Sacramento daily record-union., 1882-12-27
THE REGULAR CROP OF CHRISTMAS
MURDERS.

THE REGULAR CROP OF CHRISTMAS
MURDERS.
Every Christmas there is regular crop
of murders, growing out of the ceiebraron
of the festival. This car the crop appears
to have been unusually large. A dispatch
received yesterday calls it ian epidemic
"of murder" but that is rather loose
| phrase. Here, however, is partial list,
as transmitted by the telegraph Chicago
led eff with the killing of a Bohemian
named Nory. lin this case the victim died
at the hands of his own brother.l At
| Grand Forks, D. T., James Saunders was
shot by George Colby in drunken quarrel.
In Cincinnati James Chomley was killed
by his bosom friend, both being drunk.
At Scranton, Pa, a member of the Town
Council was shot in a row. At Lafayette,
Indiana, Charles Reeve was killed in
saloon brawl. In Peoria Frank Ander.
son was fatally stabbed by Charles Smith.
Two Georgia farmers were killed by des.
perado in a saloon. In Peru, Illinois,
desperate fired into crowd in saloon,
and killed man. Then policeman killed
the murderer. Reports of murders are
| also received from Atlanta, Georgia, Gin
cinnati, New York. Palmetto, Georgia, Pc
tersburg Virginia, Little Rock, Arkansas,
Galveston, Texas, South Charleston, Ohio,
and Lafayette, Indiana, where two girls
were shot. This is a pretty list of mur-
ders for Christmas reading, and it is only a
partial one. Add to it the long catalogue
of other Christmas crimes and misdemean.
ors the endless array of assaults, more or
less serious, and the swarms OF cases of
intoxication which crowd every station
house and Police Court in the country at
this season of the year; and the tout ensemble
is certainly not creditable to our civiiiza-
tion.
Drink is the inciting cause of nine out of
ten of these murders and other offenses.
Tens of thousands of men have no higher
idea OF celebrating Christmas than to get
IS drunk as possible, and having filled
themselves full of bad whisky, large pro.
portion of them begin to make trouble for
themselves. and their companions. A
beastlier way of spending Christmas than
this cannot be conceived, and yet it is an
insult to beasts to iken to them the human
beings who thus deliberately degrade them.
selves. There are at the present day
many thinkers who hold that Immortality
is not the common heritage of the human
race, but that it must be won by those
who are to enjoy it. This is the ancient
faith of India, indeed, and it is held by the
Buddhists and the Thibetan Brotherhood.
But if it be true that only those can hope
for Immortality who have cultivated their
spiritual part, what Kind of prospect must
be before the degraded and besotted peo-
pie who think that Christmas is only an
excuse for drunkenness What must be
the destiny Of those whose lives are cut short
by knife or bullet in the midst of drunken
brawls? A Hindoo mystic would an
swer that question very promptly, by
affirming that such souls are either ex-
tinguished altogether, or reborn into lower
organisms.
But drink is the pestilent agency by
which at the close of every year scores of
wretches are hurried into eternity, and
other scores are branded with the mark of
Cain. I1 has recently been argued by
lover of paradox that drunkenness is a
good thing, and not to be interfered with,
because it operates always to dispose of
! the weakest and most worthless mem.
bers of the community, and therefore
| facilitates the work of natural selection
and the survival of the fstest. And Ger.
tainly some support seems to be given to
this theory by the character of those who
are usually the victims in these cases.
But the theory for all that is not sound,
and it assuredly is the duty OF Society to
inquire seriously into the evils whose con-
sequences are thus brought into such lurid
relief. 1t appears plain enough that those
| who imagine the sentiments proper to
Christmas to be compatible with bouts OF
drunkenness, diversified with homicide,
must be lamentably in want of enlighter-
ment. 1t seems also that the habit Of
carrying deadly weapons must be extend.
ing, since few years ago, though doubt.
less there was as much Christmas de.
hauchery vet the riots of tho seoson ryero
commonly productive of no worse results
than bruises and torn clothing. Now,
however, everybody carries revolver,
and what is worse, everybody is prepared
to use it upon small provocstion.
But what can be done to diminish these
disgraceful and deplorable crimes? So
long as the American people think it no
shame to spend Elk hundred millions
year in drink, there is very little hope of
impressing the lower and more embruted
classes with the necessity for moral reform.
There was tine when the United States
could point the finger of scorn at Great
Britain, because of her statistics of drunk.
enness, but that time has passed away,
and now we keep our prisons and peniten.
tiaries and cemeteries full, by our own
absorptive capacity. OF course it is not
possible to apply remedial measures to these
evils SO long as public opinion remains
apathetic, but it is clear that before we
can as people rise into higher plane of
nx tizo hafora