New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-12-13
IN EpLDEMIc OF HOMICIDE.

n man has his personal existence partcu-
larry at heart, Kentucky, it seems to us, is the
last place to which he should emgTate, or, if
already an inhabitant thereof, the first from
which he should abscond. A correspondent Of
The Cincinnati Gazette complains that Kentucky
society isn't :" in n normal condition ;" but
upon the presentation made, we should say
that society there is not society at all, for the
tale OF blood takes us back to those primitive
times when the killing of some men was the
occupation OF other men-when murder was
the rule and safety the exception. There seem
TO be counties in Kentucky in which mans
life is no more certain than it would be If he
were cast alone upon an island Of cannibals
long deprived of their regular meals. Madison,
for instance, in only one week, enjoyed three
fights and as many murders. Upon recent
blessed Sunday morning, while I" on the edge
"of Fayette and jasmine" the church-golng
bells were in full swing, persuasiycly summoning
the people to mathis, that paladin, Capt.
Ryland Todhunter, met Mr.. Joseph Rob-
inson proceeding to his devotions. A parley
ensues and soon is heard "the soft bark OF
" the pistol Mr.. Robinsonis dying upon
the highway--soon the Captain is riding away
whistling, probably. for joy-altOgcther most
Sabbatical and thrilling episode. No wonder
they talk Of q vigilance committee In that vi
cinity. IL is full time, when reports Of mur;
ders and manslaughters lave become regular
feature Of the newspaper press. Innocence Is
no protection. This correspondent talked with
an old gentleman who loudly bemoaned the
condition of things i'll Kentucky, as he might
have bemoa ned the condition of things in other
parts of the SOuthW West, if he had felt the same
personal interest in the matter. lie said that
he was, upon principle, opposed to killing
men; but he added, "Don't you tell any. one /
said so, for there are plenty of those ras-
"cals who would kill me, if they knew that |
"would not try and kill them if they attacked
"me." That is n sad state of things in any
community in which it is thought by any one
to be necessary to conceal dstaste for the
shedding of human blood.
Perhaps nothing but time can ameliorate this
fTightful condition Of affairs, and time, if we
wait long enough, may be relied upon to
remedy the evil but while we of tho outside
are waiting, Mt some expense of our national
pride, it is true, but without any great ma
teral inconvenience, the condition OF Kentucky
is forlorn, abiect, and hopeless in the extreme.
Men do not care to go to hell here upon earth !;
and until this killing. for private vengeance,
this whimsical shooting, and this drunken stab
bing, have been abated either by the return of
public reason or by the strong hand of the law,
enterprise and capital will sun the State, its
lands will remain either partially cultivated or
wholly unreclaimed, and going to church with
out pistols will bring church going, and with
il most of the virtues which contribute to the
prosperity of people, into disuse and dis
repute. The Danville Seminary may do its
best TO civilize and to mollify and to
'Christianize men; but the Danville Seminary,
while murders are going on all around it, has
something better or something which it thinks
better to do than to furnish the world with
powerful commentaries on the text "Thou
shall not kill" 1t has its sweet little quar-
rels between Doctor and Doctor, and is agitated
by tho personal woes and private passions Of