Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-05-24
sOUTn AND NORTH.


We thought that at least the nom
olitical periodicals had done with
lvidious comparisons between the |
y utilization and social character Of
ne North and South. On the con-
4 airy we meet in the Scribner Of
i Aune an article which with some
! min disguise of fairness and friendly
aeling discusses Southern O1ltr0ges
a the true spirit of Harper's Week
I y two years ago. We extract one
,aragraph as a sample;
With this we DO not quarrel. We expect
. 1t is the most natural thing in the world
hat we should have it; but certain events
ave occurred in the South OF late with as
Ounding frequency, which betray a condl-
ion of morals and society that makes every
rue friend of the South and every true
american hang his head IN shame. :. Mnrder
he coolest blood and nobody is arrested for
and nothing is done about It. Now, as We
nave said, we are perfectly aware that how
yer p1uch 81 a unit the south may be polit-
calIy, there are socially two SOuths- There
n : law-l@ving and law-abiding South, and
here is a South that is neither the one nor
a he other. We understand perfectly that 70
great number of Southern people Sucn a
" bngSflV murder as tnat or Judge CHISHOLM
and his family is horrible. We understand
hat TO these people such notable murders as
ave taken place all over the South during
he last three months are a great snoek anu
N some Of their best newspapers, butthe
8 trouble is that this South is utterly oNeraWed
Oy the other South, so that no man dares 70
move for the maintenance of the law and
the punishment of crime. Murder IS COM
mitted, and the murderer shakes MS DIooqy
hands at the law everywhere and walks the
streets with entire freedom and 1mpunlty.
Human life is accounted OF no sacredntSS
whatever, and law and the executors OF law
: are held in perfect contempt. The judge
upon his bench is not safe. Even the lawyer
AayTho tries a case that INVOLVES any serious
personal relations takes his life in his hands
when he does so. The most trivial causes
seem sufficient to awaken the brutal IN
Sincts of men ana 70 induce the y i -; =,
violence. Fighting weapons seem 70 De ~
every man = pocket, as II he lived In state
Of war and he does not hesitate 10 use them
on the smallest prOvocatiOn.
He then goes on to warn the
''better South" whose existence he
admits Of, what will happen if these
things are not stopped.
Now we have never uttered
word in palliation of lawlessness in
in the South, but have unsparingly
sdemned it whenever it has oc-
curscd.s But we protest against
! such crimes and Outrages being
quoted against any special section
when it is manifest that crime is in
creasing all over this country and
that its prevalence is no more the
! characteristic of this section than of
any other. On the same day on
which we read the above article, we
lighted upon another in the Louis
willie Courier-Journali in which two
columns of that paper are occupied
with a catalogue of a single weeks
outrages in the enlightened and
moral State of Ohio. We can only
give the headings of these outrages,
some of which are Of almost unpar-
allelled atrocity. These are as fol-
lows:
GA Peculiarly Horrible Murder"
"Ferocious Attack on an Editor"
seduction and Attempt on the
Life of the Seducer by his Victim,"
"Crim. Con. and Cowhiding, ""COn-
Cession of a Former Horrible Muir
der" "Abortive Attempt to Arrest
Two Young Murderers," "Riot in
Wooster University by Sophomore
and Seniors against Juniors and
Freshmen, RevOlvers and Cudgels
Freely Used" carrying Concealed
Weapons, Serious Wound Result
ing" "Murder for Money" "Cut-
ting" Burglary" "Outrage,"
boy Shooting his Mother with a
SHOTGUN" "Incendiarism, Four
Barns Burned" Attempt to Burn
the Town of Seville, Ohio" "MOre
Barns Burned" Outrage on an
Insane Woman" "Robbery-Of La
borers, (" ''Fracas with Revolvers,"
"Incendiarism Again." Attempt
at Rape" "COwhiding," "More In
cendiarism," .'Murderous Attack
on a Negro with a Sledghammer,"
"Infanticide, A." Seduction in High
Life" "Throat-Cutting," "NOse- |
Biting" "Incest."
In addition to all that, the Sher-
ifs in County Courts have their
hands full with criminals of every
class; magistrates discharge knifers
UNPUBLISHED, and gentlemen of the
highest standing and large property
throng the magistrates offices to
bail murderefs.
Now like the writer in Scribner
we do not question the existence of
Il better Ohio which condemns all |
this, as he makes the same admis- |
sion on behalf of a better South, but |
would not that writer be better full
filling the duties of editing a journal |
which circulates through the length |
and breadth of the land If he had !
tried to enlist men in a cooperative |
effort for the suppression of crime
all over the United States, instead |
of pointing his censorious finger
against one section alone. We will |
defy him to produce such a weeks
record throughout the Southern
States as has been given in the case
of the single State of Ohio.