Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1882-04-12

at this term. Bot they have been
hurried off without indictment, without
arraignment. without trial. without yer
dict, without sentence. Your province
and mine has been invaded, 1t has bean
usurped, by somebody, and II Is for YOU
TO inquire. By whom BY what au-
thority BY what necessity:
Gentlemen. It is painful for me 20
say the things l ought TO SAY. 1t dis
tresSs5 NE beyond measure, because
while l fear God, | sio s!,.J 20. I'D man.
Thosa concerned Ii. ,ars Summary busi-
mass arc men, and lay heart Is kindly
towards mankind. These men are my
beloved fellow townsmen, with whom
nv lot in life seems permanently east.
They are my friends. my daily compan-
ions, whose cour.esies 20 me are con-
SAINT and innumerablc, whose good
opinion / prize. whose greetings en-
Joy. whose troubles deeply affec. ne,
and whose welfare would gladly pur-
chase 1T sacrifice of nv own. l believe
know nv own heart and temper. when
say, would willingly risk rny life for
their good. Besides sympatniZe with
| you too. Though some Of you are not
placed SO intimately in connection with
| them as /, and may not have learned so
| thoroughly how estimable they ara, yet
recognize among you those who must
enter into and perhaps surpass my own
| sympathies and distress. | would, If /
might, relieve you Of your ungsatefCl
task of listening and investigation. But
| YOU will not be without compensation.
| The richest compensation is when the
| conscience, which is the eye of the
heart, reflects near and approving
| God. That Is reserved for those who
| climb tho losties. heights of duty. And
| wnat pinnacle can bs more lofty than
that elevated, rugged, broad-bassd and
deepSeated, mountainlike range OF con-
duct, which soars up and up above the
mists and creeping things of earth,
higher and still higher, until it glitters
a universal landmark. snow-whlte in
the eternal sunshine, clothed with the
lustre which belongs TO perfect purity
and truth. Such conduct and such
heights mark the border. when bound
airy line must bs run between the private
fortunes of those We love and the public
welfare.
! LIST US look somewhat narrowly al
| what our fellow citizens have done
And for this purpose wo may boldly talk
| of facts, that are common fame and
common property. All evening OF two
before Reynolds was shot, an molten
siye citizsn was stopped on one of TIE
thoroughfares of Seattle by two foot
pads, who, pointing at him revolver
ordered him to throw up his hands
Approaching footsteps alarmed the
robbers. So that no further violence was
attempted. Within. forty-eight hours
the like incident happened again and
again, until the whole town WAS in a
ferment of insecurity and rage. A.
last poor Reynolds turn cams. Then
ths popular indignation took iIistan,
| shape for summary action. A Commit
tee of Safety was formed. the streets
were patrolled, the two cnPrits were
arrested, and On the very night of theii
crime were passed into the hands of tbs
sheriff. Ga the same night an attcmp,
Was made to take them back on,
of the Sheriff's hands. The dool
of his Office. whittier no Lac
gone with his prisoners, WAS beaten in
by citizens bent on vengeance. With
drawn pistols, he and two deputies stood
at bay across the threshold. 4 parley en-
sued, resulting i'll the withdrawal of the
| attacking party, upon the promise OF
the Sheriff that an examination should
TOO had before magistrate next morn
ing. On the morrow the examin ltion
was had, and it was followed by its ter
rible sequel.
That condition OF things in Seattle
which would allow such matter as the
presence and action of two highway
men to throw the peacsab.e townsfolk
of their balance, Was like all human
conditions, complex. 1t had elements
too many to count. Good and bad were
intermingled. FIRST and greatest--not
| strange to say--;he love of our peopls
for peace and good order is Intense. 1t
is accompanied by IA disposition TO a.me
out upon any attempt to mar or inter.
rupt. The spirit of adventure that
loves to escape the common rut-not Il
bad spirit rightly directel-is strong in
all the populations of the far west. and
Is not wanting among Us. Hunger for
fame Is common TO all mankind.
Things forbidden have their zest, and
stolen waters their sweetness, here as
elsewhere. Very familiar to US are the
history aud example of tho vigilance
committee OF Son Francisco. whose
deeds, excusable perhaps, under the
peculiar circumstances of their commits
sion. are now. as the lnistiness of tins
gathers over them. assuming heroic
proportions, and are coming to be undis-
criminatingly regarded as furnishing n
pattern and excuse for every popular
expression of hot resentment. There
IL the history of Seattle itself. The un-
lawful combination of citizens in 1888.
which lynched man Just across the
street from this Court room, furnished
the precedent for that of 1854. which
iynched two men, and these each prec-
edent for that of 1892 which lynched
three. Nearly thirty years have elapsed
since those early scenes of violence, but
they contributed their moulding force to
the young community, and tho spirit
which permitted them and which did
not then meet, and has never yet mot
with any stern and condigu rebuke from
the people, has lived along among MS
unthought of, but ready to leap out OF
its ambush upon occasion. Then there
was the national epidemic Of irritation
against assasslns and particularly Gui-
teau, from which Seattle suffered III
common with all good citizens through
out the Union; and there were the ran
dom comments upon Courts in general
and in particular, and their officers ana
| JNAAVSs sHVA lioNVtuio bttti1OtiS
With which the press and all social cir
cles teemed and which made the Gui.
teau trial their text.
Nothing has done more to loosen the
affections of the people, all oyer the
country. from their own established
modes Of administering justice, than the
loose. inconsiderats, unsifted and I'M
proved imputations cast from among
tho people upon the peoples juries and
the peoples Courts. | would not shield
the courts, their officers or juriss from the
peoples criticism however sharp. Jud2-
e., juries, sheriffs, attorneys. police and
methods must, in country like ours,
be exposed freely to the fire of public
discussion Furnace heat will not hurt
the gold. II will purge it and make il
shine ont. Let all that cannot stand
this test be burned. This countryis not
governed by monarch, who for ssif-
protection must intrench and garrison
his tribunals against assault. Oar
Courts are the peoples Courts. which the
people constitute, over which the people
are sovereign, and which they have A
sovereign's right to criticise. | do not
say. that because man is Juror or
Judge the tongue Of; Elaligniiy can spit
Its venom at hira with impunity, but I
do say that any word of criticism hon
estly uttered in the interest of instica