Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-11-09

IcORREsPoNDENcE
A REPLY To 3. D. MILLER. ]. p.

ira
} Editors Memphis Appeal.
! Gents: In your issue OF the 7th instant,
there ls q communication frOm r. b.
Miller, J. p, ia reference 10 my adver-
tisement In y0ur columns. The adver-
tisement referred to, reads ss follows
u will pay n hundred dollars TO the
first person who will kill a sneak or a
room thief caught in the act, the dead
body only, taken as proof. LIS. Lake,
268 Front street"
Mr.. Miller regrets TO see such an ad-
vertisement; advises recourse to law in
all such cases acknowledges the demor-
allied state Of society, and threatens the
dire penalties % Of the law upon all who
premeditatively kill one Of these thieving
seouudrels, and thereby merit the reward
Ioher.
Ye honest, Of the men OF Memphis,
can the upright toiler for his daily bread
be punished for transgressing a little
those dead letter laws and eobweb
statutes which are daily and night
ly broken with immunity by
the tibet, the rnbber and the
murderer? Have not hundreds among
us suffered by the heart-sickening depre-
dations Of pilferers and robbers? Are
not the wrinkles of care and suspicion
daily multiplied upon u euuntenances
by thoughts of past losses from this
eource, and fears Of losses to Gomez Is
anything safe from the thievish assault2
Do not chickens, cows, pantaloons goats,
coats, cravats, shirts. bottles Of whisky,
watches, et csterG, Gd infBitlam, all travel
the same road? Rave you not often
caught thieves in the very act and
sought remedy at law in vain? Is not
the law as now constituted or admins
tereds humbug, a delusion, and a snare?
Does it not utterly fail Of the purpose Of
its original makers?
Honest young men Of Memphis, COM
p~anions in work, and sharing sufferers
In misfortune, do we not camp yet in our
drear and desOlate rooms as il the war
was still q going? Are we not deferred
from decorating our nocturnal abOdes
from fear of the incufsi0ns Of these de-
testable thieves?
Are not our Christian sentiments sti-
fled in our bosOms by inability TO retain
ft habiliments in which to visit Gods
temples on the Sabbath day? Are not
0uT matrimonial predictions crushed in
the bud and smothered in the birth for
want Of garments meet for cOurtship and
proper in q ladies' boWer2 Are we not
compelled to tote all our wardrobe on our
AZ bk4 " al HAADAAAEA1f MAuCA X
all very well for the shoulders, but is
quite detrimental to the appearance of
the wardrobe? Has not our bureau in
deed become the f~reeGHdn's? Have
you not applied TO the law, and cast
about in your minds for a remedy and
found it not? Why, wherefore, for what
reason then, oh, ye honest, shall We rev.
ereRce that which shows it is entitled to
no awe? Shall ye love that which re-
turns you no care and affection ? Shall
We bOU to that to which villains yield no
obedience? Shall ye uphold that which
BY its hardness, complication and
failure, aids aud abets your rob
Der, your murderer and your op-
pressor? Why, too, shall ye longer
fear that at which the scamp snaps his
finger and laughs Is there not q derisive
smile on every intelligent face when
remedy at law is SPOKEN Of in return for
the d-epredations Which are daily brought
home to US by personal experience? Do
not the very officers Of the law them
selves, In many instances, laugh amused
ly at the old fOgyism of certain individ-
uaIs who speak Of the pUnishments
which the law will visit upon the trans
gressor Does not the very criminal
himself often find it difficult to repress
a contemptuous smile at the utter and
irredeemable g%reenness of his captOr,
who paints a fond picture Of Imagination
of the Justice which the law will visit
upon his the criminaFs) devoted ~
head? Can We remedy our present and
growing ills by our present laws? II so,
by all means let US do so. II we cannot
remedy them by law, let Us remedy
them 08yhOW. I am no preacher Of
vengeance nor apostle Of disorder.
