Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1873-02-07

BozEMAN, NJ. T.. Feb. ? 1s-

BozrMAS. N. T.. Feb. 2. 1873
Editor Araat Cousier
An event like tile one which has inst take,
place IN 0 II community, the lyncl.n /. 81 fwe
prisoners by 4 vigilance committee. ,nms
necessarily make i deep ispp,ess.o,, upo,
every one. Such m uprising Il Iaw-abi.lina
citizens against the law il perhaps III som.
respects even mor.. solemn than thu eo,,r,t
Of Justice itself. but il Must also, because d
its very soIemnity and in.prcssiycness. ava.
ken different feelings ia differently const,i,l
ted persons.
| That y like action has been an awful neces.
sity in bygone times, none OF us Will doubt
may have been borne OF an equally imper-
alive necessity in this ease. On this point
the writer does not wish and is probably moi
competent to express an opinion. But while
the community was in the oldcn time so
hearty equally divided between the law-abi-
ding and law-transgressing elements, that
the only possible salvation lay lii using force
against force, the latter is now SO compare
lively small that it seems Us If somebody
must be responsible il matters come to the
pass they have reached here.
Assuming it to have been necessity for
our citizens to take tlle law. into their own
hands, and assuming frat the law is not
strong enough to fulfil its mission through,
lis proper officers, which I AN rot ready to
admit by any means, the questions must nat
nrally arise: Why is tlas in community like
ours? Why does .the,ilaw sos often Lose its
g-asp on criminals? 7. Why are our officers
poweiless to perform their duties Gould
the growing evil not have been stopped, be-
fore men lost all patience and made them
selves the supreme Judges? S'5# sss.
That the punishment Rsetcd out last night
hat struck terror Into the heauts OF the ASSOC
ates Of the dead men, there is no doubt, and
they will either leave this locality or keep
very quiet for some time; but we must seek
alemedy that will remove the possibility of
anecessity forian such action arising again.
and 70 do this, We must strike at tie root of
tn evil. The people are absolutesin the mat
ter, and with us, the people, the blame must
rest in great measure live elect inefficient
aAdcorrupt officers, the fault is our::own. If
we elect men Of integrity and caplbiiity and
do not aiterwart support them properly in
the executionof their duties. the fault lies
with ourselves. It Is not only in great cities
like New York and Chicago that d general
reform movement IL needed. We stand in
need Of general uprising Of the honest por-
ton Of the community in favor Of sweep
ing reform just as much as they DID. and for
that matter, still do IN the large Eastern
cities. We need, just as much at they, that
political bids and political expediency should
be dislegarded at the polls, and then, even
when we have cast our votes right, we must
not in our Incidence imagine that our ..task
lis ended, our days work Cone" After we
have elected good men to enforce our laws,
We must continue to give them a moral sup
port, as well As y physical one, when called
upon for such.
People. acting as a vigilance committee.
dollot lightly take the law Into their own
han,ls they do 1t with proper feeling OF
the awful responsibility they take upon
themselves. Iln,y are not M organized mob;
tiaA3. are iss;t 4 people vino delight III she'd
ding blood. They arc driven to desreratio,,
by The iaciicieney Of the law and the officers
ct the law. and only use violence as last
resort. They represent an immense moral
force. whether misapplicd Or lot. And 1t is
just because have So high IN opinion af this
moral force that think it strong enough to
prevent the 1T cessity ever again arising of
having recourse to this desperate remedy, if
it were only applied III the right way. This
moral struggle working through and with
he law would be tentold stronger THAI when
.tranipIing upon it, because the law itself lisa
strong moral force, and the two acting to-
getller-thc. fol &c Of the idea with that of the
nind-are irresistible. But spasmodic Ell
fort is not enough. 1t requires long contin-
ucd struggle and constant labor tor years OH
the part Vt every one to bring about the
change so much needed. shesN
Let every oilc then, In his or her own
sphere, do all we can to bring about the
much needed change, so that we may be
able to say in a short time, when tile law
sliallebc no longer dead letter but . living
reality: When we tran pied upon the law,
it was but the beginning Of the reign Of the
law, and, God be thanked we shall never be
compelled to Violate it again in order to en-
force IT, ssss I5-fq.s