Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1877-08-01
From the Detroit Free Press
The Penalty that Pittsburgh viii
Dow

, Inc sympathy displayed by I
:, :, people of Pittsburgh for the riote
It who ragged through that city
L Saturday, marking their pathw,
! with destruction and death,
. likely to prove very costly ext
= bition Of emotion. For every dc
lar of damage that was occasione
every cent in value that was stole
the county in which Pittsburgh
= situated may be, and undoubtedl
will be, compelled to pay. I'll
law of Pennsylvania, original
passed to apply to the county {
: Philadelphia, and subsequently e,
tended to the county of Alleghen,
provides as follows:
ain all cases where any dwelling
house or other building, or othe
property, real or personal, has bee
or shall be destroyed in conse
quence Of any mob or riot within
the county of Philadelphia, it shal
be lawful for the person or person
interested in and owning sucl
property to bring suit against sale
county where such property wa.
situated, being for the recovery Of
such damages as he or they sus.
tanned by the destruction thereof
and the amount which shall be re-
covered in said action shall be paid
out of the county treasury, on
warrants drawn by the Comptroller
thereof, who is hereby required to
draw the same as soon as said dam
ages are finally fixed and ascer-
tanned"
The law further provides that
the jury in such cases may give a
verdict for the full value of the
property at the time of its destruc-
ton, with interest to the time of
rendering the verdict. When,
therefore, the people of Pittsburgh
stood calmly by and permitted a
mob to burn the property of the
railroad company and inwardly
upon the destruction
as serving the company right for
discriminating against Pittsburgh,
they were really assisting at the
destruction of their own property. |
The act of the mob transferred the
as fast as it was consumed
o the consenting citizens, and
nothing remains to complete the
transaction but the fixing of the
rice by jury and its payment by
he taxpayers. It has undoubtedly
nconvenieDced the railroad COM
ANY to sell its property in such
nanner; but its inconvenience is
othing when compared with the
urden of the Pittsburghers. AT
he lowest estimate the loss to be
lade good is 100000. It is not
Improbable that full investigation
Ill show it to be much more. If
lie entire burden falls upon Pitts
urgh, as it should, the rest of the
'unty not being responsible, the 1
ayment of the amount will in
Dive tax of nearly three per :
mt. upon the assessed valuation 7
property in the city, in addition =
all other taxes.
This is heavy price to pay for .
Q qualification of a feeling of =
lite against a railway company. y
1t it can hardly be regarded as o .
D heavy. Spite which demands :, =
much in the way of qualification
a costly luxury, and those who a.
iulge in it should be willing to 4
y for the indulgence. But. :
ether willing or not, the Pitts q
rgers will have to pay. If they N
nix, when the money has been u
sed, and when each homestead ov,
ye and small, has borne its share s sU
the burden, that they have not t HS
their moneys worth, they can i nnS
ance the account by charging M As'
what they consider an over
ment for spite to the score of a..
erience. In that they certainly
the worth of their money.
y may be poorer, but they will -
" n great deal more than they x
did before. They will at least
' better than to again stand
nd encourage, even by silence, =
struction Of property, the bill
'hich Is to be sent to them in a
which leaves no chance 10
% payment. And they may III
enough to anticipate, by a
ours at least, the breaking Of
a storm as that the effects of