The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1882-01-07
BECOMING EPIDEMIC.

There appears to be quite an epidemic
Of murder and assassination in every part
of the country-throughout the North as
well as the South, and in Mississippi as
well as the adjacent States. Much of it
is traced to whiskey, and much again to
the practice now so general of carrying
concealed weapons. 1t is time for peace
able men to combine, and endeavor to
find some way Of escape from the hands
Of murderers and assassins. The courts
and the law seem to have no terrors.
Ropes lin the hands of outraged commu-
nities) may have to be resorted to.-Ray-
mOnd Gazette.
We agree with our contemporary
that red handed murder is alarmingly on
the Increase in all parts of the country,
North and South, and that, if it contin-
ues, peaceable men will from the neces-
9 ssity Of the case be compelled to combine
and endeavor to find some way OF es-
cape from the dangers which threaten
them at every turn. The papers OF the
country are literally filled with accounts
Of murders and assassinations, and it
makes the heart sick to read the dismal
lines telling how this good man was shot
3 to death while holding the converse free
with his family, and how the body of
that noble gentlemen and patriotic citi-
zen, as in the case of Gen. Tucker, FORM
stance, was pierced with bullets as he
was sitting in his library after nightfall
quietly perusing the pages OF some favor
ite author, and how the three Walker
brothers from Alabama were viely muir
dered in their beds near Aberdeen, and
how the miscreant, the perpetrator of
+ this horrid deed, made good his escape
after the commission of the appalling
crime.
3 Desperate cases require desperate rem
edies, and unless the times change and
men change with them the court presid-
ed over by Judge Lynch will be appeal
to as a means OF protecting society from
the vicious practices of vicious men. If
our courts inspired any terror in the bos-
oms of the murderous class of our popu-
lation, then we might have some hope of
seeing an amelioration of the bad state
Of affairs which are now existing through
out the North as well as the South To
the now all but universal practice of
carrying concealed weapons may be trac-
ed, our contemporary suggests, the cause
LOT SO much bloodshed, which every day
stains the soil of this as well as other
States in the South and elsewhere. This
vicious habit should be abated, but
how to 60 about it with public senti-
ment as it is is the question that puzzles
us.
We have stringent laws upon the sub
iect of carrying concealed weapons, but
they are a dead letter on the statute allu-
ded to executed, neglect to do what is re-
squired of them in this regard as conserv-
:ltors of the peace, and as Il consequence
the streets of our towns and cities run
red with the blood of our citizens almost
constantly. 1t is only when the courts
prove inadequate to the task OF repress-
ing crime that Judge Lynch steps in to
see What he can do in the premises, and
his process is generally summary one.
A stout limb, short shrift and a strong
cord are the agencies employed by him
in relieving society OF its worst enemies,
and however harsh this heroic treatment
Of the case may be deemed by some, it
must be admitted that in certain c.,ts it
acts like charm in ridding the world of
some devil in human shape, whose pres
encein any community could only be
viewed as Il standing menact to its re-
pose. Let the law touching the carrying
Of concealed weapons be more generally
enforced, and let those who may be dis
posed to treat it with contumacy be
made to pay the full penalty of its vio-
lation in every instance. In that event
we may hope to see less bloodshed, and
less mourning in the land.-Yazoo City
Hara1d