The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1884-04-01
THE CINCINNATI RIOT.


try. 1t is almost impossible to I'M
derstand it-this outbreak in a city
usually so quiet and orderly, and
whose inhabitants have such a rep
utation for being peaceable and
well-behaved Since Friday night
the Paris of America has been the
centre of a riot of unusual violence,
defying all the powers of the State
to quell and resulting in serious
damage to property.
There is much to explain this
popular outbreak. For months past
Cincinnati has been the centre of
an unusual number Of crimes of vio-
lence, particularly ,nuders of the
most aggrating kind. 1t has been
asserted that these criminals were
not punished as they deserved.
Verdicts of manslaughter, or even
of "not guilty." were rendered. In
fine, there seemed to be no way Of
furnishing crime. The people, orig
inally indignant over this condition
Of affairs, became more and more
angry as they saw these criminals
escaping justice on various legal
grounds and technicalities
For some months past, the popu-
lar feeling has grown more intense
on this point. The papers joined
in it heartily, siding strongly with
the people, and insisting that some
means should be adopted to secure
righteous verdicts, and the punish
murderers. One these papers pub
lished a few days ago, a list of the
murderers in confinement in the
Cincinnati jail-a very long list it
was too-with an account of their
crimes, sufficient to arouse the pop
ular passions on this subject.
At the very moment when the
feeling was warmest came the Ber-
ner verdict, about as outrageous as
any ever rendered. There was no
doubt of Berner's guilt-he himself
confessed it. The crime he COM
mitted was murder, deliberate,
planned long in advance and car
RED out for purposes of robbery
This spark caused the confagra-
ton, even now raging at Cincinna-
tt. There was a meeting which fl
nally dissolved into a mob. The
story Of the riot is told in our tele-
graphic columns. The original
cause has long since been lost sight
of. Berner is safe in the peniten-
tiary, but the mob still continues
hammering away at the Jail. The
whole affair is most unfortunate in
every respect 1t looks very much
as if the riot might have been stop
ped very early in the day but for
the unfortunate precipitancy of the
militia in firing upon the mob. The
sheriff claims that he had succeeded
in driving the rioters from the Jail
without the loss of life, and that all
would have gone we'll but for this
bloodshed. Blood always incites a
mob, and the violence it has shown
since is largely attributable to this.
1t is more intent on vengeance now
than in furnishing criminals, and it
is highly probable that the ele-
ments which now constitute it re-
present different classes from the
very respectable citizens who in
augurated this movement against
crime, a movement which has de-
generated into mob violence. There
must be some sympathy felt for the
people of Cincinnati, who have
been patient for years under ver-
diets like that in the Berner case,
until patience almost ceased to be a
virtue. But they have gone about
righting their wrongs most unfor-
tunately and most unwisely. A
dozan good citizens have sacrificed
their lives, but the murderer and
criminal, Berner, still survives
Besides the loss Of life and property
which this mob entails, it must af-
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