The Tombstone epitaph., 1882-05-01
THE DEMOCRATIC GOSPEL AC- CORDiNG TO PURDY.

It will be remembered that Mr
 Purdy said, in yesterdays EplTApH
 that "the cause of the lawlessness in
 Cochise county has not resulted from
 the presence of any bad and and des'
 perate element of society,"" To-day
 MT. Purdy says: "The internal tur-
 moil of that city of desperate cow
 boys and fighting marshals is giving
 Arizona most unsavory reputation
 abroad, and deterring the immigra.
 tion of capital and respectable la
 bor." But why quote? Let MT,
 Purdy speak for himself, and we ask
 that his utterances be given 8 care
 ful perusal. The following is from
 the Yuma Free Press of January Eth:
 Three important items of news
 have reached this office from Tomb
 stone. Virgil Earp has been dan- gerously wounded at the hands of assassins, his brother Wyatt Earp
 has been appointed deputy United States marshal in his stead, and the "people's ticket" has proven victo- rious at the city election. The latter was constituted as a rebuke to the Earp crowd, and its success deter mines the fact that the majority of the people condemns that crowd. Or dinarily the local issues of distant communities are presumed to inter. est only the local papers, but affairs at Tombstone have lately influenti. ally become tangiet%ith the general welfare of the territory to an extent warranting outside comment. The internal turmoil of that city of des- perate cowboys and fighting mar shals is giving Arizona a most un. savory reputation abroad, deterring the immigration of capital and re. spectacle labor. The whole difficulty seems to lie in the fact that the sheriff of Cochise county and the deputy United States marshal are antago
 nistic, carrying their respective friends with them. As yet tho formsrl has killed no one, although s616f remarkable nerve and tried courage and strength. The latter but re- gently shot down ,ssAee men, one of whom was unassedss and the others, according to reputable testimony, had their hands up in token of sur. render. An examining magistrate, administering justice under the laws of the territory, has declared this wholesale slaughter to have been justifable, and his decision must be respected. These facts constitute the causes and effects of the troubles at Tombstone and the remedy can only be found in the removal of the causes. There fore we deem the act of Marshal Dake in appointing Wyatt Earp deputy marshal, most injudIcious one, inasmuch as it will continue the old rivalry and perpetuate existing feuds. What Tombstone needs is square shuttle and a new deal all around. Moral, not physical courage, should be the standard measurement for the qualification of an executive officer, and above all things, in a min ing town, none interested in a liquor saloon should be selected. The shooting of Virgil Earp is an unrar- donable crime, but was to be expec- ted from the fact that he and his ful. lowers are constantly terrorizing the community they live in by acts of violence to the law in the name of which they claim to act. In their dealings with the so.called cowboys they have forgotten that they were peace officers and constituted them selves executioners. In our opinion, land having drawn our inspiration entirely from hearsay we may be al- together wrong), were all official authority taken from the hands of the Earp brothers there would be com parative peace in Tombstone, unless they became mere desperadoes, as is possible. At all events the citizens of Cochiso county should take some vigorous steps tending towards re- of law and order. It is a duty they owe to themselves and to -he people of the whole territory.