Buchanan County bulletin and guardian., 1868-07-24
DEEsANcE OF Law.

o. Friday night, the ls,h inst, some
person entered our stable and sheAred the
hair from the neck and tail Of our horse,
muslatiny the animal 10 . manner which
dssr.c,s decidedly from his good looks (al>
though he had but little in that direction Of
which to boast before,) and from his salable
value. Had the operator possessed the good
sense to lengthen the animals ears and
thus transform him into mule, forty or &c,
ty dollars would have been added to his
worth, and what would have been lost in
bsau'y would have been gained in value,
Az the case stands, he has the appearance Of
b, hrid, the name and tail being those Of the
mule-the color adding to the illusion-and
the ears those Of the horse. However, he is
just as strong and just as servicable A. be.
fore. We shall use him precisely rs much
and probably little more-we take pride
il exhibiting him-as We should have done
had be remaised unmoles,ed.
There is . deep agni6cance to this
transaction which we shall endeAvor 10 elab-
crate and illustrate in series of "Stump
Tail Lessons" commencing with our next
issue.
Having stated the event, let US examine
the circumstances.
The person who performed this operation
was no, professional horse>barber his
vosk shows that but professional saloon
man. The saloon men dom like ut. A
citizen, believing that society Was reaping
great harvest Of evils from the sac Of liq uors
in Independence in defiance Of Law, Ne
laid information before Justice Hollet,
which brough, about the seizure Of
the liquors Of seven saloons IN shis
city. As the possessors ofthese liquors vere
unable to show that they were kept for legit>
innate purposes, tie liquors were destroyed
in accordance with law. We further laid
lefose Judge Barton Information, which led
to the prosecution Of saloos keepers. We
give an account Of these prosecutions else
mhere. We did all this in pursuance Of our
right, as citizen Of Iowa, and in pursuance
of our duty, as a member Of society. We
bad no motive other than the general good Of
society OF which We are . member.
The person who cur-tailed our horse Was
wroth because he had not been permitted to
bid defiance to the laws of this State with
perfect impunity. II his motive in mutilat>
ing our beast was revenge, he most sigually
failed. The horse suffers from the fies) ard
mot ~ II be thought to intimidase us: be
uistcok his man altogether. We have al
ways made it practice to do precisely what
il seemed our duty 10 do, whether 10 Eight
rebels, advocate the rights Of the race, includ>
ing the rights Of woman, expose Office ,seek>
isg scalausgs, or prosecute liquor sellers, and
we propose 10 continue that practice while We
retain tine power Of mind and body to do it
80 far as these liquor sellers are concerned,
We are no, through with them yet, though the
prosecutions are temporarily suspended on
account Of The absence OF the attorney. We
shall prosecute them Just as long a. they con,
tinue to violate the law and We can secure the
evidence 70 prove il. Let them follow . legal,
legitimate business and we will 20 u any
bength to secure for them the protection ofthe
existing Law, whatever it nay be; but when
tbey openly defy Law which every good citi-
zen is bound TO obey and uphold, We shall do
what we can to secure for them the punish
nept due for their crimes.
We ask our readers TO consider we'll the
meaning Of this transaction, which Of itselfis
20 despicable as TO receive the condemnation
Of nearly all classes Of the community. 1t
indicates not only . beld defiance Of law on
The part Of gang Of criminals, who live on
the miseries Of their fellows, but an equally
bold defiance cf any citizen TO execute fhe losr
against Mem-a threat Of personal ven
geance against any citizen who dares appeal
~ tie Law for protection against their nefari-
.ous uaffie. They thus become gang Of de-
.hast caf'cxs in our very midst.