Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1884-02-12

H,oBRARA's vlcILan1es.
The Common Law Of the Frontier In
Operation.
G,b,c>uo Tne., nc..,

The Common Law Of the Frontier In
Operation.
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
The report that kid Wade has been
strung to whistling post is probably
true. He was known to be horse thief.
That is enough to seal the doom Of any
man upon the border. In pioneer COM
munities stealing horses is the uupar.
donable sin. It is safer to take dozen
lives than to steal one horse,
The vigil0nte in northwestern Nebras.
ka Is self appointed court, it 10 true,
but there is q certain regularity about il,
and cannot De classed with the spasmodic
outbreaks Of popular vengeance which
are usually denominsted lynch Law. The
great body OF law, American anl English,
ls the unwritten common law which had
it's origin in the prevalent sense of justice.
No "be it enacted" ever pretaced Its en-
actment or secured its enforcement. 1t
may be said to be justice after the order
of Melchizedek. Sometimes wrong, but
generally based on uprightness Of pur.
pose, it has hold upon the people which
no mere statate could secure. The state
Of Kentucky only made itself ridiculous
BY attempting to nuilify this body Of
legal maxims and regulations.
There is certain instinct of equity
which is lnseparable from pioneer life,
and in accordance with which the Kid
Wades have always been in imminent
danger of tasting death with their boots
on. PROFOUND to almost any pioneer the
old question. which is the greatest com.
mandment? and his prompt reply would
be, thon shalt not steal hurses; or this,
| which is like unto 1t, tllon shalt u,.t suffer
horse.thief to live. On these two haug
all the Law and the prophets.
There must be an element of common
sense in sentim Mt 80 very common.
The feeling is that if two men get into
an aitercation, aud one kills the other,
it is an even chance that the dead man
was just as much to blame as the homi.
eide. Cold-blooded murder. done in
stealth, ls not condsned. 1t ia the un.
washed murderer. tie slayer sho makes
no attempt at co1cealment. who is told
to go in peace aud SID some more. But
there ls always skulking aud cool de-
liberation in theft Of any klud. We use
the term sneak thief as if there could be
any stealing except bya sneak. From
the very nature of the case stealing and
sneakiDg go tog ther. They are twins.
| duo "a luS boldmCsO eOtl 0G ludls 4uSEe
are several reasons Why the common law
of the frontier holds horse.steallng tue
capital offeuse. Que is that the horse
can be and ls pressed into special part
nership with the theft. Most
property offers some resis-
tance TIE law OF grav.
itation IA on the side of honesty. Gold
is light for its value, but even the most
precious metal offers resistance. aud may
be said to be in alliance with its lawful
owner, and true to his interest. But the
horse becomes &c, essory after the fact
1t is only the exceptional severity oi
, punishment which affords protection
, Again. pioneer is peculiarly dependent
upon his team. The best land 10 the
world cannot be cultivated without
= plowing, and the harve canuot bt
, Rsthered aud marketed without team
Whatever the season OF the year may be
the equine dependence is almost abso
lutte.
1t may be said that the criminal Law
of Nebraska ought to afford adequate
protection, but stealing horses in Omah,
or lincoln wonld be very differen,
! thing from the same act IN the Nlobrart
valley. and on the whole it must be con
ceded that the general stability of ou
, legal syste N is not at all endangered b,
the distinctive common law of the from
T tier.