The daily gazette., 1881-08-05
Traffic In Dynamite and Internal
Machines.

Trafllc IN Dynamic anu AAeAnA
Machines.
From the N. Y. Herald.
1t is very pertinent question whether
dynamite and Internal machines are not
becoming little too common in our
daily affairs, and whether 1t is not about
time that some means should be devised
to put stop TO the use of these hellish
agencies of death and destruction. In
Russia the bomb and the mine are
svowed weapons of insnrrection, and
their use is boldly lauded by Nihilists iri
New York. In Liverpool attempts are
made to blow up the Town Hall, and In
Brooklyn a deadly bomb is found under
a dwelling. From this country Internal
machines are shipped to Great Britain,
and, while a hOt-headed oraggart IN
Peoria openly boasts that be made then,
and declares that such machines are
manufactured in a dozen cities, q no.
torious Irish agitator in this metropolis
wildly champions their fiendlsh employ
ment against friendly foreign Power.
That the United States Is bound by
every principle of right and international
comity to take all reas )nable precautio rs
and use every possible means for pre-
| venting internal machines from being
made here and shipped to foreign ports
| is a proposition not 10 be disputed. The
| government has promptly and earnestly
undertaken to IerreL out tho dAstardly
perpetrators OF the crime already COM
mitted, and should they be discovered
there need be no fear that they will es-
cape whatever punishment can be meted
| out to them under the law. But what
we should be most concerned about now
is prevention for the future rather than
punishment for the past.
How are we to avoid repetition OF
what has already been done? Are our
laws sufficiently stringent to prevent
| the criminal manufacture, sale and
shipment of Internal machines and
other destructive articlesf And is the
punishment now prescribed adequate
in case the law is violated and the of
fender discoveredS These questions
must be answered in the negative.
Congress has passed two acts on the
subject whose provisions are now con-
tanned in the Revised Statutes of the
| United States. An act passed In 1866
makes it unlawful to ship nitro-glyc-
crime, nitrolium, or blasting oil, or
nitrated oil or powder mixed with any
such oil on vessels carrying passengers.
Whoever knowingly violates this law, /,
whether shipper or carrier, is liable to
fine of from one thousand to ten
thousand dollars, and in case the death
of any person is caused by the explo-
sion the offender is declared guilty of
mauslaughter and punishable by i'm
prIsonment for not less than two years.
Another section presoribes how such
articles are to be packed for shipment
and requires that they shall be con-
spicuously marked with the words,
"Nitro- -glycerine-dangerous ~ The
statute OF 1871 declares that nitro
glycerine and certain other specified
explosives shall not be carried on steam
passenger vessels. 1t then prescribei
how such articles shall be packed fol
shipment, and declares that any persoi
who knowingly packs or ships then
contrary to the provisions of the statut'
shall be deemed guilty of misde
meanor and punishable by fine no
exceeding two thousand dollars, o
imprisonment not more than eighteel
months, or by both fine and imprison
ment.