The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-04-03
The Soul of Disorder.


The tremendous riot which has
recently occurred in Cincinnati, on
of the leading cities of this countr,
ought to stand both as a revelatio
and warning. 1t reveals the exist
ence IN every great center of popula
ZION, and in lower relative degre
all over the country, of spirit whicl
reyels in disorder, and which feed
upon and is nourished by blood, DIES
tructlon of property and unquiet o.
all kinds. The glare of the incendIarI
torch is the beacon light of this fel
spirit of destruction. In the luriG
glare of conflagration, the work OF
blood. rapine and robbery goes on
1t is a sad situation. The patriot
heart turns sick in contemplation.
1t Is very true that we believe the
very worst of the jury which tried
Berner. 1t may have been and proba-
bly, was corrupt and corruptly dealt
with. Perhaps the judge who pre-
sided over the scene of the trial
should have. his gown stripped from
his person, but in what way does
that excuse the vandals for the at
tempt to destroy the city, excuse
them for burning the courthouse
with all its records, and papersl which
were of inestimable worth to the peo-
pie? The crime of Berner's practical
acquittal is to be laid at the feet of
the jury which heard the evidence
The other prisoners in Jail were not
chargeable with this nor even Berner.
himself, and in the conduct of the
mob we have sufficient evidence tina
these were of smallest concern to
them. There was but little effort to
reduce the jail. The lawyers whom
the mob warned away were not in
either the Jail or the court house. By
this course OF fair reasoning we reach
the conclusion that the object was not
to correct great wrong. That mob
cared, perhaps, as little about law or
its proper administration as did the
condemned men confined in the Jail.
1t sought disorder. Its object was
destruction, and this trial and its cir
cumstances furnished the flimsy
excuse. To thoughtful minds this is
the gravest feature in the
case. This country is reeking with |
communism and its blacker |
sister, socialism. The leveling work |
has commenced, and no man dare say |
where it will stop, unless, indeed, the |
government bares its strong right arm
and resolves to nip this spirit of van
dalism and destruction in the bud, and
at the start. For every house burned,
for every drop of blood spilled, fearful
retribution should be exacted. The
mob spirit should be terrified by the
energy no less than the completeness
of the desire of the government to
atone to the spirit of order for the
black crime committed ostensibly in
the cause of order. 1t is always the
same-the rogue calls out "stop thief"
even more Justify than the victim of /
the robbery.
There is one thing lamentably true
in criminal administration in this
country, and the Cincinnati mob has
this. 1t is the moral
weight and force of the criminal law
yers in their work of protecting the
guilty. About every court house
these combinations exist. Their rev.
enues are derived from violators of
law who are entangled in its meshes.
A certain fee they get anyhow, and
another contingent upon success.
This is the inducement to form those
combinations which produce COM
PLEASANT and tractable juries. Sher-
ifs and officers of the courts
are taken in and "safe" men are forth
coming for every occasion which
brings with it an amount of money
sufficient to pay. This is understood
it becomes as clear as the MONDAY
snn-when we recall the fact that only
those are hung who are unable to
meet the financial demands of the sit
uation. Those who can do it, or who
have friends who are willing to do it,
never draw hemp. No one can deny
this. 1t is the same in Texas as it is
in Ohio. but did the Cincinnati mob
go to work in the right way to correct
The evil? Would not one-half the ener-
yy and but 1.-THE of the money, have
procured the only remedy competent
such laws as would have entirely
broken up these court house rings and
;liques?
No, no! the more we look under the
surface of this wonderful outbreak at
Cincinnati the more inevitably are we
that the feeling of indigna-
lion over the result of the Berner
rial was but the occasion communism
was waiting for, and it was seized
upon promptly. 1t is the raging cpl |
lemic which seizes upon those who
nave been weakened by malaria. The
east observable relaxation Of the
moral nerve of the masses of the peo-
pie is, and will be seized upon with
avidity by those Dloody-minded DIES
This is the commence
ment of the reign of unrest in this
respect. There is but one remedy and
that lies If not in the nerve, determi-
nation and numbers of the order low
ing, at least, in the armed battalions
Of government strong enough to
protect all the interests of society and
with the we to do it.
Party realty.
Anything like an earnest advocacy of