Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-06-11
Crime,

One of those periodical outrages, which
occasionally shock the public, has just
been repeated in Jones county. We have
been content to publish the facts of the
murder and the 1iendish revenge indiscrim-
inately INDUCED in by those acting under
the forms of law and protected by, what
may now be appropriately termed, the
license Of authority, without comment. We
have had no wish to direct public atten-
ton to these crimes more than absolutely
necessary to subserve the ends of justice.
As seldom as murders, robberies and arsons
occur in North Carolina, the reputation of
the State for good order and peace has
been greatly injured by Intentional exag-
gerations of the crime and the attendant
circumstances, superinduced by bitter con-
troversies of newspaper editors to effect
political ends. Heretofore criminal was
the object of loathing by all honorable
men, without regard to his politics or his
color. Formerly good citizens did all
they could to arrest and bring to pun
ishment the guilty, whether they were
Democrats or Wings, or whether the Of
fender was white or black. That differ
ent condition of things now exists is easily
traceable to the Generalization caused by
the revolution in political and social
affairs. When political parties were
founded upon principles when citizens of
intelligence, of virtue, of property differed
only as to the means to obtain the greatest
good for the governed, political questions
were carried into social matters but
seldom, and then only under the most ex-
traordinary circumstances, and never into
the administration of justice. But when
ignorance, vice and poverty were placed
in charge of State and local governments,
by subversion at once of the laws of God
and man, brute power must perforce de-
fend its illegal and ill-gotten authority by
a protection of its partisans under all and
every circumstance. We have seen de-
tected criminals arrested from the officers
of the law by mobs upon the streets of this
city, for no better reason than that the
thief belonged to the League or that he
was black. III eUerY instance in this State,
and throughout tie South, so far as we have
been informed, only the members Of q secret
political Radical league hare been rescued
by rioleace from the officers Of the tar.
Crimes have been committed by members
of other parties, but if they went un
whipped of justice it was from no violence
OF fault of their political associates.
1t is useless to deny that in some sec
tons of this State, as in others of the
South, there is condition of lawlessness
unknown previous to the Wal. The relative
number of crimes in the South, however,
even now, bear but slight proportion to
those occurring at the North, but this very
fact, without the diabolioal effort to give
to each political turn, makes them the |
subject of more comment, and renders |
them more conspicuous. This increase of |
crime results from two facts, one we have
already referred to. and the second is the
natural sequence of the first. The reyoln-
ton in political affairs is the prime canse.
and the selection and election of notori-
ously bad mon to Office is the secondary
one. This latter fact may result from
necessity or from choice. We know that
the party In power have q very marrow
margin to select from. but no excuse can
Justify the exaltation of doubtful or bad
characters to positions OF honor or profit.