The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1867-08-28
THE USE OF THE PISTOL,

lne Gtehttut iIequehCy WiH Wh'Sh Tie
pistol is appealed 10 in this country. now
a-day. Tor the settlement Of personal dis
putes. or as a means Of private revenge, Is
unqaestionably owing a great deal to the
prevailing looseness in the administration
af justice. A man who feels hiinsrlf irre-
trievsbly injured--and it appears to be a
very common thing for men TO ieel thus
fancies the law TO be inadequate TO his case.
either ia its terms or ITS eniorcementj and
wnen he has decided To become judge and
exeeatoner on his o~n account, he feels
assured that the Law will. IN urn. deal with
him len,enuy enough. Thus, there is q
twofvld inducement, if We NAV so speak, to
private Vengeance. But IL. on one h,nd,
the laws 10 secure redress for personal
grievances were adeqsate and were sure OF
endorsement, and il, ON the other hand, the
legal penalty fo, taking theI Into ones
own hand" las il is terme,D we're uniform
ly and rlgidly enforced. there would not
only oe -. Inducements ihe less fr pri
sale sengva ance. but there weuid be two very
effective reasons aud solemn warnings a.
gainst II.
We should like 20 zee lag ,lominant up
on bnth sides ii the case. la one word
We should like 10 see public justice rKeca.
ted upon all offenders and criminals, in or.
der tina, the terrible tendency 10 crimes
aud offences which ihreaten TO subvert the
social order may be At last abated. We
should like Ia see fewer attempts al pallia.
tins crime by The courts aud by the public.
We should like 10 see less eagerness 10
pat ia pleas and excuses IN behalf of thnse
who uench on the rights or the lives Of
their fellow-citizens. whether IL be under
one pretext or another-whether under the
c,mmon pre,ers Of loose principled oIien-
ders. or under the pretext Of redressing
iajuries which may have been suffered. or
which are assumed to have been suffered.
We must as,urejly. in course Of time.
cone TO sotne change in these things, as
they are nov carried on IN The Uaited
statrs. There 10 no country in the world
70 which there is anythins like the Amount
oIpersonsl vengeaace-which usually takes
the iorm Of private eassassinatiou-,han there
- in this. We do not doabt-and We do
MT speak loosely or without means Of
Jadsmsnt--that ~ late years there hasr
Oeen . thousand persons killed year in
inc United States by means Of weapuns
used upon them by the hands % those WIN.
onlv ~ rae cases. have been treated as
cslprits and murierers. II is not As bal
in this part nf the couatry as Il IS 10 some
part. vi the Western States. ir such States
- Indiana aud Missouri, Tor instance, the
shooting Of oae man by another is an Incl.
dent whose ,ecord is repeated in almost
essry newspaper thd reaches US. IL th.
Southern aud Southwestern States crimes
oi this kind used 10 be comnon in other
ssrsrs. bat since the termination Of the war
there has been marked change in this re
spect. Amvng ou. selves. however, IL is
very much more common than IL was in .
preceding generation aLd the criminal re-.
eor,Isof this and sd AGENT States shows tha; i,
Is iearIully increasing.
There - nothing easier than TO find a
prctext for u. An iretrievable wrong
can al any time be eonjured up by almo,,
sar man. IL none has actually been sui.
fereL. u is not whit less easy To- get up
oae for the occasion, as shield for the real
rratise Of the criminal.
The worst Of il is that judges and ju.ie.
give more consideration 10 these wrongs,
ar preterts Of wrsny. than they give TO the
embarrassment of the Law. II is a result .I
observation In this ss we'll IS other c.ua.
ties. that every failure 10 enforce lhe Law
against an offender. gives existence 10 tee
.ther Offences or offenders; and every
failure 10 bring criminal TO justice Or !
msrderer 10 the sallows. brings inta being !
seore Of crininaIs and msrdrrers who az,
always ready to.plead his example and de
and that their fate be no worse than ~.