The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-07-06
Condition Of Society in the Coal Regions
WHERE A MOTIVE FOR THE MOLLY MAGUIRE
MURDERS CAN BE FOUND-ANTAGON-
ISMS OF CAPITAL AND LABOR-Os-
TRACIsM OF TIE IRISH MINER

{ WHERE y MOTIVE FOR THE MOLLY MAGUIRE
! MURDERS CAN BE FoUND-ANTAGoN-
ISMs OF CAPITAL AND LABOR-Os-
TRACIsM OF THE IRISH MINER.
The following letter appeared in the n.
Y. Herald a few days ago over the sigma
lures of Rev. Fathers McDermott andSher-
idan, two clergymen whom the Ashland
Adoocate assures us are well and favorably
known throughout the anthracite coal re-
gions:
PoTTsvILLE. June 20, 1877.
Where murder is shown to have been de-
hberate, where the murderer has time to
calmly consider, no attempt, even in the
courts of law, has ever been made to justify
the crime or excuse on any plea the crifni-
nal. No matter what the provocation, no
matter how great the injury, all men have
rightly agreed that death and its conse-
quences are penalties too great for the in
dividual to inflct; for such punishment
must ever exceed the offence, and murder,
of its nature, is an irreparable injury. To
inflict such punishment is a prerOgative
which God has reserved to HIMSELF He
alone can determine in mercy aud Justice
when the measure of iniquity which calls
for such condign punishment has been filed
up. Thereasou God has reserved this rig ht
to Himself and those legally delegated to
bear the sword of Justice is seen from the
lamentable consequences which would nat
urally flow from the usurpation of this pre-
rogative by Individuals. Apart from the
hatreds, desires Of revenge, retaIiations and
anarchy that would prevail in society, daily
would be seen the heartrendng sorrows
| and miseries, far reaching in their conse-
quences, which are by murder inflicted up
on the friends and families of its victims
/ fathers and mothers, wives and children
cruelty deprived of those whose duty and
privilege it vas to love and support them.
I If this is viewed from a Christian stand
point calamity may appear the possibility
of which makes men shudGer. Generally
the murderer hurries his victin1>out of this
world without warning, without time to
beg for mercy or pardon. II so many de-
voutiy wish that time be given them to pre-
pare for death-if so few are prepared to be
ushered Instantly into the presence Of the
living God-what a fearful crime may the
murderer commit against the soul of his
victim. If a man thus unexpectedly de-
prived of life be in sin an immortal soul is
lost forever-oue that had it been permitted
90 live might have repented and died an
heir to heaven. Thus are revealed the con-
sequences here aud hereafter of the awful
. crime of murder.
THE MURDERS IN THE COAL REGIONS,
The murders committed by the Ancient
Order of llibernians in the coal regions
have been we'll planned assassinatious; the
perpetrators of these crimes were not blind
~ hurried on by their personal grievances;
time sufficient elapsed between their selec-
tion aud their preparation of the heilish
deeds to enable them to realize the enormity
Of the crimes they had been appointed to
commit. If for ordinary murder there may
not be the color of an excuse, for these there
can be nothing but denunciation. The coD-
vic ion of every Ancient Order of Hibernan
! murderer was an end to be devoutly wished
and prayed for. Any sympathy that would
set free any one whose moral guilt had been
legally established would be cruelty TO the
community. Since these murders were sys-
tematically compassed by an organized
band, an acquittal of the guilty would have
emboldened the assassins hence their ac-
quittal could only be regarded in the light
of public calamity. Their conviction was
an end that all must confess was necessary
by lawful means to secure, though many
may think some of the means made use of
to attain that end were unfair. Tue An
cient Order of Hibernian murders bear evil
dence of atrocity which leads men to regard
them as the effects of wantOuness, of total
disregard for human life, of pure deviish-
ness. ''To murder men they had never
seen''-the muiderers and their victims
! being in most cases unknown to each other
there could be no personal motive impel-
! ling them to redress in a barbarOus manner
real or fancied wrongs. The apparently
total absence of motive is the severest con-
demnation of the criminals, for, say the
! people, they had no motive. Ii they had
suffered injury at the hands of their vic
! Tins there might be some explanation of
their crimes; their crimes might at least be
understood and, however wicked, might
be accounted human, whereas they are di-
abolical.
MOTIVES FOR THE MURDERS.
"There was no motive" This, however
illogical. is the conclusion which mos1 men
reach after reading the ''Mollie trials. y
There is no effect without cause, however
difficult it may be to trace it TO its cause,
however difficult i: may be TO make it clear
that such a cause has produced such an eff
feet. II, for instance, there be mlaSna
in the air, whose existence is made Known
only by its noxious effects, its source must
be looked for in the surrounding soil, how
ever innocent the earth may appear in that
vicinity. a great confiagration cannot be
ascribed to a match combuStlbte material
also must have been there. No matter how
wicked men may become, how short sight
ed their vision or perverted their iuteiil-
gence, from their point OF view at least
there is method in their madness. The
murders i'm the coal regions are nor effects
without cause, nor have shey been perpe-
trated without some motive, however repre-
heusible it may be.
What rendered possible crimes which
have shocked humanity? This is an impor-
taut question and may well claim the atten-
ton of the people of the coal regions. The
object of this inquiry is to discover the cir
cumstances and conditions of society which
made these crimes possible. 1t may be
well just here to warn the reader against
,,,;Staira he is likely to fall into, viz: to con
slider this investigation a Justification. To