Daily globe., 1879-04-04
THE NECESSITY OF Law.
A Fe,v Reflections Called Forth By the As-
sassinatJOn of Judge Elliott.
II,ouisvilie Courier-Journal.

sassinattossi Of Judge Elliott.
louisville Courier-J Journal.
Judge Ballard, in his remarks about the
shooting Of Judge Elliott, said:
''He was at the capital in the performance
Of his official duty, and regret to say that for
the performance of that duty, and almost in
the very act of performing Il, he was assa.si-,
mated. This terrible deed is, / think, without
q parallel in this or any other civilized coun-
try. 1t has justly excited much indignation
here, and it will exotic indignation and horror
throughout the civilized world. No one can
feel the shock more keenly than I. and no one
deplores the deed more than I. It has put q
stain upon our fair name which can not soon
be wiped out" H.
There is not man in Kentucky who has
the slightest intuitive conception of the
necessity of the reign of law, who does not,
with Judge Ballard, regard that deed as a
gaping wound in the honor of the State. 1t
has left stain upon Kentucky s name which
nothing but most active, q most aggressive
campaign against crime can wipe out. We
must sit, Mortified at tho crime, and hear tie
taunts of those who have ever sought to cast
reproach upon Kentuckians. To these taunts
concerning lawlessness and the insecurity of
human life we can not reply, with this last
great blot upon our record.
Crime, it is true, runs riot in the northern
| States as we'll as in the South, but we do not
find elsewhere in this country the record OF
the assassination of judge for conscien'
tiously performing his duty on the bench
We have, in Kentucky, become, in measure
accustomed to read the details of the bloody
deeds of masked marauders, shooting af-
trays in broad daylight and other acts o1
lawlessness, but the Frankfort affair is one
-. - all skn AI,4 vnof,, ,.o
sequence and elimination of the spirit Of
lawlessness which has prevailed, with but
few attempts to curb it, in this State, for i
good many years. The shot free
by Buford signifed the brutal de-
fance of the law on the part o.
the whole lawless element in the State. Blu
ford represented in his own person that ele
ment. When he pulled the trigger of his
shotgun he simply practically expoundet
the spirit and purpose of insubordination
1t was deed which, of all others, shoult
awaken the people of this commonwealth t
realization of the peril of unexecuted law
It should arouse every representative mal
in the State to demand that the safety of tn
people shall be absolutely insured by the su
premacy of law. For in the supremacy O
the law, in the sacredness of the bench, i
the yielding of the popular will to the Law
, can the social fabric alone be preserved fror
disintegration.
The Frankfort tragedy must not be mad
only the groundwork from which to poir
brief moralizing. There is something to
) besides contemplating the shame which on
indifference has wrought. Back of thi
, bloody Frankfort deed, back of all the mu1
; ders and lawlessness which manifest then
selves in. this State, is the unrestricted prat
tice of carrying concealed deadly weapons
! No State in the Union has a more stringer
4 law against the practice than Kentucky. W
regret to say that no State in the Union
more Indifferent to the execution of such lay
D Did our last legislature mean anythin
when it passed additional measures for Il
| public safety in amending the statute rela
4 ing to the carrying of pistols and othl
i, weapons2 Surely if Kentuckians ever e!
pect to get their State out of rut, and ser
: her spinning along the ringing grooves
: progress by bringing immigrants and cap
:, talists within her borders, the law must
q made supreme. The revolver must becon
recognized as mark of reproach and sham
like the indelible brand fixed on the brow
Q the murderer Cain. He who bears weapon
n habitually must have stign
Q set upon him. He who talks
a shooting others to avenge his personal grie
ances, must be given to understand tn
: such talk is for communities where brut
force-violence is the supreme rule of Co
u duct
n Let ns begin at first principles. Publ
% sentiment can make it stlnging disgra
for man to walk about among his fello
u men armed like an arsenal. Kentucky
u not ready to be remanded to savagery.
If rests with her people to say whether g
l. will have peace and law and order with
= her borders, or violence and bloodshed.