Three times during the last two
years have I followed up thieves
according to law, and I have failed
to get them punished in every instance.
I have tried, and tried faithfully. On
two occasions the act of thieV!ng WAS
well defined, and every person but a
child or q fool, Unmistifed by having the
mantle of the law thrown over him,
would have found the persons caught
guilty, and condemned them to suffer
I the highest penalties Of cur so called civ
ilized enactmenJs. In the last instance
1 came near accomplishing on the body
of one Of the thieves that for which I
now offer q reward, and was afterwards
told fOEsOOth by one Of my friends, q
poTer W the pTecedents Of centuries,
and a scratcher in the dust of legendary
! i0re-in fine, a lawyer, a scholar and "A
| gentlem8n-ths' it was a lucky thing
IL at my pistol bullet missed its aim, or
I would have been tried and hung for
murder.
Alas that pistol, that pistol! it sets me
q strsying. Gone, vanished, vamOOsed,
disappeared, departed. Ny old cavalry
companion, stolen tOther day together
with the articles I now bemoan. How
close, oh pistol, according to my legal
friend above, you came to getting
me in a considerable snap. Thanks, oh
bookkeeping ! blind eyes, to you, for
preventing me from directing my dear
old army friend Alright. Oh, pistol! 1
can scarcely imagine your fate with
out transgressing the domain Of politics,
and p~icturing to myself some Loyal
League and your fearful proportions
garnishing the Speakers desk, with the
blue lights Pickering upon your rusti-
ness, q constant -admODitiOu 10 "LOOE
ont, dear tChitg J0iksss." CsnsJ thou
come to such a base and perverted use,
and wilst thou not ~traDsgTess nature and
arise and empty thy six loads into the
kinky heads and their few white con-
freres who dare to handle thee?
Mr.. Miller, as a representative OF the
law, you are ne doubt right in vindi-
eating its majesty and warning Us to
abide by it. l DO not desire to say any
thing in this that shall wound, in the
slightest, your feelings or the feelings
Of any good man, who yet be-
lieves in the efficacy Of the law.
l acknowledge the courtesy with which
yoH have made answer to nay adveg-
basement, and disclaiming all personal
a~llusion or feelings, will nov proceed a
little further.
hold this fact to be elf-evident, that
every individual, white or blRck, Is en-
titled to the proceeds Of his own labor.
In civilized communities we donate a
part Of the proceeds Of this labor to Off
GERS whom we appoint TO protect and
preserve US in the balance. For this
purpose only do we consent that taxes
snail be raised whenever they are
raised for any other purpose it is a swim
die, a perversiOu OF the will of the
people and whenever the people awake
TO the consciousness Of their rights they
will abolish (' peaeeably if they can,
forcibly if they must,") all laws not
made 10 pursuance of this their purpose.
I hold that the law in this community is
perverted to the protection ofthieves; such
was not its purpose, such may not be its
intention now, but such is the fact.
As the laws now stand they can only
be altered and amended by slow degrees.
[ am in favor of that alteration and
amendment and Of course Of the discus
sions which must precede it.. These
loOpholes of escape to malefactOrs must
be closed. Their conviction and punish
ment must be made certain and more
speedy.
The testimony Of their companions,
pals, cOnfreres, relations, siders and
abettors must be sifted and ruled out.
These changes will come, provided the
new element admitted to the privilege of
our franchise, are cut of again from their
lily merited elevation, and debarred from
making their influence felt in the State
lever on the side Of erime), on their own
side, in fact.
But, in the meantime, what are We to
do? Are we to remain silent when our
labors are being made nOught? Are
we, already so poor our earnings can
scarcely support US, to allow half Of that,
half Of our very life, in fact, to the
thieves? Is it not fostering a proper
public spirit, for those who are untram-
meled BY family, and consequently more
able, 10 help the backward movement of
the people to original principles? Is
IL not proper, 1 say, for such Ct US
to offer rewards to the enterprising indi-
vidual who will devote a portion Of bis