Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1877-01-05
yIRGINIA'S POLICEMEN.

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tory for the policemen of Virginia.
The evidence adduced before the Jury
was conflicting in many places, but
the general tendency of it was toward
the justification Of the officer. The,
verdict we believe to be in accord
ance with public opinion, which OF
late has been formed quite stoutly
against those who would play the
part of dssperadoes and set law and
authority at defiance.
Recent events in Virginia have pre-
pared the way for this tragedy. The
use of the pistol had become frequent
to an uncomfortable extent, and the
officers, who had in the performance
of their duty to look into its muzzle
sometimes, were not surrounded with
sufficient law and authority. They
felt that arresting a-man was rather a
personal strife than the execution Of
the law against an individual. One
of two courses only remained open to
them-to shirk responsibility or to
force their commands in extreme
cases by extreme measures. Officer
Mcdonald has set the example in the
latter course, and there is little doubt
that hereafter il he tell man to go
with him the man will not flourish
a pistol over tho officers head and
defy him.
The police force have now more
power, in view Of this precedent, than
they have had for some time. And
the community are scarcely the worse
for it, supposing the Police Commits
sioners to exercise their powers un-
derstandingly and conscientlously.
The fact Is, In comm unity like that
of Virginia, or like that of any town
or city in Nevada, peace officers re-
quire more privileges and protection
than are commonly granted to them.
There ought to be law making the
penalty for resisting policeman the
same as that for resisting sheriff.
Then the taking in" of turbulent
man would not so much involve the
physical power to do so, because the
penalty for disobedience would be
held more or less in view even by the
toughest customers, and the officers
would not be so subject to the charge
of unnecessary violence.
1t is better, we believe, especially
in view of recent occurrences, to have
domineering and possibly brutal
police force than to be obliged to
submit to a reign of insecurity at the
hands of the worst class in society.
Of the two evils we should prefer the
former. 1t is not long ago that We
found occasion to censure the police
force of Virginia for usurping powers
not legally delegated t" them and es-
pecially tor being too handy with
weapons. Then it was peaceful on
the Comstock, and the customary use
of the sixshooter in settling differen-
ces seemed to have been temporarily,
at least, dispensed with. Since then
many men have been shot down, and
deadly weapons have been drawn on
occasions not warranting their exhi-
bitlon. Rather than this sort OF
conduct we should prefer to have a
competent force of officers properly
privileged and protected, even though
at times they transcribed their legit-
mate functions. Such action would
always be under the control of the
Commissioners.
The only way to check the present
disposition to shoot is to enforce the
law in every instance with respect to
the use or exhibition of deadly weap-
ons, and to have an adequate force of
officers to quell in their incipiency
all dangerous quarrels. Hughes would
never have drawn his pistol on Nc
Donald had there been a proper re-
spect for the authority of arresting
officers, and his death and Paddock's
might therefore have been averted.
The EDITOR of The Reno Journal
calmly says: 1--WE ask nothing
better than the Seminary for our
girls, but we do want something