The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-04-01
THE PAPERS STILL AT WORK
On the Lynchins Of John wallace.
THE CIVIL AUTHORITIES SHOULD HAVE
IETEKPOsED.
Baltimore sun,


IETEKPOsED.
Baltimore sun,
Oar Columns in the past several days
have contained the record in special tel
egrsms of the murders perpetrated by
JOnn Wallace, of West Virginia, which
have never been surpassed in atrocity,
and the lynching OF Wallace by q lawless
mob, and which has never been exceeded
IN deliberate rutiisnism and brutality.
1t was announced before the !ynchlng
occurred that he would be put TO desth
without the interpOsitlOn OF the law, and
that aGdacIoUs proclamation should have
had the effect OF srouslng the civil
authorities to use all the means
IN their power to prevent
such an outrage, and not to let the ad-
mlnistration of justice be taken out OF
their hands, and law and order be
trsmpled under foot by bloody and fe-
roCious mob. The man WAS q savage
ana monster, bat there was no neces-
slty that lynch law, which is always saw
ago aud monstrous, should anticipate the
action of the tribunals Of justice, which
could not have done otherwise than
awarded him his deserved doom by legal
processes, inasmuCh as he had confessed
his crime. The horrible manner in
which the man was dragged to his death
wss more worthy OF wild Indians than
white men. Lynch law At its best evinces
spirit of barbsrism and q con-
tempt Tor the processes and methods
which the people have themselves
established for the ascertainment and
punishment of crime, which reflect pro-
found discredit on the intelligence and
civilization of any community where 1t
is prscticed. Meantime, however, we
have an abundance of executions in e1-
pIatIOn OF murders and the more terrible
crime of outrage, both North and South
yesterday three Of the misguided
Mollie Maguires in Pennsylvania, last
Friday two colored men In Delaware
AMI three in Alabama, and one in New
Hampshire on Friday week, and two the
same day in Georgia"
NOTHING MORE THAN HE DESERVED AND
HAD A RIGHT TO EXPECT.
st. Louis Dispatch.
1T Is not Tor the press TO indOrse the
action Of the mob to do 50 under any
circumstances Is a dangerous precedent,
but it is giving expression to the common
feeling to say, that the fate meted out to
the wretch WAS all he had right to ex-
pect and certainly ali he deserved.
Is il any wonder that hearing all this
and believing that only part of the truth
~ hon Ill ha1,apinrr OF
ster had committed crime worse than
death on these poor creatures before TAX
ing their lives, Is it, we say, any wonder
that they were stirred up to suCn q feel
ing OF disgust and indignation as to re.
solve to svenge by their own hands the
blood of his hapless victims? Is II any
wonder that they resolved that the
laws delays and uncertainties should
not cheat the gsllows of its due?
The crime of Wallace looks like
plain case, and as if it might have been
safely entrusted TO the law for adequate
punishment. And yet, suppose that his
friends had raised money and procured
the services of able lawyers; and suppose
that these able lawyers had induced
him to retrsCL his confession as the ema-
nation OF crazed brain; and suppose
that long and learned mystifcsuOus
about "emotionsl insanity" had been
Introduces, until the jury were left, as
jurles have been left, In cases almost, If
not quite, equally plain, in doubt as to
proper verdIct-what would have been
the result2 PerchsnCe a verdict OF &C
Guittal. Who knows?
Who knows how far these Con5idera-
tions had weight with those engaged IN
this lynchlng. IL would not be unnst-
ural that such points should pass through
their minds. Unfortunately, there Is
only too much ground tor apprehension,
these days, when q criminal Is caught
that he will escape through the meshes
OF the law. And we may be pardoned
in expressing the belief that the chance
for criminals going unwhlpped of justice
through the meshes of the law is one Of
the prime causes of the rapid increase OF
crimes of all kinds, sll over this bread
lsnd-nOted in the commencement OF
this article. The many and fragrant acts
of public and private inhdeIity, lead us
to doubt if there is such principle IN
man as honesty-or from the many
bloody and brutal murders, whether
there is such a spirit in the human heart,
as Glove one for another"