The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1881-11-19
THE OLD SONG.

i 49, wa WV -
Some of the Northern papers still
keep up the old song Of Southern out
rage. This Is 80 old that 1t 10 nauseat-
ing. II immigrants do not want to
come here no one Will force them
where there il probability OF their
being killed. If the North IL safer to
life aud property and has SO many nd
vantages they should remain there.
II they don't, the reports Of good,
honest men, substantiated by thou-
sands from the North, they would not
believe although angels appeared to
them from Heaven. A Michigan pa
per has the following laughable nom
sense
migrants to this country land at
the North. There are no papers, no
pamphlets, no books, no persons there
to speak word for Mississippi, but
ON the contrary, whatever Is heard
and said of us there, Is against us.
Now, people do not generally come-to
country Of which anything they
hear is unfavorable."
If Mr.. Lowry supposes pamphlets,
books, papers, or persons can be sue
cessful in soliciting immirration to
Mississippi, he greatly overestimates
their power. Many Northern State
has grown without special advertising
of this sort. Michigan is an example.
The difficulty of Mississippi lies deep
er than In this lack Of solicitation. 1t
lies ON the States social and political
conditions, and of those the former is
the cause OF the latter. What circular
could overcome the memory of the
Chisolm massacre? What paper the
blot of the murder Of Dixon by Barks-
dale? But there are later evidences
of lawlessness, and of social and
moral state into which no man wishes
to place himself or his family. Not
many days ago, in Mississippi. man
Lanier Killed one Love because the
latter printed incident remarks about
the formers wife on the backs of some
wedding invitations announcing the
marriage of himself and the lady who
married Lanier, having broken her
troth with Love two days only before
the date fixed for their marriage, In
the States where the immigrants
choose chiefly to go, such an offense
would be punished by law, or the foul
miscreant left to the lasting rebuke OF
public ignomy. But in Mississippi it
was an affair calling for Loves blood,
and 1t was spilled. Lanier announced
his intentions some days before ho did
the deed, but no one interfered to pre-
vent him. Lanier shot Love dead.
He was indeed arrested, but "upon
examination he was acquitted" and
went his way, perhaps to shoot the
next man offending him. We have
no apology to offer TO Loves dastardly
act, except the evident one that il was
not wholly unprovoked. But his or
Tense was not grave enough to justify
the taking of his life much less his |
murder. But Lanier's action Is COM
mended by the press. The Vicksburg
Daily Commercial, the second daily In |
the State In point of prominence aud |
circulation, remarks
ave have already given the reason |
for this result, which will ever be the |
case as long as men love their wives |
mothers, or daughters, and woman's |
purity is held beyond life or price.n |
The Columbus Index thinks, fright |
ly, and as he should have done, |
Lanier, the husband of the lady he |
traduced, persued him and. took his
life"
And the Meridian Mercury, after
talking of the higher law which
may sometimes-supercede the stat
utes, says.
There are two ways to punish a
man for an insult to II lady--one IL, to
give an honorable, fair chance of life
for life, another is, TO shoot tho man
down like dog without a chance to
explain, modify, retract or anything
only to shoot him down like n dog.
There are
cases in which men put their lives
outside the protection of all law, hui
man and divine, by the commission
of some ofense for which the law
gives no adequate penalty. For in
stance, If one libels the character of
a woman grossly, wantonly and IN 50
a manner as to make ii n
mockery and IA disgrace TO accept and
be content with the laws vindication
as the law Is, there Is nothing the
man upon whom devolves the protec-
ton OF the name and character of a
female may not do. He may indeed
proceed against him as If were q vi
cious, dangerous dog. He only dis
graces himself by putting himself on
an equality upon a false notion of
playing fair. II that is the crime Love
has committed, we want TO know II by
nh inspection of the papers. II he
didn't commit that crime, he has
been foully murdered. Technically,
Il is still murder II he did, but the
Jury that would convict in the case
deserves rather to be hung them
,elves.n
Now these much desired immi-
grants are mostly men who do not be-
lieve In the rightfulness either of duel
ing or other forms of murder. They
10 not wish to go to State where q
Jury acquits murderer because his
wife was insulted by the dead man,
and where the press boldly speaks out
IN justification of the deadly crime.
And they will not go there. All the
circulars and immigration agents In
would be powerless to
honest and law-abiding men
% make their homes In communities 8
where such loose notions prevail of
he sacredness of human life. We
iced not refer TO the ban put upon I
peech and political action, the con- Q
empt for labor, or the rancorus hate G
4 the very form of civilization Mr..
lowry invites, which obtain in Mis-
issippi. For they are all outgrowths
4 this murderous disregard Of law,
bis unrebuked butchery Of men. The '
are wary, not knowing
ow soon some cut-throat's. idea OF
the higher law" may be put In prac-
lee apainef them II ~ or,ioroto - | -
is 10 become MISSISSIPPI y
ians, they wisely decline the invita- Z