Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1864-07-30

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protect himself And, therefore. before q
man can attempt 20 override the law, as un-
just in itself or unjust in its working. be must
be prepared with an overwhelming mass Of
evidence to prove that in one way or other the
aim and object Of all restrictive law-uamely.
the punishment Of wrong doers-has not been
attained. And it is here that the vigilance
committee of San Francisco took their stand
in the argument upon their proceedings.
They said: We acknowledge the supremacy
of law; We recognize that it should be ad-
minstered by properly appointed officers; we
are quite ready to admit that there will be &C.
casionally failure Of ju tice, in the same
measure that there are failures in everything
Else that lie human. If the theory was adj
hered to with moderate srictness We should
be content. But what are the factsl The
tbeoryin its application here has miseratly
failed. We have inefficient judges, packed
jures, venal police; criminals are not pun
ished; law and order have become 5y-wo,ds
and q reproach. The natural state of society
is reversed; instead of right ruling wrong,
evil has become triumphant and prevents hon
est men doing their work. Things having
come to this pass, it is necessary that honest
men should unite to assist tho execution of
the principle Of law, now that lite form has be-
come nothing but mockery and delusion.
They accordingly did unite, and by their ef-
forts restored order and jusiccto city which
had been deprived Of them. And although
men who judge things by their names instead
Of looking deeper and grasping the realities Of
facts, were frightened and could only mutter
blame for the lawlessness of the committee,
its proceedings have since been justified by
all rejecting men.
Here then is tangible case in which the
principle vindicated itself at the expense Of a
form from which the spirit had been cast out
by those who should have guarded it most
carefully; and if the same circumstances could
be exactly reproduced we should not attempt
to alter the generally favorable verdict. But
before endorsing the application Of the princi-
pie in any other case, VIC must see that par
allel circumstances sanction parallel meas
ures. We fail to see those circumstances
reproduced within any precinct in this Terri
tory. Juries have indeed neglected their
duty; and it is evidently the business Of all
good citizens to sec that such monstrosity
as the complete acquittal Of man who, by
his own confession, is guilty Of at least man
slaughter, is not repeated. But the to remedy
such evil is not by formation of illegal COM
mittecs. The inhabitants of any precinct
elect their own officers without intimidation,
and from the men of whom iuries are COM
posed. If then these inhabitants ara right
minded men, genuinely and zcalously for the
maintenance Of order and the proper punish
ment of crime, they have all the power that
can possibly be desired in their own hands
for the furtherance of these objects by ord-
nary administration of the law. Ifthe JUS
tice is incompetent or venal, the fault lies with
the electors for making such man justice.
If the juries do not perform their duty, it is
preposterous for the very men who help to
make these juries to complain Of such nom
performance. And these facts remain the
same if a minority of the inhabitants are evil
doors, for elections and everything else de-
pendupon majorities. If there is sufficient
number of good, honest men, in any Of our
small precincts to make an effective vigilance
committee, there is Of necessity sufficient to aid
the proper execution Of the law by ordinary
process. They have simply to lose their ille-
gality as committee. and maintain legality
in their capacity as private citizens.
On any other principle than the one We
have established, and which we hold DOES not
apply here. the formation Of an irresponsible
body of men for the purpose Of Furnishing their
fellow citizens is monstrous in principle and
productive of immeasurable evil in its conse.
quences. Founded ON false basis, one evil
after another is added, till the whole building
may call for an outraged public opinion to en-
sure its downfall. 1t is only natural that
such lawless body should attract to its ranks
men DESTROYS Of gratifying private malice
under the protective shield Of the whole body.
Even if all its members are honestly inclined,
there is every danger to b. appreheuded from
their ignorance. and in such body il is not
to be expected that all its members should be
honest. Well-meaning men may be drawn
into such scheme. deluded by the name. and
not recognise the enormous evil it conceals.
But it becomes them to reflect seriously as to