the past, that similar ones may
be avoided in the future.-LifIe Rock Gazette.
The Kansas Q~UEsrrOx.-The following is
from the Washington correspondence Of the
Baltimore San
"The Democratic newspapers from Northern
States come to us with articles upon the Kansas
Convention, and it would appear that the oppo-
sition to the action Of the Convention from
leading Democratic journalists is becoming
more and more decided and intense. The journals
received last night are replete with denuncia-
tons of the Convention and its acts, and utterly
hostile to the meaning and intent Of the Kan
sas-Nebraska bill, and a violation Of the
pledges given by the administration, by Gov.
Walker and Judge Douglas to the people Of
Kansas, that they should have an opportunity
to vote upon the Constitution which should be
framed by the Convention. The Philadelphia
Press and the Cllcdgo Tunes follow up their 4
views in daily and vigorous articles, which
wear an air Of more than usual political au-
thority.
80 It is now quite certain that the latter organ
speaks the sentiments of Judge Douglas. the
reputed author and able defender Of the Kan
sss-Nebraska act. Were it not so, we should
have been advised Of the fact ere this. A ru-
NOR prevails, also, that Gov. Walker himself
is decidedly and openly hostile to the acts of
the Convention, and will oppose the acceptance
of the Constitution to be submitted by them to
Congress. Can this be so? We shall soon
see. Gov. Walkers friends here have supposed
that he was on the side Of the Convention in
this matter.
8 Meanwhile, the administration have deter
mined to sustain the Convention, and are in
favor of the acceptance Of the Constitution by
Congress, in whatever form it may come-and
it can only come witt the slavery article.
at is much to be regretted that this disturb
ing topic should be again brought before Con-
gress and the country, and it is now to be pre-
scented in a more exciting form, apparently,
than at any previous time. The contest will
be so sharP ia the Democratic ranks on this
that 1t will be hardly necessary for the
Black Republicans to sggravate it.
e" Il is TO be hoped that Congress will decide
the question one way or the other at an early
day, in order that the Kansas people may pro-
coed 70 another effort at Constitution making
or mending"