Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-11-19
HOW LoNGP

ohOSSAAS3 Auo
Eastward the march Of murder takes its
way. A year ago, we chronicled ga man
for breakfast each succeeding day, with
wondrous regularity. sThen, the slaughter
house and the bloody ground were Rob-
sans Old Saloon, on B street, and the
street from Pat Lynchs to Sutton Avenue.
The mutations of time and the march of
civilization have carried the field of muir
der farther eastward, and c street has be-
come the gantlet of peril for all who ven
ture forth without coat of mail. Tester-
day we chronicled a desperate pistol fight
as having taken place the night previous
in a crowded saloon, in which, for a
wonder none but the combatants were
wounded. Last night similar affair &C.
Cured, in which an unoffending bystander
was wounded, perhaps to death; the
origin of the quarrel having been con-
temptible dispute as to whether " dime
was or was not strictly speaking ten
cents" With this foundation for a quar-
rel, two brutes passed from words to
weapons with the result mentioned. Both
our morning contemporaries make these too
frequent outrages the text for suggestions
about disarming the citizens" and
"law against carrying concealed weapons
The theory of such law is correct, and
could it be carried into practical effect, 1t
would be Just the law for which there ex-
lists a crying necessity. But the fact is,
and always has been in every country
where we have resided, dead letter upon
the statute-book. Such law probably
exists in every State in the Union, and
most likely in every other civilized cuun-
try-and to what effect: 1t simply dis
arms the quiet and law-abiding citizen,
and leaves him entirely at the mercy of the
desperate, who respects no law. There
has been such law in New York ever
since we can remember, yet what security
has it given to the citizen' None what
ever and so totally obsolete has it become,
that the citizen whose business necessitates
late hours and unfrequehted streets, is al
ways armed. Such a law exists in CAL
ifornia, and we learn of frequent arrests
and convictions under that law. But who
are the culprits: Nineteen times out OF
twenty it is some poor devil of a China
man who never heard of the law, and dare
not draw weapon if attacked; some
miner just down from the mountains,
armed to protect his hard earned dust
from the city robber, or some steamship
passenger just arrived among us
and whose reading of California and Ne
vada journals has very naturally disturbed
his imagination with apprehension of
MONDAY assassination. We say such
laws, although framed with the best in
tentions, and based upon theory indis-
putably correct are totally impracticable'
If either of our contemporaries, or any OF
our lawmakers, will draft law that we
believe will have the desired effect of dis
arming everybody, we will advocate its
adoption, and will be the better pleased,
the heavier the punishment. Make it
death if you have mind. We do not
raise this show of opposition to the ordi-
narily useless law which is framed IN such
cases because we feel any personal inter-
es. or apprehension. We never carry
weapon, and have little faith in the cour-
age of man that does, unless he has di.
rect and immediate reason to fear an at
tack. Something, however, has got to be
done to put a stop to this street and bar
room fighting, where peaceable and disin-
terested bystanders, attending to their
own business or recreation, are put in
peril of their lives. 1t is not very proper
suggestion for newspaper to make; but
we will express our conviction that it the
next man that drew deadly weapon in
Gold Hill or Virginia were swung the
next moment to the nearest lamp-post,
there would be long hiatus between that
banging.match and the next shooting
scrape.