Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-08

| persons, who are easily made TO BELIEVE tbaf
| Ihey VIII show themselves as ''perfect gentle
sort OF patent of nobility. il on the
sllghtest occasion they are prepared TO
feel lnsulted and then to put bull
semebogv let or As charge Of buckshOt into
should be taught well, by precept and exam
pie, 10 appreciate the difference between a
gentleman and rutfian. They viii then per-
celye that, in point of fact, ruffian is easily
and frequently "insulted'' by a rufhan. but \
true gentleman is very rarely insulted by
another true gentleman. When one of these
rare cases happens there are almost always
methods OF composition short of violence, and
honorable to both parties. When gentleman
Is lnsulted by ru1ian he will only lower his
own dignity by adopting the ruflian's method
oL settl!ng quarrel. When rut1ians insult
one another they should not be permitted by
any decent person to believe that respectable
society viii regard them as gentlemen if they
nSnt Sach otner with reyolvers or sh0tguns,
way.
No community, and no member of it. should
pc permitted to forget that 1t is the great
Office of the law TO redress wrongs and
to protect the individual against ASSAULTS
upon ms rights, his honor, his prOp-
erty, and his life. Your trouble is
IN great measure that there are so many
persons among you who think they cannot or
they ought not to, entrust to the law and its
organs affairs in which they have any personal
ieellng and interest, and that taking the law
cOuraging leniency by public sentiment IL
Is the characteristic mark of civilized society
that the individual looks to the law for his
protection and the enforcement of his rights
while the habitual resort to violence by self,
help Is the equally characteristic mark of the
barbarOus state.
Constant self help by force and violence in
fesentlng insults or in enforcing claims Of
right may have been considered "chivalry''
some centuries ago. But that kind of chiyalrv
has been outgrown by higher civilization
Those VINO try to put pleasing face upon the
homlcldal practice by speaking of it as owing
to high spirits of the descendants of the
cavaliers" in the South, seem to forget that
an overwhelming majority of the descend
here, but in England; and that, it may
be supposed, the best of the cava-
herly spirit has descended upon those
on the native soil, together with their names
their escutcheons and their family traditions
at least as much as upon the side lines IN the
southern States. But the descendants of the
cavaliers IN England have become civilized in
the same way as other people Of this century
They have undoubtedly retained n good deal
OF pride of ancestry, and in most cases lively
sense OF honor. But while they have their
disputes and quarrels like the rest of us, we
do not hear of any shooting and stabbing
among them. In fact, if any member of their
order should try to demonstrate his caValerly
spirit and his quickness to resent an insult bv
whipping out revolver on every occasion, or
by going after an enemy with a shotgun, they
would look upon him as an unmitigated ruff
nan, entirely unworthy of their society and
they would have him tried and hung if he
actually killed anybody. In this civilized
century that man is regarded as the finest
cavalier who most cOnscientiOusly reveres
most just and generous spirit in the
treatment of his fellow men, maintains
his dignity by abstaining not only from all
mean but also from all brutal things, and cul-
tlVates the highest graces of civilized life If
the hlgh-spirlted young men of the South de-
sire to take rank among the modern descend
ants OF the cavaliers, and to become them
selves true cavaliers of the nineteenth CEN
tury, they will quickly drop-torether with
their anuquated notions of chiValry-their
revOlvers and their shOtguns as protectors of
their honor and as their badges of nobility
But even if they would model their conduct
rather after the knights of five hundred wears
ago, 1t should not be forgotten that some of
the cases ON record would at no period of his
tory have been thought to have any kind of
chlvalry in them. For instance, when a man.
who wants to avenge real or imaginary in
suit, deems the whole code of honor satisfied
if he simply notifies his enemy that he will
shoot him at sight, and then kills him with
shotgun from an upper-stOry window: or
when a debtor puts bullet into the heart of
a creditor who insults him by dunning at an
inOppOrtune time.
Intelligent, generous and ambitious as the
people of the South are, should think it could
not be dlfhcult by proper presentation of the
among them, to awaken them to keen an
probation of the mischief springing from sueb
antiquated and discreditahle notions of chiyal-
ry and honor
The practice of carving concealed weapons
appears very much in the same light That
revolvers are habitually carried by a very
large portion OF the male population of the
SOuJn Is an admitted TACT. Now, | ask Won in
all soberness, what condition of society Would
you call 1t, in which q gentleman thinks il
necessary, whenever leaving his house, to put
revolver IN his pocket in anticipation of some
''dlfiiculty" with some other gentleman which
may induce or Oblige him to kill the latter?
