Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-05-30
MONDAY MORNING, MAY so, 1870

n bUPRE- and River Editors.
+. L. JAMES, ,
Monday MORNING, MAY so, 1870
THE country residence and farm of
the late Gov. Jones, subdivided into
lots of Z and 10 acres, three and a half
miles east Of the city, at the %intersec-
ton Of Union Avenue and German
town, Poplar street road, will be sold
atauction Tuesday morning, one quar-
ter cash, BALANCED /, ,, 3 and years, by
Passmore & Ruffin.
THE citizens Of Memphis, the
friends Of law and good order, have
abundant cause to congratulate them
selves on the changed condition Of So
ciety. Two years ago we had nothing
in our midst but hate, enmity, strife,
rapiue, robbery, incendiaryism and
murder. During the hey-day of lad
icaIism, and so long as the white tax
paying people were DISTINGUISHED,
society was a pandemonium. Not a
week passed without murder. Fires
were Of nightly occurrence. Thefts
pervaded every part Of the city.
Men were shOrn Of their liberty, and
no mans lie or property was safe.
But order has been distilled out Of
chaos. Memphis is nOw as orderly a
city as there is in the Union. Fires
r of rare occurrence. Murder is
now so ~unfrequent that a deadly en-
counter creates "a sensation
throughout the city. Chief
O'Donnen and his efficient
police force are iRdefatigable in the
discharge Oftheir duty, but the thieves
seem to have flown, as we seldom
hear of burglary or theft Of any kind.
People begin to I" breathe treer and
deeper" The most ~defenceless feel safe
under their own vine and ig-tree. All
rejoice at the changed condition of az
fairs. The outlawry of Radicalism,
for the last four years, contributed
much towards the crimes that have
disgraced our community. But one of
the great causes has been the laXity
with which the criminal law has been
administered for the last ten or fifteen
wears. Now that our new Attorney
General and our new Judges are about
TO enter upon their important duties
we trust that their careers will be such
as to make the law a terror to evil
doors. The good order which now
pervades our community will con-
tinue and still improve so long as vii
lains and murderers know that the
law is in~exorable. We have no res
pect for that kind Of justice which
shields the mOnied thief who steals
his thousands and sends a poor negro
TO the penitentiary for years for steal
ing a mocking-bird, and which ac-
quits the murderer and cOnvicts the
i-mpecunious wretch for assault and
battery. Neither should those charged
with crime, be uncerenoniously
hustled of to trial and the p%eniten-
tiary, for it is far more important that
Justice should be sure than that it
should be speedy. Were courts and
iuries infallible, were there no danger
that infamed passions and violent
public feeling would sometimes hurry
them into hasty and erroneous judg-
ment, we would all wish that the eX-
piation due to offended society
should take place without delay. Pun
ishment inflicted in pursuance Of law
is not to avenge those against whom
crime has been committed but for the
viDdicatiOn and protection Of the pub
lie, and partly, too, where crimes are
less than capital, for the reform of the
criminal. The immediate sufferers
from crime are naturally DESTROYS that
those who have wronged them should
be made to suffer at once the retribu-
ton they have earned. But for socie-
ty We deem it far more important that
Justice should be sure than that it
should be prompt. Let those prone
10 vice feel that every offense against
law will ultimately secure TO the Grim
inal his just deserts, as surely as the
revolving sphere measures out the
days, and months and years; let
them be taught TO feel that the eye of
justice has an all-peryading vision;
let them feel that no wilds or noun
tain caves, forests or dens an secure
them against the p~ersevering pursuits
Of the agents Of the law; let them
know that they will be tracked
from State 10 State and from
nation TO nation with all the vigilance
and eagerneSs o pursuit of a hunter
for game; let them know that mil
lions Of the good and honest in the
Land are cOnspiring together for their
capture; let them be conscious that
the offended State will pour out its
treasure like water rather than they
should escape unpublished. Did such
a sentiment Of certain final punish
ment prevail it would 90 far towards
the prevention Of crime-much far
ther, We conceive than where crimi-
mails are eagerly pursued while public
excitement aroused by their crimes
may last, but where, if they manage
TO avoid detection for a few months
they become almost safe from arrest.
The pursuit Of criminals should be
thorough, systematic and untiring,
and it should be suspended snly when
the offender is dead. Civilized ma
tons should never rest while a single
murderer goes unhung,q or while a
swindler or thief remains unpublished.
Crime should not be outlawed like
debts. He who in his youth hasdyed
his hands in the blood of murder
should hang, even though he should
evade justice until his head is white
with age, Let bad men know that