Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1879-10-09
"Not Quite Good"

From the Irish World.
We seem to fear that our titles to land
are not quite good. 1t is well the great
mass obey the laws without inquiring why
they are made so, and not otherwise
Blackstone.
Here Is solid, substantial admission
that titles to land are not good. Here is
an Acknowledgement that the people are
cheated. Here is wonder expressed
that they submit to robbing laws, through
Ignorance. E,
And this hoary gentleman has quite
enough of the rogue in him to be content
with the "titlcs that are not quite good, v
and that entail such widespread and con-
tinuous misery. degradation ignorance,
and crime upon the human family. Here
is this grey.headed expounder of the law,
with both his head and his wig full Of iu-
rispulence-herc he is content to pass the
Forgerics for Titles, content to let those
forgeries mar the work of Divine Wisdom;
uncreate into an earthly hell what 'our
Father who is in heaven" made miracle
of grandeur, beauty, and fertility; a forg'
ery-a crimc-that uncrcated even the
sublime faculties with which that Heaven
ly Father endowed His children when He
placed them on this grand and mysterious
globe.
In this atrocious robbcry-this forgery of
titles that "do not seem quite good here,
lust here begins all the evils that ever fell
on this earth And this criminal Black
stone sees the forgery, secs the horrors it
has brought forth in the world; sees, for
surely he was not blind to It's mattresses
that it must forever entail the same evils
so long as the forgery is suffered to exist
sees all this, and yet is not ashamed to
avow himself an accompllcc in the crime
an endorser OF the forgery.
And here comes Il pestilent rogue bear
ing the omnous name of Washburn. He
has been baptized, and properly enough
the "AmerlCan Blackstone" Here's the
way he writes in his volume on "Real pros
pcrity" -
at seems unnecessary to speculate, as
many writers have done, upon the origin
OF the idea of property. The exclusive en-
ioyment by some one individual OF pro-
portions of what might at first seem cont
mon hcritage--thc earth, and its products
is too well settled as an elementary prin-
ciple in the organization of society to rcn.
der it necessary to go behind the simple
fact itself in discussing its laws.
Seems unnecessary" Yes so long as
people "obeyed the (damnable) law with.
out inquiring why it was made so, "and
not" (made) otherwise" it seemed
and was quite unnecessary for an en-
dorscr of the forgery to examine into its
nature. "The exclusive enjoyment by
some one individual of what might at first
seem common heritage" You know it
was "at first common heritage" "At
frst"-when it came from hand Of its
Creator. That was his stamp upon it.
Felons erased that stamp and put then
torgcries in place of it. And so made it
Settled as an elementary principle, too
well settled to 60 behind the simple fact
OF It's existence.
You find this a very convenient but very
STUPID mode of settling the question. Will
it stay so settled? What! Talk of re.
forming any abuse Or villainy? How dare
YOU reformers think OF such athing! Here
is the great Washburne-"the Blackstone
of America pulls you up by the coat
collar. He, the great Blackstonian ex'
FOUNDER, instructs your ignorance. Be-
fole he took you in hand you did not know
that public abuse was justified and made
sacred by the mere fact of ITS existence
The fathers of rs did not think SO. We'll
did John Philpot Curran acknowledge
that "thc very education of 4 lawyer un.
fitted him for determining fundamental
principles.
1t was fine, easy times with the criml'
nal Blackstoncs and Washbunes when
there was nobody to question their learn
ed villainy; when nearly every man whC
spoke to the public came ont from the
darkness OF mere learning" as blue
nodded and corrupt from nature as them
selves. Or if a political Shakespeare Of
Burns did happen to come, they had {
double means of dealing with him. l
they found him proof against their golt
and their Establishments, they had fexi
bic laws in their hands that they coulC
stretch and twist into any required shape
and consign him lawfully to the prison o.
che scaffold. And when it was done law
fully what more could you ask?