The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1871-06-02

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would shield the man who commits
murder because his victim had the
temerity to speak we'll Of the Plesi
dent of the United States.
Your report il that you are fearful
that man who boasts of having been
apprchended under the influence of
a reward of one thousand dollars,
charged with committing a murder
upon negro, for which crime he
was tried and acquitted, and who
has now openly and publicly, as you
report, committed murder, will not
be allowed to remain in the custody
Of the high sheriff Of the county in
which the crime was perpetrated,
and to whom the prisoner has been
delivered by the order ofthe magis
trates, and that Therefore it is neces-
sary that the prisoner should betrans-
ferred to soae other county Jail, or
to the penitentiary. You do not as
sert that there is any want in your
county Of the necessary and usual
Jail buildings and other means for
securing and OBTAINING prisoners, but
on the contrary you inform me that
you fear :hat local sympathy with
the criminal will be sufficient cause
of action with those whom you be-
| lieve will relieve him, because the
prisoner is a Democrat, and is sup
posed to be a Ku-Klux, and that al
most every man who has been put
in your Jail since the surrender on
any serious charge, unless he '0as a
negro, has been broken out or gotten
out in some way. Now, sir, as you,
being a lawyer, are well aware it is
not only the privilege under the law,
but the duty of the sheriff to sum-
mon any number of the good and
law-abiding citizens of your county
to aid him, when necessary, in the
performance OF his official duty, and
that it is the duty of the Ordinary to
provide for the necessary expenses
incurred in that connection; there
fore, until this effort to enforce the
law has been made, and fails, | am
unwilling to admit that there are not
a sufficient number of good citizens
in your county ready and willing to
respond to the call of the sheriff for
assistance in holding for trial the
man charged with this murder. To
accept the contrary opinion would
be to assume that the good citizens
of the county of Walker sympathise
with and are ready to assist in or
permit the release of murderer be-
cause that murderer was believed to
DO Ku-Klux, and is, as you report,
a member Of the Democratic party,
and the man who lost his life was
killed because he chad said some
thing in Grants favor" which the
murderer did not like.
l do not believe that you and 9th
CIR controlling citizens of Walker
county will ever allow it to be said
that a man may be murdered in
your county because he is support
er of the National Administration,
and that the murderer shall either be
permitted or aided to go abroad, I'M
tried and unpublished.
In urging me to take course that
would in effect admit this, you cite
as precedent the action of Gov
Brown at SEINE date, not named, dn-
ring his administration. While the
civil administration of Gov. Brown
was one that reflected great credit
upon himself, and would necessarily
add to the popularity of any one of
his successors who might be fortu
nate enough to equal it, still | feel
confident in believing that Gov.
Brown, were he in my place, would
never consent to assert by his action
want of confidence in the people OF
Walker county, as | should do were
| in this case to act upon the prece-
dent to which YOU refer me, and Or
der this prisoner to be renewed be-
yond their control.
With your suggestion, that no
troops are needed in your county,
that their presence would only ag-
gravate and make matters worse,
heartily concur. The military arm
of the National Government, without
martial law to make it effective, has
no terror for evil doors, and can
prove no protection to Peaceable
citizens. The presence of troops
under such circumstances would
necessarily aggravate and make
worse condition of affairs wherein
good people were trying to maintain
and uphold the authority of civil law,
and were assaulted by bad men who
sought to create sympathy for them
selves by assuming to be members
of favorite political organization.
The presence of United States SOL
diers under such circumstances, with
out authority to act, simply servesto
encourage the assassin by the free
dom from their arrest, which he feels
oven when he strikes down the citi-
zen in their very presence, for speak
ing well of the President, their Com
mander-in-Ch
For the reasons herein stated, /
must decline to accede to your sug-
gestion, and shall hope and believe