Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1864-04-29
For the Journal.
Mob LAW.
MuscAT1NE. Apri1 81.

NUscAT1NE, april ~, 1909.
I am sorry, Mr.. Editor, to See the article
IN your papers of yesterday and Of thi,
morning, in reference to the very unjustifa.
be acts done by certain parties on Monday
last. Your paper, of Tuesday, showed a:
entire approval OF the act stated in your arti
Gle headed took the OATH" And in your
article OF this morning headed mot right
YOU again evidently endorse it. You spe.k
Of il as the act of " the soldiers" l do no
so understand it. l understand that a very
lew solo,ers-perhaps half a dozen, and some
OF these excited by too free conviviality =
were alone the actors, while Others of their
brothers in arms tried to restrain them.
do not thlnk that The soldiers" in The I'm
qua: fed manner in which you speak Of them,
should be held respon ,ib.e. rhess noble
uaen, who are g wing their blood and offerin-
their lives for the c,untry, are fighting to
uphold the laws Of The coun, ry against a
fiendish rebellion which IS in arms against
the laws. Suppose that the demands Of III st
weil-meaning bat inconsiderate young meI.
had been refused and resisted, might no
lood-shedding and murder have been tn
con.equ nces! The first act Of l~awlessness,
Though apparently trivial, is like " the lie
ting out OF water" The stream, hardly Wis
| ,ble when it first flows over the embankmen =,
may soon deepen its channel, and thu f1oou
that follows will carry ruin and desola,ion II,
its course. Tue secoad act Of that day 10
which you refer tbs mornlng-the outrag
upon one who has 10. ally supported the gov
elnmcnt and been a liberal Tread Of the sol
diers; shows how blindly the spuit OF mo-
law strikes whenever it begins " move. |
any parsons ara c~overtly disloy al, not doing
any overt acts 0! opp sit'on to The authorl
les Of the land, let US try to be patien', and
let the contempt Of honorable men be thsn
pu ishment. Ii they make ,hemselve>
amenabie to the punishment Of the civil OF
military authorities, let such autr OH les dta
with III IN. In due time, if we have faith III
.od and in man, the triumph Of the rish,
and he triumph Of the law, will br ng all Of
tenders to JUS ice. AS one VINO loves tn
suldle's-as n whose every sympathy Is
with the government and with the brave de
tenders Of our country AS one whose son
have been and are in the service of the gov
eminent, perIing their lives for the defense
Of tina Ia rs against an unlawful rebellion, 1
ask the privilege Of putting into the columns
Of your paper, which has so earnestly sup
porsed the government, this vindic ton o.
. the s,ldlers," and this protest against al
lawles ness. s-t7e. f.e s.s V.
w" misunderstands or m'soonstrues our
language when he says he SEES ian emit G
approval of the acts of those soldiers Oh
Monday last, to whom reference is made
Our first article was merely . statement Of
tae circumstances of the call on the editor OF
the Courier, without comment Of any sort,
except the expression Of = doubt that it would
do any good. Our second article was an EN-
phatic disapproval Of a call they subsequent
" made on another citizen. =
lille we condemn the act of the soldiers
in compelling any one to take the oath as an
unlawful aud dangerous %usurpation of power,
we are unable to see how it can hurt a good
citizen 10 swear allegiance to his government.
With this view, we think a great deal more
ado has been made about this matter than is
necessary. - "a
We do not anticipate mob law in this city.
unless it is inangurated by the editor Of the
Courier, who has publicly threatened to lay
the city in ashes, and whose followers hare
,epe.ted the threat onsthe streets. They are
too cowardlS, however; to put such threats
into exscution-hsnce no danger need be ap-