Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-05-04
,yne Carnival of Crime

The recent street-car muraer III Ne"
York is exciting public attention to SO
HIGH pitch, that even Vigilance Com
u,;t+se i, proposed to bring Williams to
instioe 1t is indeed time that the people
of the great cities are aroused, when, IN
the early night, in the open street, with
witnesses of the act, an unofendlng man
Is stricken down bya blow from which ne
never RECEIVERS. Men stand by and see
the act, and no hand is raised to stay the
murderous blow; nay, more, scarce a.
movement is made to apprehend the
wretch as he fed from the scene Of the
outrage. Well may people feel alarmed
before the reoited facts of this dreadful
deed, which, having its origin in lust, was
followed up with brutality and insult, and
finally eliminated in cold blooded as
sassinaton.
We hardly take up one of our exchanges
but what our eye meets with description
OF crime too horrible to relate-of men
assaulted or shot down without cause or
provocation. There are mutterlngs OF a
coming storm. The people in some cities
are goaded almost to madness, and propose
taking the law in their own hands and
working summary vengeance on murder
ers Well they may. The law in some
sections offers no protection to the people.
Murderers and assassns go about scath-
less, and thieves are unpublished plying
their nefarious trade, while criminals of
every sort and condition hang about,
scrupiicg NOT what crime they commit
The restraints of law are even loosened by
jurymen and judges, by acquittal or
moderate sentence.
If these things be true, of which there
il little doubt, what is to be done !?
Gan this carnival of crime go unchecked,
and murderers go forth from prison, I'M
punished, proclaiming to the world the fu-
tility of laws like ours, the incompetent
cy of such juries as are empaneled in
high criminal trials, ignorance being
their highest qualification. That they
do not read a newspaper, or cannot read
at all, being preferable, even in Vermont.
These are the men who are selected to sit
on juries to mete out justice. Thus Of
fernx a premium on ignorance for
the jury box in criminal trials An
aggrandizing spirit seems to pervade the
city Judiciary. All communities feel an
interest in this matter, as to how justice
is dispensed, for the city criminals are
turned loose and they swarm through the
country, spreading desolation wherever
their presence is manifest. 1t seems to Us
that at the present hour a premium is
offered for crime A murderer in some
portions of the country ia not thing to
be scorned, a viper TO be Stunned, nor an
object Of horror or detetestation, to every
right thinking man. Even children dc
not run from him in alright, as they
would a quarter of a century ago, but
they are virtually taught to look admir-
iugly upon him who has shown such
proves, whose hands are wet with fel
low creatures blood, and who walks abou
in broadclorh and linen, living on the ia
of the land, and drinking good liquors
while other men toll wear homespun
eat the hard crust of labor, drink the uu
adulterated water that God has given tn
human family, and support an expensive
government, out of which oftimes live
these bold assassins.
1t il evident there must be a change
1t is An impossibility that the people car
much longer maintain apathy regarding
matter of such vital Importance to thei
safety The judiciary everywhere mus
be- independent of all partyism-ther
must be impartiality in our courts of law
and an answering and strict adherence
to law and justice. We acquit people i
Vermont with an honest, upright, indie
pendent judiciary, above all partyism
and know little of the evils that prevail
in partisam bench. In some States
Judge is no higher that a pot-house politi
clan A Judge should be above the petit.
squabbles of politics, standing aloof from
quarrels and dissensions of party, eve
ready to vindicate the law.
The refusal to punish for high crime
ought to cease. A point has been reached
where patience is no longer virtue, wher
the dictates of humanity declare for tn
suppression of crime aud murder. LIE
action, prompt and decisive, be taken, ant
the land be made too hot to held tn
countless number of criminals We d
not favor lynch law or vigilance commit
tees, yet the people must be driven to
in some places New York, Cincinnati
St. Louis, Chicago and other places hav
-, ..uo,,,;rr, Froro bad m uorsa for soTn
time. The judiciary in most of thes
cities is in the hands of men who ar
moulded to suit the views and wishes c
corrupt officials, whose stringent adhe
rents are to be found among thieves an
blacklegs. These men call themselve
politicians, and WELD greater infuenc
than is generally supposed. These ar
the men who influence political judge
The great landlord who owns millions {
property in the cities and pays thousand
of do)lars Of taxes each year, the wealth
capitalist whose money has made thes
cities what they are, or the great merchar
whose name il known and honore
throuVtout The known world, cannot die
tate TO Judge. Yet these Williams, tn
scourges of society, these vampires, VIII
satiate their eppetites with the blood {
honest men, and wiring great fortune
from the sweat of honest labor,-they ga
whether the criminal shall go free, an
their word is law. They are the ruler
and they rule with tyranny more grinc
ing than that Of empires or kingdom
Such il the state of things in most of GU
large cities to-day, and the people ther
live under this state of government lik
slaves worse than slaves-subject to ii