Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1858-05-18
The Gazette Defending Robbery and
Murder.

/
sing the robberies and murders com
mitted by Lane and his pack.
After having launched numberles
burning invectives at the heads Of tn,
border ruffians," mostly for imagina
ry offences, it now, very naturally find,
1T somewhat difficult task to excus,
the unparalleled outrages Of Lane and
his men. But nothing daunted by tho
| ghosts of its former Kansas articles
which must have arisen in long array
and shaken their "gory locks" il
comes up boldly in defence of these
valiant "champions Of freedom" In
its usual happy manner it commences
its article with a falsehood.
The Democrat, ever consistent in on,
thing, no matter who may be its editor in
vindictive enmity to the Free State men OF
Kansas, those men who are called "Free
state men because they are in favor Of max
ing Kanses free State, dc
The Uem,erat has always wished,
and declared, that Kansas would be-
come free state; and with that per
ton of its bona fidc population, vino
have honestly, fairly and lawfully, tried
to bring about that result, it has al
ways sympathized; but with brawling
DULLES, and gracclcss idle scamps, too
lazy to work, who went to the terrific
ry expecting, in return for the disturb
ances which they created, to subsist up
on the contributions OF honest, benevo-
lent free soil men in the East, we have
always wagcd, and still will, wage, an
unrclenting warfare.
The Gazette also falsely charges us
with sustaining the border ruflians" in
their outrages." BY far the greatest
number Of these outrages," as every
one knows, occurred only in the mag
nations of the correspondents of the
Republican press, and we Of course
ridicnlcd them; but those which in re-
ality occurred, were CONDEMNED. The
Democrot has always been a" consist
ent' advocate of law and order.
But, return to the gist of the article :;
after one long piercing howl, it pro-
cecds to Justify the. outragcs of Lane
and his ragamuilins, saying that their
conduct is but the natural result" of
the course pursued by the democratic
party in relation to, and the pro-slavery
men in, the Territory.
The murder of six men, part of
whom were free state men and part
pro-slavcry men-and the forcible tax
ms OF their property-thc murder of
soldier who was called upon to assist
IN the execution of warrant which
had been issued against them-the
resolution threatening the lives of the
Judicial officers of the United States,
and declaring their intention to ''prc-
vent the administration of the law"
and their statement that they will
''hang Captain Anderson and his men,
wherever they can find thcm'-all
this is but "the natural result" of the
action of the democratic party and Of
the proslavery men in Kansas. Some
slight show of plausibility might have
been maintained IN the article Of the
Gd=ete if the outrages of Lane had
been confined solely to retaliation mp
on the persons of "bordcr rutlians" who
are supposed to have offered violence
to free state men; but even this is
wanting.
The robbcrics and murders of Lanes
men were committed Unfortunately
upon the free state, and proslavcry,
settlers upon the banks of the Marmi-
.on River.
1t would be curious argument in
Iced which would prove that this band
If freedom shrieking banoitti were in
,itcd to the robbery and murder of
rec state men, by a natural" exasper-
.tlon against the "border ruffians.''
Instead of being the natural result
f the course of the democratic party
Or Of the "border rufiians," these muir
lcrs and robbcries are the natural re-
'ult'' Of just such dclectable articles as
nave been penned by. the Ga=ette al
most daily, for several years.
Lane and his men, finding that they
we're sustained by the republican press
n any thing which they might do,
have grown bold and have ruincdn OF
only the little reputation which they
had left but will eventually destroy
the party which has the misfortune to
include them within its ranks. The
Gazette had better return to shrieking
over the Lecompton Bill and, as often
as its feelings will allow, avoid de-
Tense Of murder and highway robbery
in the future.
The Tornado