The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1883-08-26
JUDGE LYNCH.


does not regret the tragic occurrence
at the City jail on Saturday after
noon and yet Is there person wht
when he IN sincerity asks his OWL
heart if he would have it otherwise
can obtain a wholly affirmative re
Spouse? Salt Lake has the proud
fame the world over of being law
and order city. This fair reputation
has been gained and sustained by 8
uniform course Of popular reg ard
and respect for law and the consti.
tuted authority. In the past when
this city was the centre of a vast
region that was peop'ei if at all by
reckless, daring fellows who re-
garded themselves as beyond the
borders Of civlliz alton, and who
knew Or respected no law save the
GFst Jaw of nature, that of self
preservation, Salt Lake preserved d
quiet, peaceful deme NOR and mani.
feste3 noble regard for the
rules and decencies of civilized
so2iaty The vigilance committee
ruled IN California, Nevada, Mon,
tan2, Idaho AMI Colorado, inaicting
summary and terrible vengeance
upon those who had become too des-
per4te and llWless to be endured
even in the wild, semi-barbarous
communities of those respective
sections; or drove the decent ele-
meat from the place; but SILT Lake
moved along pursuing the even
tenor OF her way, the terror to the
I3wles3, and the admiration of the
I8W-aLiding. The mail and the
newspapers used to bring US almost
daily accounts of murders and
IynchIngs in the surrounding States
and Territories, where no mans life
was safe and no law was known or
Needed. Yet here peace reigned
supreme and the statutes held
sway. This city stood out IN strik-
ing contIaJt with the towns and
cities everywhere between the Mis-
souri, river and the Pacific ocean
There have b3en outrageous muir
ders committed in our streets, and
other acts perpetrated which
elsewhere would have insured
the guilty prompt punishment at
the hands of JUICE Lynch; but
here the sentiment has been to let
the law take its course. The feeling
always was that it was better that
Justice should miss her mark and
fail entirely than thai disrespect for
the law shoull be encouraged or
permitted.
Now, aftar thlrty-Six years o.
commendable, aud under the cir
cumstances even glorious conduct
and restraint, the people break |
loose, and in their momentary mad
ness lose their self-eontrol, becom- !
ing almost fendiSh in their fury.
more horrible can be con-
ceived of than the spectacle that was |
Witnessed in the jail yard yesterday |
and which was partici-
pated in by all classes Of society. !
In their sober. quiet moments. men
will wonder how they could have
engaged III that awful tragedy, and
yet they were powerless to restrain
They were impelled
forward and forced to &ct by
an influence or power that
has never been explained or defined
and perhaps never will be this side
the grave. They Knew what they
were doing and why they were do
ing it; but they did not for the mo-
ment know that they had been
into barbarians, with
no loftier ideas of civilization, or
clearer conception of human laws,
than were enjoyed by the rude races
Of the centuries gone before.
We can and do sincerely regret
this awful and lawless demonstra-
lion, and still can the men who took
part in it be severely censured even
Dy the cool-headed and cautious?
The gravest crime known to the
avs of God and man had been COM
nitted under peculiarly aggravated
circumstances; the chief peace Off
,er of the city had been shot down in
old blood by brutal negro, years
f whose life were not worth seconds
{ that of his victim the law is slow
nd uncertain, full justice being the
exception rather than ble rule. All