This view of the matter NAV at first sight
seem exaggerated. But is it so in fact? Ask
youfself, Tor What purpose are deadly weapons
so generally carried in the SOuthF Not for
protection against wild beasts or against
highway robbers, You insist yourself
that as to robbers the roads in Geor
gia are safer than some of the streets of
New York or Chicago, and do not DENY it,
And yet no gentleman here thinks it necessa-
ry to nave pistol ON his body when he goes to
ms business place, or to his club, or to a ball
Ine lew individuals who do so will scarcely
be considered gentlemen any longer when the
TACT OF their constantly carrying arms becomes
known. Why, then, is il done by so MANY ner-
sons belonging to the best society in the South?
Is 1t not really done ia constant expectation
OF some insult, or some dispute, or some colli-
slon-ln one word, some "difiicultV'' W hich NAV
Obnge or induce the carrier of the pistol to
make use of it by killing somebody? Is not the
mere statement of the case sufficient to show
that this widespread habit is in itself severe
reflection upon the social condition in which
1t prevallsf Is 1t not true that the men going
constantly armed IN anticipation of q quarrel
thus carry a temptation to resort to violence
with them, and that thus their pistols become
the cause OF their "difliculties?" Are
not there great many men in the
South to-day who would never have got
INTO bloody and disgraceful troubles had |
they not hahitually carried revolvers ready to |
their hands, and who now devoutly wish they |
had never done sol Would not Southern soci-
ely oe ~ position much more unassaDsble |
before the world, and much more satisfactory
to itself, If such habit had never prevailed
Laws prohibiting the Carrying of Concealed
weapons cannot become efficient unless they
are supported by strong public opinion and |
by social custom, As soon as decent peOpIe in |
sufficient force and concert speak out on the |
subject and make their influence felt, so tnaTa |
man habltually carrying arms must feel him
self in danger of being frowned upon by polite |
society as mot a gentleman" or rather as a |
rufhan, those who have any social aspirations |
VIII soon abandon the dangerous habit, and |
the decisive step in the way Of that reform |
viii be accomplished; for, public opinion set
tied, the unruly can then be coerced by the |
enforcement of the law.
And it will then no longer be difficult to Sc |
cure the third point mentioned, the punish |
ment of the mansiayer according TO law. When |
Wlllful homicide, unless justified by the clear /
necessity OF self defense, or mitigated by the |
EXTREMIST circumstances Of mental distress, /
IS regarded and treated by society as the in |
famous crime II is, which must exclude the /
pefpetratOr from all civilized and self respect
ing companiOnship, it will find iuries TO con-
vict, and judges TO sentence the guilty. and
Governors to withhold their pardon. There /
VIII then be no element ever so rough that IL !
might not be brought under the control NJ |
legal authority.
You and all those in the South who ocon- |
less 10 deplore' the hOmicidal practice and /
who IN their hearts must necessarily desire to l
stop IL, should therefore feel called upOn 1
promptly to take this matter in hand with |
that courage which, conscious of serving a |
good cause, Is not to be daunted by the fear Of |
temporary unpopularity. If the law and |
order societies i have suggested are formed |
All over the south, and il they pursue their
end with pluck and energy, they can scarcely !
Tail of success; and their success will confer
4 blessing upon the South, of which they will |
nave reason TO be pP0uder than Of any war |
Ike exploits, and for which their children win |
never cease TO be grateful.
DO not reject this advice as coming from |
me VINO does not live amongyou. The South
m '[n PeoPie nave more and warmer friends |
ieTe lhah they' are apt to reOOgniJe-fTends |
Sho arc heartily glad Of every sign Of ad-
'9Hcement and prosperity in the Southern |
states, who esteem and admire the many good |
lnd noble qualities of the Southern DeoDle |
IND whose cordial wishes accompany every |
'hort you make in the way of social and ma
erlal progress. And we feel it to be pity
hat those efforts should be hampeTed bv de- !
'lorable traditions Of the past and that those |
loDle qualities should be dimmed by blem-
sh which you yourselves need only see as
'tnefs see IT. IN order to wipe it out | as |
ure You, we have undertaken this discussion,
lot from any desire to exhibit that blemish TO |
ne world, Tor the southern press has done |
nat, nor from any meddlesOme spirit of !
aultfnding, but to stir up the sensiti7e-
less OF the Southern people TO the |
Seenest possible perception Of an evil |
'Xlsting among them, apS of the necessity |
u correcting IL by their own ende&vOr. And |